Charles Ponzi, an Italian American entrepreneur, died on January 18th, 1949 at the age of 66. He is best known for his eponymous scheme, the 'Ponzi scheme', which promised investors a 50% return on new investments within 45 days. The scheme relied on the idea of drawing money from new investors to pay earlier investors, thus creating the illusion of returns. Ponzi was first charged with fraud in 1920, and he spent more than 7 years in prison for the deceits. In recent years, he is often remembered as a cautionary example of the pitfalls of investing too heavily in financial instruments without proper research and verification. He was an innovator in the finance world and his pioneering work had a long-lasting impact on modern financial services.