This year, Citi marks its 200th anniversary on planet Earth.
And as with the other banking and wealth creation histories we've recently told, the tale of Citi is a heady mix of patriotism and gore.
The bank was instrumental in supporting the country's rise to world power at the turn of the last century.
Yet it played a role in nearly every financial crisis the country's experienced.
For the full story of this American institution, read on.
Citibank was born from anger.
The charter of the First Bank of the United States was allowed to lapse in 1811 thanks to opposition from Jefferson about centralization.
In its stead, northern merchants, led by Alexander Hamilton, applied to charter their own banks, which they hoped would be large enough to replicate the FBUS' economy of scale. The City Bank of New York was created in June 1812.
Samuel Osgood, a Revolutionary War hero who'd served alongside Hamilton in Washington's cabinet, was its first president.
Source: New York Times
The bank's first big splash came from financing armaments during the War of 1812.
It was one of the first to participate in lending efforts, a crucial decision at a time when Treasury had been caught flat-footed by the termination of the FBUS.
Source: Citi
Moses Taylor was the bank's most important president of the 19th century.
He first became involved with the bank after the Panic of 1837, and slowly acquired a controlling interest. In 1856, he was named president, and served until 1882.
Source: Encyclopedia of American business history, Vol. 1
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