Blackboard

A blackboard (also known as a chalkboard) is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone. Modern versions are often green because the colour is considered easier on the eyes.

Design

A blackboard can simply be a piece of board painted with matte dark paint (usually black or dark green). Black plastic sign material, using the trade name sintra is also used to create custom chalkboard art. Examples can be seen at Chalk It Up Signs. A more modern variation consists of a coiled sheet of plastic drawn across two parallel rollers, which can be scrolled to create additional writing space while saving what has been written. The highest grade blackboards are made of a rougher version porcelain enamelled steel (black, green, blue or sometimes other colours). Porcelain is very hard wearing and blackboards made of porcelain usually last 10–20 years in intensive use.

Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products. When measured in terms of total assets and deposits, Capital One is the eighth-largest bank holding company in the United States. As of 2012, The bank has 963 Capital One Bank Branches including 10 café style locations for their Capital One 360 brand and 2,000 ATMs. Capital One Financial is a member of the Fortune 500, and also conducts business in Canada and the United Kingdom. The company helped pioneer the mass marketing of credit cards in the 1990s, and it is now the fourth-largest customer of the United States Postal Service.

Its corporate offices are located in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

History

Monoline credit card company (1994-2004)

On July 27, 1994, Richmond, Virginia-based Signet Financial Corp announced the spin off of its credit card division, OakStone Financial, naming Richard Fairbank as CEO (Signet Banking Corp is now part of Wells Fargo). Signet renamed the subsidiary Capital One in October of that year. The spinoff was concluded February 28, 1995, making Capital One fully independent.