35. Twenty-Four Bucks For this Spoon I Found
The story of Manhattan’s sale might just be the first recorded instance of a New York hustle. Sold for beads and trinkets worth about $24, it’s the kind of real estate deal that would give any modern New Yorker heart palpitations. But twist the historical lens, and it seems the Native Americans may have been the slick traders, selling land they didn’t occupy to eager buyers with shiny objects.

Fast forward, and Manhattan’s worth is a little more than $24, give or take a billion. The island of high finance and higher rents stands as a monument to the deal of the millennium. It’s a tale of commerce and cunning that would make even the shrewdest Wall Street broker tip their hat.