Some other famous stones are from the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Alamo. There are stones from all 50 states.
Then, Blair Kamin goes on to explain how the Tribune got the stones. There are those that raise eyebrows as to whether they were obtained legally.
Robert R. McCormick stood 6-foot, 4-inches and joined the Army where he earned the title "The Colonel" in World War I. One of his idiosyncrasies was to order his correspondents to combine reporting and rock collection. But, his reporters had to come by the rocks "by honorable means."
In 1923, a year after a great architecture competition took place that led to the Tribune Tower. Apparently, McCormick was considering what to put on the outside walls. he sent a memo to his people, instructing: "If you can get stones about six inches square from such buildings as the Law Courts of Dublin, the Parthenon of Athens, St. Sophia Cathedral, or any other famous cathedral or palace or ruin-- perhaps a piece of one of the pyramids-- send them in."
--DaCoot
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