How did "Rockefeller Center" get it's name?

Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr. ("Junior"). The Rockefeller's are, of course, an extremely famous financial family , hence the name. They leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it between 1929 and 1940. The original idea was to build an opera house, but that idea faded after the stock market crashed in 1929. Despite this, construction went ahead and although the young Rockefeller didn't really want his name attached to the building, he agreed after being convinced the use of his well known name would certainly help draw more leasers/tenants. Interestingly enough, one of the buildings in the complex was almost rented out to a German firm prior to WWII. Fortunately, Rockefeller discovered the truth behind Hitler's Nazi movement and that rental was not made. More intriguing, the same site became the site of M16, the British Intelligence agency during the war. William Donovan became part of this as the American contingent. Room 3603 ws ... more