Moment of truth looms for ailing Kodak

THEY invented the hand- held camera and helped bring the world the first pictures from the moon — but Kodak has filed for bankruptcy protection, capping a prolonged plunge for one of the world’s best-known companies and brands.

George Eastman, a high-school dropout from upstate New York, founded Kodak in 1880, and began to make photographic plates. To get his business going, he splurged $125 on a second-hand engine.

Within eight years, the Kodak name had been trademarked, and the company had introduced the hand-held camera as well as roll-up film, where it became the dominant producer.