March 29th in N.Y.C. History
Posted: Mar 28, 2013 | 10:43 PM
by Jared Goldstein
1848: America's richest man, John Jacob Astor, who made his greatest fortune parlaying real estate investments died at age 84, 64 years and 1 day after arriving.
His empire began with using his fur fortune for leasing and developing Trinity Church's vast property holdings. During this era New York City emerged as America's greatest port and city, and its population doubled every ten years, which necessitated developing the real estate friendly grid plan which transformed Manhattan from fertile farmland to cityscape.
Legend has it that, on his deathbed, he expressed one regret: 'More Manhattan real estate.'
We explore Astor's legacy on Downtown tours, Harlem tours at Astor Houses, East Village tours at Astor Row, also known as Colonnade Row.
1889: Howard Lindsay, Broadway actor, producer and playwright from the team Lindsay and Crouse, who wrote the Sound of Music and many other hits, was born.
1945: Walt "Clyde" Frazier,
New York Knicks Champion
and Basketball Hall of Famer born.
1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
It turns out that Ethel didn't do it. We see where her jail was on Greenwich Village tours.
1959: "Some Like It Hot," the comedy starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe, premiered in New York.
1962: Jack Paar hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.
1967: John Popper, frontman for Blues Traveler born.
I didn't go to Columbia with him. He is a great guy, and he'd probably pretend to remember me if one of our common friends introduced us.
1999: Wayne "the Great" Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored the last of his record National Hockey League 894 goals in Madison Square Garden against the New York Islanders.
1999: The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time.