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1855

B. Silliman, Jr. submits to Messrs. Eveleth, Bissell and Reed report on his Researches on the Rock oil of Venango County, Pennsylvania. This was the birth of the American Petroleum Industry. Based upon oil wealth, munificent bequests were given to Yale by John W. Sterling and the Harkness family.

George J. Brush (1831-1912), appointed Professor of Metallurgy, the first such appointment in the United States.

1858

Deed of gifts to the Scientific School by Joseph Earl Sheffield (1793-1882). A Connecticut native, he amassed great wealth initially as a shipper of cotton, then as a builder and organizer of new railroads. Professor Porter of the Scientific School was his son-in law.

First Building, Sheffield Hall.