The Yarn of Old New York

In the year '74, colloquially known as 1874, our buddy Ezra Cornell, the bigwig of Cornell University, took a roll of the dice. As a smart-as-a-whip, corn-savvy dropout with $500,000 in his pocket, he swindled his alma mater into life. A century hence, his ol' school still towers mighty!

Way back in 1874, our fella Ezra Cornell, the brain behind Cornell University, decided to play a hunch. He wasn't your average college dropout; no, sir! He had a thing for corn, and he had a pocketful of dough – $500,000 to be precise – and trees. He twisted the hand of the university and made it dance to his tune. He gifted a whopping 200 acres of land, turning Cornell into one of the country's very first land-grant universities. A mix of rust, wiles, and mischief, Ezra left his mark on the institution that bears his name.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

The Yarn of Old New York: Corn-King Ezra & His Half-Million Cornell Catch

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