Universal Studios mogul Carl Laemmle was the manager of the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, branch of Continental Clothing, a clothing retailer.
In 1906, after losing his job in an argument with his boss, he opened a movie theater in Chicago.
He soon became a film distributor and, in 1912, founded Universal.
According to one account, he got the idea for the studio name from a truck that read “Universal Pipe Fittings.”