75th Anniversary of the Death of John D. Rockefeller

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the death of John D. Rockefeller. Once known as the richest man in the world, Rockefeller gave over 500 million dollars to a variety of causes including education, science and religion institutions.

Born in Richford, New York, Rockefeller was an enterprising man who built his first oil refinery near Cleveland and incorporated Standard Oil Company when he was just 31 years old. His son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was his only heir and he carried on his father’s legacy of philanthropy.

In 1901 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. created Rockefeller University in NYC and during World War II, helped establish the USO for the troops. Later, Rockefeller Jr. personally funded the construction of Rockefeller Center, creating over 75,000 jobs during the depression, and establishing what is now a world-famous landmark in the center of midtown Manhattan.

The Wall Street Bull: a stop on the Wall Street Walks Tour

The Wall Street Bull is an iconic sculpture located in a median in the middle of Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, very close to Wall Street. In the 1980s, when he created the Bull sculpture, the artist deposited it in front of the New York Stock Exchange in the middle of the night. The following day was probably the only day in history a bull was not welcome on Wall Street, and the sculpture was removed. However, the public demanded that the Bull sculpture be returned to Lower Manhattan, and shortly thereafter we experienced the very strong bull market from the 1990s. The sculpture was placed temporarily in a median in the middle of Broadway and was never moved. As you can see from the video, the Wall Street Bull is a popular tourist attraction. To learn more about the Wall Street Bull and all the other intricacies of the history of the Financial District, click through to reserve tickets for a Wall Street Walks tour.