two great industrialists - and later philanthropists - were born two days apart in July 1839? One on Long Island, New York, the other in Kastel, Germany. John from New York built an empire around oil, Adolphus from Kastel around beer.
1839-0708 John D. Rockefeller Sr.* industrialist/philanthropist - Long Island, NY USA (97)
1839-0710 Adolphus Busch* co-founder of Anheuser-Busch/philanthropist - Kastel, Hesse, Germany (1913/74)
If you happen to be in Manhattan in New York City, it is pretty hard not to notice the name Rockefeller. The most notable site must be the Rockefeller Center - used in many films as well. The son of JDR Sr, John D Rockefeller Jr., was the main person behind it’s construction. The core of the complex was completed by 1939 - a hundred years after the birth of his father. The Rockefeller name is imprinted in numerous other places throughout the United States. In New York City of course, but also in Cleveland where the family originates. Even before that, the family originates in Rhineland in Germany. So that too connects the two men of this article.
A 1922 Budweiser ad
Adolphus Busch founded Anheuser-Busch together with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser in 1852. Just like Rockefeller, he became a philanthropist, using his great wealth for education and humanitarian needs.
He was the twenty-first of twenty-two children. In 1857 at the age of 18 he decided - together with three of his older brothers - to emigrate to St. Louis, Missouri to make his own fortune. St. Louis was in those times a major destination for German immigrants, so business in beer manufacture was a really sound investment. And the rest is history.
With a lifelong interest in his former homeland, Adolphus Busch assisted in repairing devastation from the 1882 flooding of Mainz-Kastel by the Rhine River. He also donated huge sums to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake - both personally and from his company.
To round off, here is an interesting time-lapse video of putting up the Christmas tree (tradition since 1931) at the Rockefeller Center: