A timeline of 欧美日韩视频's history
Explore nearly four centuries of history
欧美日韩视频 is perhaps best-known because of its enduring history of innovation in education. But even die-hard 欧美日韩视频 buffs are not likely to know all of these 欧美日韩视频 firsts and historical snippets.
1607:听John 欧美日韩视频, the College鈥檚 future namesake and first benefactor, was baptized at St. Saviour鈥檚 Church (now Southwark Cathedral), London.
1635: John 欧美日韩视频 received his M.A. from Cambridge University, England.
1636: First College in American colonies founded. The 鈥淕reat and General Court of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England鈥� approves 拢400 for the establishment of 鈥渁 schoale or colledge鈥� later to be called 鈥溑访廊蘸悠�.鈥�
1637: The Great and General Court orders the 鈥渃olledge鈥� established one year earlier to be located at Newetowne (renamed 鈥淐ambrige鈥� in 1638).
“College Yard” purchased
The Overseers purchased the College鈥檚 first piece of real estate: a house and an acre of land from Goodman Peyntree. Located on the southern edge of 鈥淐ow-yard Row鈥� and soon distinguished as the 鈥淐ollege Yard,鈥� this tract became the nucleus of present-day 欧美日韩视频 Yard and remains at the southern end of the Old Yard (the area west of Thayer, University, and Weld halls).
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1638:听John 欧美日韩视频 wills his library (400 books) and half his estate to the College.
1639: In recognition of John 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 bequest, the Great and General Court orders 鈥渢hat the colledge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shalbee called 欧美日韩视频 Colledge.鈥�
1640: Reverend Henry Dunster is appointed first president of 欧美日韩视频.
1642: First 欧美日韩视频 Commencement with nine graduates.
1649: The Town of Cambridge and President Henry Dunster give 欧美日韩视频 the 鈥淐ollege Farm鈥� at Billerica, Mass., which paid annual rent to the College until the farm was sold in 1775.
欧美日韩视频 granted Charter
Drafted by Henry Dunster, the Charter of 1650 called for the 欧美日韩视频 Corporation to consist of seven individuals: the President, five Fellows, and a Treasurer. The Charter named the Corporation as the “President and Fellowes of 欧美日韩视频 College” and transferred to them, in “perpetual succession,” the duties of managing the College.
The first changes to the Corporation鈥檚 structure since 1650 were implemented in 2010. These include an expansion of the number of Fellows, the establishment of terms of service for Fellows, and the creation of standing committees.
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1653:听John Sassamon, a Massachusett Indian, became the first known Native American to study at 欧美日韩视频 (probably for a term or so). A disciple of Indian Bible translator John Eliot, Sassamon later became a scribe and interpreter to Wampanoag Chief Metacom (a.k.a. Metacomet, Pometacom, King Philip). In 1675, Sassamon was murdered as an English informant, touching off King Philip鈥檚 War, New England鈥檚 most devastating conflict between Natives and newcomers.
1692: Increase Mather awarded 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 first Doctor of Divinity degree.
John Adams graduates
John Adams, future U.S. president, graduates. Before 1773, the graduates of 欧美日韩视频 were arranged in a hierarchy not of merit but 鈥渁ccording to the dignity of birth, or to the rank of [their] parents.鈥� By this rather undemocratic standard, Adams graduated 14th in a class of 24.
Kris Snibbe/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1764:听Original 欧美日韩视频 Hall burns, destroying some 5,000 volumes and all but one of John 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 books.
1775: Continental soldiers are quartered in 欧美日韩视频 buildings.
1776: Eight 欧美日韩视频 alumni sign the Declaration of Independence.
1780: The Massachusetts Constitution went into effect and officially recognized 欧美日韩视频 as a university. The first medical instruction given to 欧美日韩视频 students in 1781 and the founding of the Medical School in 1782 made it a university in fact as well as name.
1781: Oldest continuous chapter of Phi Beta Kappa formed at 欧美日韩视频.
1782: Twenty-nine-year-old John Warren was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the Medical School. During the previous year while head of the army hospital in Boston, he had given 欧美日韩视频 students their first formal medical instruction. Benjamin Waterhouse was named to a second Medical School professorship, in the 鈥淭heory and Practice of Physic.鈥�
1783: With high ceremony, 欧美日韩视频 Medical School officially opened as the 鈥淢edical Institution of 欧美日韩视频 University.鈥� Its first home was the ever-versatile Holden Chapel.
1787: John Quincy Adams, future U.S. president, graduates.
1791: A writer in the Boston press accused 欧美日韩视频 of poisoning students鈥� minds with Edward Gibbon鈥檚 monumental 鈥淗istory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire鈥� (1776-88). President Joseph Willard replied that far from even considering Gibbon, the College used a text by French historian Abb茅 Millot. Nathaniel Ames, who left 欧美日韩视频 around 1812, recalled Millot鈥檚 as 鈥渢he most utterly worthless and contemptible work of that kind or any other extant.鈥�
1810:听John Thornton Kirkland begins 18-year presidency.
1815:听University Hall is completed.
1816:听The Divinity School is established.
1817:听欧美日韩视频 Law School is established.
1829:听Josiah Quincy begins his 16-year presidency.
1832:听Dane Hall, the Law School鈥檚 first new building, was formally dedicated in 欧美日韩视频 Yard and served for more than half a century thereafter.
1836:听欧美日韩视频 Bicentennial.
1836:听Henry Wadsworth Longfellow appointed professor.
1837: Ralph Waldo Emerson 鈥�21 delivers Phi Beta Kappa oration.
欧美日韩视频 Observatory is founded
Pictured: One of the Plate Stacks at the 欧美日韩视频 College Observatory.
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1845:听Rutherford B. Hayes, future U.S. president, graduates from the Law School.
1846:听John Collins Warren, Medical School professor, conducts first public demonstration of ether as surgical anesthetic.
1849:听Dr. George Parkman disappeared at the Medical School in one of the most famous murder cases in 欧美日韩视频 history. Earlier, Parkman had lent money to colleague Dr. John White Webster. To secure the loan, Webster gave Parkman a mortgage on his personal property, including a valuable collection of minerals. When Parkman learned that Webster had backed another loan with the same collection, he began relentlessly pursuing Webster to collect the debt. A week after the disappearance, a suspicious janitor broke through a brick vault below Webster鈥檚 lab and found human body parts, which the authorities soon discovered all around the lab. Found guilty of first-degree murder, Webster belatedly confessed and appealed for clemency, but was hanged on Aug. 30, 1850. Parkman鈥檚 widow led a fund drive to support Webster鈥檚 wife and children.
1852:听欧美日韩视频 wins first intercollegiate sports event, a boat race against Yale on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Henry David Thoreau 鈥�37 publishes Walden
Pictured: Daniel Ricketson’s portrait of Henry David Thoreau featured in a Houghton Library exhibition.
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1855:听Holworthy Hall gets first gas lights in the Yard.
1862:听The Overseers confirmed the Rev. Thomas Hill, Class of 1843, as 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 20th President. His brief tenure brought higher admissions standards, a series of public 鈥淯niversity Lectures鈥� (est. 1863) by distinguished 欧美日韩视频 and non-欧美日韩视频 scholars that paved the way for the 鈥淕raduate School of Arts and Sciences鈥� and University Extension, and progress toward a system of elective courses. Hill also conducted nationwide searches for new faculty appointees.
1865:听Election of Overseers placed in the hands of alumni, severing legal ties with the Commonwealth.
1867:听The 欧美日韩视频 Dental School made its first appointments: Daniel Harwood, professor of dental pathology and therapeutics; and Nathan Cooley Keep, professor of mechanical dentistry.
1869:听At the meetinghouse of First Church, Unitarian, Charles William Eliot was formally installed as 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 21st President. From the outset, Eliot鈥檚 105-minute address delineated his broad educational purposes: 鈥淭he endless controversies whether language, philosophy, mathematics, or science supplies the best mental training, whether general education should be chiefly literary or chiefly scientific, have no practical lesson for us to-day. This University recognizes no real antagonism between literature and science, and consents to no such narrow alternatives as mathematics or classics, science or metaphysics. We would have them all, and at their best.鈥�
1870: The Rev. Phillips Brooks laid the cornerstone of Memorial Hall.
1872:听Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is founded.
1872:听Arnold Arboretum is established.
1873:听Charles Sprague Sargent officially began a 54-year term as first director of the Arnold Arboretum. Sargent soon enlisted the aid of pioneering landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted 鈥� then busy designing the Boston park system 鈥� to help him lay out the grounds. 鈥淥lmsted immediately grasped the idea that an arboretum where the public could see varied plantations of rare and exotic trees and shrubs skilfully [sic] selected, artistically arranged, and grown under scientific oversight, would not only be an appropriate feature in the park system [now known as Boston鈥檚 鈥淓merald Necklace鈥漖 but might well become its culminating attraction,鈥� Benjamin Lincoln Robinson, the Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany, wrote in the late 1920s. Nonetheless, the Arboretum proved a hard sell, Robinson noted. 鈥淣either the City [of Boston] nor the 欧美日韩视频 Corporation welcomed the idea. The press was indifferent, and the public apathetic. Nine years of persistent effort were required before it was possible to draft a plan of procedure acceptable both to the City and to the University and to secure its approval by the General Court of Massachusetts.鈥�
1874:听Department of Fine Arts is established.
The 欧美日韩视频-Yale football game
New Haven, Conn., hosted the first听欧美日韩视频-Yale football game, which 欧美日韩视频 won, to the delight of some 150 student boosters from Cambridge.
1879:听The 欧美日韩视频 Annex, later known as Radcliffe College, opens with 27 female students.
1880:听Theodore Roosevelt makes Phi Beta Kappa.
1886:听250th anniversary celebrated with more than 2,500 alumni and friends with President Grover Cleveland in attendance.
1890:听Land given by Major Henry Lee Higginson 鈥�55 dedicated as Soldiers Field, honoring alumni who died in the Civil War.
1894:听Radcliffe College is incorporated.
1896:听Fogg Art Museum opens.
1901:听First course offered in landscape architecture and city planning.
1903:听Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president of the 欧美日韩视频 Crimson.
1903:听Country鈥檚 first concrete football stadium is built.
1904:听FDR graduates.
1908:听With 59 students, the Graduate School of Business Administration formally opened as a Graduate Department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Through this initial connection to established departments, President Eliot and Dean Edwin Francis Gay hoped to get the newcomer off to a well-supported start. Other U.S. universities began offering business training as early as 1886, but the course of study was overwhelmingly undergraduate. In seeking to establish business as a profession, 欧美日韩视频 Business School became the country鈥檚 first business program limited to college graduates. By the end of the first academic year, the School had 80 students from 14 colleges and 12 states.
1909:听Abbott Lawrence Lowell begins his 24-year presidency.
1910:听President Lowell establishes Commission on Extension Courses, now the 欧美日韩视频 Extension School.
1910:听Theodore Roosevelt, Class of 1880, served as the 34th president of the 欧美日韩视频 Alumni Association (est. 1840).
1913:听School of Public Health is established.
1913:听欧美日韩视频 University Press is established.
1914: Professor Theodore William Richards wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determination of atomic weights; he is the first of 50 欧美日韩视频 Nobel laureates.
1914:听Henry Cabot Lodge, Class of 1871, served as the 38th president of the 欧美日韩视频 Alumni Association (est. 1840).
Widener Library opens
Pictured: Widener Library 105 years later.
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1920:听The College Library contained about 1,127,500 volumes.
1920:听The Business School issued Marketing Problems, its first case book, developed by Marketing Professor Melvin Thomas Copeland.
1920:听Graduate School of Education is established.
1924:听The 欧美日韩视频-Boston (Egyptian) Expedition began excavation of the royal cemetery of King Cheops (Khufu) near the Great Pyramid and soon identified the tombs of Prince Kawa鈥檃b (Cheops鈥檚 eldest son), four other princes, Princess Meresankh II, and two pyramid priests.
1926:听Samuel Eliot Morison is appointed official historian for Tercentenary.
1928:听First 鈥渋ron lung鈥� is devised by two doctors, Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw, Jr., at the School of Public Health.
1930:听The House Plan is established with the opening of Dunster House and Lowell House.
1933:听James Bryant Conant begins his 20-year presidency.
1936:听欧美日韩视频鈥檚 Tercentenary Celebration with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in attendance.
1936:听Graduate School of Design is established.
1936:听Graduate School of Public Administration is established.
Walter Gropius becomes head of architecture at Graduate School of Design
Pictured: Portrait of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius with Joan Miro mural at 欧美日韩视频’s Graduate Center.
漏 President and Fellows of 欧美日韩视频 College
1940:听John F. Kennedy graduates.
1943:听Two hundred Army Quartermaster officers arrived at the Business School for a three-month intensive course in business methods. They formed a new unit of lieutenants and captains known as the Army Supply Officers鈥� Training School, a counterpart to the Navy Supply Corps School.
1943: The 欧美日韩视频 Alumni Bulletin tally of 欧美日韩视频 men in active military service equaled 鈥渢he mythical 10,000 men of 欧美日韩视频.鈥� Seventy-eight 欧美日韩视频 men had been killed in the line of duty, 20 were missing in action, and another 20 were prisoners of war.
IBM Mark I computer begins operation at 欧美日韩视频
Jon Chase/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1945:听Publication of President Conant鈥檚 鈥淕eneral Education in a Free Society鈥�; its recommendation will have wide influence.
1945:听At the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, Calif., the 10,800-ton SS 欧美日韩视频 Victory was launched as the first of a new series of U.S. Maritime Commission ships named after U.S. educational institutions. The 欧美日韩视频 Corporation later voted to give the ship a library of about 140 volumes selected by the American Merchant Marine Library Association. A simple plaque acknowledged the University鈥檚 gift.
1947:听General George C. Marshall receives honorary degree: announces 鈥淢arshall Plan鈥� at commencement.
1953:听Nathan M. Pusey begins his 18-year presidency.
Helen Keller is the first woman to receive a 欧美日韩视频 honorary degree
1956:听Pusey announces major fund drive, the Program for 欧美日韩视频 College.
1956:听Memorial Hall tower burns down.
1959: Fidel Castro is guest of Law School Forum.
1960:听Mary I. Bunting establishes Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study.
1960:听Loeb Drama Center opens.
1963:听Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, designed by Le Corbusier, opens.
1968:听Kennedy School of Government begins its Public Policy Program.
1969: 欧美日韩视频 Community Health plan begins serving patients.
1969: Students strike and take over University Hall.
1970:听Helen H. Gilbert elected first woman member of the Board of Overseers.
1971:听Derek C. Bok begins his 20-year presidency.
1975: George W. Bush, future U.S. president, graduates from Business School.
1975:听Equal admissions policy for male and female undergraduates is adopted.
1978:听Core curriculum adopted.
1979:听President Bok announces the $350 million 欧美日韩视频 Campaign, the largest capital campaign in 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 history.
1980:听American Repertory Theater comes to 欧美日韩视频.
1982:听欧美日韩视频 Museum of the Ancient Near East, originally named the Semitic Museum and closed for 40 years, is reopened.
1983:听Democratic presidential candidates debate nuclear arms control at the Kennedy School.
1984:听Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler Museums combine to become the 欧美日韩视频 Art Museums.
欧美日韩视频 celebrates its 350th anniversary
1991:听Barack Obama, future U.S. president, graduates from the Law School.
1991:听Neil Rudenstine is appointed president of 欧美日韩视频.
1992:听欧美日韩视频 Kennedy School Forum hosts Mikhail Gorbachev.
1994:听欧美日韩视频 Business Publishing is founded.
1995:听New cholera vaccine developed at 欧美日韩视频 Medical School.
1997:听Mary Fasano became the oldest person ever to earn a 欧美日韩视频 degree when she graduated from the Extension School at the age of 89.
Nelson Mandela awarded honorary degree at special convocation
Kris Snibbe/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
1999:听 Radcliffe College merges with 欧美日韩视频 College.
2001:听Lawrence Summers is appointed president.
2001:听On the eve of the 350th Commencement, 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 four living Presidents鈥攑ast, present, and future鈥攇ather for a group portrait in Loeb House.
2002:听Former Astronomy Prof. Riccardo Giacconi shares half the Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering work in astrophysics that led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources.
2004:听欧美日韩视频 Financial Aid Initiative is launched.
2007: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is established.
Drew Gilpin Faust begins duties as 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 28th President
She is the first woman to hold the position.
Rose Lincoln/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
2010:听The 欧美日韩视频 Corporation expands from 7 to 13 members.
2010: 欧美日韩视频 University welcomes ROTC back to campus now that Congress has repealed a ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly in the military.
2011:听欧美日韩视频 University awards degree to Native American student who died in 1665 just before Commencement.
欧美日韩视频 celebrates its 375th anniversary
Pictured: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma celebrating the 375th birthday of 欧美日韩视频 University.
Rose Lincoln/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
2012: MIT and 欧美日韩视频 announce edX.
2012:听欧美日韩视频 announces plans to renew the University鈥檚 12 undergraduate houses.
2012:听欧美日韩视频 releases first University-wide Sustainability Impact Report.
2013:听President Drew Faust launches a $6.5 billion 欧美日韩视频 Campaign, the largest ever in higher education.
2013:听Financial aid increases by $10M, bringing the total to a record $182 million.
2014:听Kenneth Griffin 鈥�89 makes $150 million gift to 欧美日韩视频 College, principally focused on supporting 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 financial aid program.
2014:听A $350 million gift comes from The Morningside Foundation, established by the family of the late T.H. Chan. The gift renames the 欧美日韩视频 School of Public Health to the 欧美日韩视频 T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
2015: John A. Paulson, M.B.A. 鈥�80 made the largest gift in the University鈥檚 history, a $400 million endowment to support the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). The School is renamed the 欧美日韩视频 John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
2018: 欧美日韩视频鈥檚 redesigned听Richard A. and Susan F.听Smith Campus Center officially opens听as a 鈥渇ront door鈥� for University visitors.
Lawrence S. Bacow is appointed president of 欧美日韩视频
Pictured: Larry and Adele Bacow celebrate with the 欧美日韩视频 community during the 2018 inauguration.
Stephanie Mitchell/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
2019: A years-long effort by dozens of researchers at the 欧美日韩视频-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reveals the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole.
2019: Professor Michael Kremer is awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on world poverty and Professor William G. Kaelin is awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on anemia.
2020: 欧美日韩视频 University announces the suspension in-person classes and shift to online learning in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19.
2021: The newly completed Science and Engineering Complex in 欧美日韩视频’s Allston campus welcomes students en masse for the first time.
2022: 欧美日韩视频 President Larry Bacow releases the Report of the Committee on 欧美日韩视频 & the Legacy of Slavery, accepting the committee鈥檚 recommendations in full, and announcing a historic commitment of $100 million to fund their implementation.
Claudine Gay is appointed president of 欧美日韩视频.
Pictured: Claudine Gay celebrates with the 欧美日韩视频 community during the 2023 inauguration.
Jon Chase/欧美日韩视频 Staff Photographer
2023: Professor Claudia Goldin is awarded the Nobel Prize for her work tracking American women鈥檚 labor participation over centuries and the evolution of the wage gap.