The Sun was a New York newspaper published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. The Sun was the first successful penny daily newspaper in the United States, and was for a time, the most successful newspaper in America.

John Caldwell Colt, the brother of Samuel Colt, was an American fur trader, bookkeeper, and law clerk. He served briefly as a U.S. Marine, forging a letter to get himself discharged after three months. After numerous business ventures, he became an authority concerning double-entry bookkeeping and published a textbook concerning the subject, which had 45 editions and remained in continuous publication until 13 years after his death.