John S. Hammond

[1] His great-grandfather, Charles F. Hammond, mined and forged plates for the USS Monitor and shipped the first cargo of lumber around Cape Horn.

[2] Hammond attended the United States Military Academy, where he excelled in the standing broad jump, 20-yard dash, and football.

[5] Hammond became vice president of Madison Square Garden Corporation and was tasked with finding new events to fill empty dates at the arena.

[2] Hammond and Rickard arranged with Thomas Duggan, who had purchased the rights for U.S.-based National Hockey League franchises, to place one in New York.

[6] Dwyer remained behind the scenes, with Hammond serving as the team's president, Duggan as chairman of the board, and Tommy Gorman as the general manager.

[9] Hammond signed Conn Smythe, head coach of the University of Toronto's hockey team, to serve as general manager.

[12] Rickard died on January 6, 1929, and the following day, Hammond was appointed by the board of directors to serve as acting general manager of the Garden.

[13] On March 19, 1929, William F. Carey, a railroad builder and contractor, was chosen to succeed Rickard and Hammond returned to his role as vice president.

[15] On May 2, 1934, Hammond announced that he and his associates had purchased controlling interest of Madison Square Garden from Richard F. Hoyt for an estimated $546,000.