Education Chronology

The University of Marburg is founded in Germany.

Ref: 2

1551

May 12

San Marcos University in Lima Peru, opens.

Ref: 5

1571

Jun 15

Harrow School, England, founded.

Ref: 10

1575

Feb 08

University of Leiden Netherlands opens.

Ref: 5

1635

Jan 29

Academie Francaise is formally established in Paris by Cardinal Richelieu.

Ref: 17

The oldest public school in the United States, the Boston Public Latin School, was founded.

Ref: 70

1636

Mar 26

University of Utrecht opening ceremony

Ref: 2

Sep 08

Harvard College (later University) was founded by the Massachusetts Puritans with the help of Ł800 from Rev. John Harvard at New Towne. It was the first institution of higher learning established in North America, and was originally founded to train future ministers.

Ref: 5

Oct 28

The Massachusetts General Court provides Ł400 to support a school or college, and so, Harvard University is founded in Cambridge, MA.

Ref: 4

1639

Mar 13

Cambridge College renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard.

Ref: 5

May 20

Dorchester MA, forms first school funded by local taxes.

Ref: 5

1642

Jun 14

Massachusetts passes the first compulsory education law in the colonies.

Ref: 2

Sep 23

Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, held its first commencement.

Ref: 5

1647

Nov 11

Massachusetts passes 1st US compulsory school attendance law.

Ref: 39

1648

Apr 12

University of Harderwijk Netherlands solemn opens.

Ref: 5

1677

Apr 26

Emperor Leopold I forms University of Innsbruck.

Ref: 5

1693

Feb 08

William and Mary College is charged by King William III and Queen Mary II as the second college in the American colonies. (Ref, courtesy Steve Zahorbenski)

1701

Oct 09

The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later Yale University) is chartered in New Haven.

Ref: 70

Oct 16

Yale Univesrsity is founded as The Collegiate School of Kilingworth, Connecticut by Congregationalists who consider Harvard too liberal.

Ref: 2

1704

Feb 28

Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in New York NY.

Ref: 5

1718

Sep 10

The Collegiate School at New Haven, CT, changes its name to Yale. (Congregationalists, unhappy with an increasing religious liberalism at Harvard, had founded Yale, the third oldest college in America, in 1701.)

Ref: 5

1746

May 04

The Moravians in Pennsylvania established the Moravian Women's Seminary at Bethlehem. It was the first educational institution of its kind established by the "Unitas Fratrum" in (colonial) America.

Ref: 5

Oct 22

John Hamilton, the Royal Governor of New Jersey officially chartered the College of New Jersey. The school is now known as Princeton University.

Ref: 4

1750

Aug 03

This is the day that Christopher Dock completed the first book of teaching methods. He called it A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management.

Ref: 4

Dec 01

First American school to offer manual training courses opens, Maryland.

Ref: 5

1754

Jan 04

Columbia University founded, as Kings College (New York City NY).

Ref: 5

May 20

Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.

Ref: 5

Jul 07

Kings College opened in NY City. The institution of higher learning admitted eight students and one faculty member, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who also served as school president. These were humble beginnings for a school which would become one of the largest in the United States. Kings was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and, later, became Columbia University. Many prestigious awards come from this university, including the Columbia Award for Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism (named after Joseph Pulitzer, a former Columbia professor).

Ref: 4

1755

Jan 12

Tsarina Elisabeth establishes first Russian University.

Ref: 5

Apr 26

First Russian university opens (Moscow).

Ref: 5

1756

Apr 02

Benjamin Franklin, visiting Williamsburg, receives the first honorary degree from the College of William and Mary.

Sep 22

Nassau Hall opens at Princeton University.

Ref: 5

1766

Nov 10

In New Brunswick, New Jersey, Queen's College was chartered under the Dutch Reformed Church, to provide education "...especially in divinity, preparing [youth] for the ministry and other good offices." The present name of the school, Rutgers University, was adopted in 1924.

Ref: 5

1769

Dec 13

Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, receives its charter.

Ref: 70

1770

Jun 28

Quakers open a school for blacks in Philadelphia.

Ref: 5

1772

Dec 22

Moravian missionary constructs first schoolhouse west of Allegheny.

Ref: 5

1773

Jul 29

The first schoolhouse to be located west of the Allegheny Mountains was built in Schoenbrunn, OH.

Ref: 4

1775

Feb 08

Leidse University 400th anniversary dinner.

Ref: 5

1776

Dec 05

Phi Beta Kappa is organized as the first American college Greek letter-fraternity, at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va.

Ref: 2

Dec 06

Phi Betta Kappa, the first scholastic fraternity, is founded at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

Ref: 2

1777

University library at Vienna opens.

Ref: 5

1779

Nov 27

The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania and the first legally recognized university in America.

Ref: 4

Dec 04

The College of William and Mary reorganized as a university, offering the first elective system of studies in the United States.

1785

Jan 27

First US state university chartered, Athens GA.

Ref: 5

Nov 27

First US state university chartered, Athens GA.

Ref: 5

1787

Nov 01

First free school in NYC (African Free School) opens.

Ref: 5

Dec 06

Cokesbury College, the first Methodist college in America, opened its doors in Abingdon, MD. The campus consisted of a three-story building 108 feet long and 40 feet wide.

Ref: 5

1789

Jan 23

Georgetown College was founded by Father John Carroll, 54, in Washington, D.C. Ä the first Roman Catholic college established in America.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

Franklin College founded (1787?).

Ref: 5

1791

Nov 15

First Catholic college in US, Georgetown, opens.

Ref: 5

Dec 15

First US law school established at University of Pennsylvania.

Ref: 5

1792

Jul 09

S.L. Mitchell of Columbia College in NY City became the first Professor of Agriculture.

Ref: 4

1794

Sep 10

Blount College -- the first American nondenominational institution of higher learning -- was established in Knoxville. (It later became the University of TN.).

Ref: 5

1795

First state university in US opens, University of North Carolina.

Ref: 5

1804

Feb 18

First US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens OH, chartered.

Ref: 5

1805

Dec 26

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts established, Philadelphia.

Ref: 5

1806

Nov 15

First US college magazine, Yale Literary Cabinet, publishes 1st issue.

Ref: 5

1808

Mar 06

First college orchestra in US founded, at Harvard University.

Ref: 5

1810

Mar 01

Georgetown College was chartered in Washington, D.C., making it the first Roman Catholic institution of higher learning established in the United States.

Ref: 5

1817

Apr 17

First US school for the deaf founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc (American School for the Deaf-Hartford CT).

Ref: 5

1818

Feb 07

First successful US educational magazine "Academician" begins (New York NY).

Ref: 5

1822

Dec 06

Veterinary school in Utrecht opens.

Ref: 5

1823

Mar 11

First normal school in US opens, Concord Academy, Concord VT.

Ref: 5

1824

St. Regis Seminary was opened in Florissant, Missouri. It was the first Roman Catholic institution established in America for the higher education of American Indians.

Ref: 5

1825

Jan 15

Illinois enacts a tax to crate and maintain a public school in every county in the state. XDG, p 4A, 1/15/01)

Ref: 83

Nov 26

At Union College in Schenectady, NY, Rev. John Hart Hunter, John McGeoch, Prof. Isaac Wilbur Jackson, Dr. Thomas Hun, Orlando Meads, James Proudfit and Hon. Joseph Anthony Constant of the class of 1826, and Rev. Arthur Burtis and Joseph Law of the Class of 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, NY converted an informal group called "The Philosophers" into the Kappa Alpha Society. This caught the attention of the college world and exploded into the collegiate fraternity system over the following 75 years.

Ref: 4

1826

Feb 11

London University founded.

Ref: 5

1827

The University of Toronto is chartered.

Ref: 5

The first nursery school in the United States was established in NY City. The school was developed “to relieve parents of the laboring classes from the care of their children ... offering the children protection from weather, from idleness and contamination of evil example.” Yes, it actually meant that mommies and daddies who worked could drop the kiddies off for a truly fun, educational experience with little to fear. Plus, the youngsters got milk and cookies too!

Ref: 4

The first nautical school opened in Nantucket, MA. Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School was the name.

Ref: 4

Jul 23

The first swimming school in the US opened in Boston, MA. Actually, the first lesson proved interesting: A student was suspended from a pole on a rope while “learning the use of his limbs.” Famous people who were former students: John Quincy Adams, James Audubon.

Ref: 4

1828

Edward Hitchcock America's first professor of physical ed (Amherst College), is born.

Ref: 5

1829

Mar 16

Ohio authorizes high school night classes.

Ref: 5

1832

Dec 28

In Missouri, St. Louis Academy (founded in 1818) was chartered as St. Louis University. It was the first Catholic university established in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Ref: 5

1833

Jan 08

Boston Academy of Music, first US music school, established.

Ref: 5

Oct 29

First US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded.

Ref: 5

Dec 03

Oberlin College in Ohio started classes as the first coed institution of higher learning in the United States.

Ref: 4

1834

Nov 14

William Thomson enters Glasgow University at 10 years 4 months.

Ref: 5

Dec 18

Emory College was chartered in Oxford, GA, under Methodist auspices. In 1915 it changed its name to Emory University and in 1919 the campus was relocated in Atlanta, GA.

Ref: 5

1835

Dec 21

Oglethorpe University was chartered in Milledgeville, Georgia under Presbyterian auspices. In 1913 the campus was moved to Atlanta.

Ref: 5

1837

Apr 19

Cheyney University forms as the Institute for Colored Youth.

Ref: 5

Aug 31

Ralph Waldo Emerson gives a Phi Beta Kappa oration at Harvard University.

Sep 06

What is now Oberlin (Ohio) College becomes co-ed.

Ref: 6

Nov 08

Mt. Holyoke Seminary first opened in Massachusetts. Founded by Mary Lyon, 39, it was the first college in the U.S. established specifically for the education of women.

Ref: 5

Dec 22

Mercer University was chartered in Penfield GA under Baptist support. In 1871 the college moved its campus to Macon, Georgia.

Ref: 5

1838

Feb 16

Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions.

Ref: 5

Aug 23

Mt Holyoke Female Seminary (South Hadley, Mass) first graduating class.

Ref: 5

Oct 30

Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Lorian County, Ohio becomes the first college in the U.S. to admit female students.

Ref: 2

Dec 28

Greensborough Female College was chartered in North Carolina, under the Methodist Church. In 1920 its name was changed to Greensboro College.

Ref: 5

Hanover College was chartered by the Presbyterian General Assembly of Indiana. The school had been founded as a seminary "in the wilderness" for training ministers.

Ref: 5

1839

Jul 03

First state normal school in US opens, Lexington, Mass, with 3 students.

Ref: 5

Aug 08

Beta Theta Pi became the first Greek-letter fraternity west of the Alleghenies. The fraternity was a new arrival at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

Ref: 4

1840

Aug 18

First ‘class photograph' taken by Samuel F.B. Morse of Yale College 30th reunion.

Ref: 10

1841

Jun 24

Fordham University (then St John's College), opens in the Bronx

Ref: 5

Oct 16

Queens University in Kingston is chartered.

Ref: 5

Dec 29

Howard College was chartered in Marion, Alabama, under Baptist sponsorship. The campus relocated to Birmingham in 1887.

Ref: 5

1842

Jan 08

Dutch King Willem II charters Technical College Delft.

Ref: 5

1844

Jan 15

The University of Notre Dame was chartered under Roman Catholic auspices in Indiana.

Ref: 5

Jan 30

Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University.

Ref: 2

1845

Mar 11

Wittenberg College was chartered in Springfield, Ohio, under Lutheran auspices.

Ref: 5

Dec 20

Baldwin Institute was chartered in Berea, Ohio, by the Methodists. Changing its name in 1854 to Baldwin University, the college merged in 1914 with German Wallace College and adopted its present name: Baldwin Wallace University.

Ref: 5

1846

Jan 18

Taylor University was established in Fort Wayne, Indiana, under Methodist sponsorship.

Ref: 5

Jun 17

Iowa College was chartered in Davenport under the joint sponsorship of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. The school changed location in 1859 and was later renamed Grinnell College.

Ref: 5

1847

Feb 25

State University of Iowa is approved.

Ref: 5

Apr 12

Yung Wing, one of several Chinese students to arrive in America this day, went on to become the first student from China to graduate from Yale University [1854].

Ref: 4

1848

Feb 15

Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston.

Ref: 5

1849

Feb 04

University of Wisconsin begins in 1 room with 20 students.

Ref: 5

Otterbein College was chartered in Westerville, Ohio, under sponsorship of the United Brethren Church.

Ref: 5

Feb 27

William Jewell College was chartered in Liberty, Missouri, under Baptist sponsorship.

Ref: 5

Nov 22

Austin College was chartered in TX at Huntsville under Presbyterian sponsorship. In 1876 the school campus was moved to Sherman, TX.

Ref: 5

1850

Mar 11

Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania (1st female medical school).

Ref: 5

1851

Jan 28

Northwestern University (Chicago) chartered.

Ref: 5

Apr 29

First U.S. college to accept students of all races and religions opens in NY Cooper Union College.

Ref: 10

Jul 10

California Wesleyan College was chartered in Santa Clara, under sponsorship of the Methodist Church. In 1961 its name was changed to the University of the Pacific.

Ref: 5

1852

May 18

Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school.

Ref: 5

Nov 21

Union Institute was chartered by the Methodists in Randolph County, NC. Renamed Trinity College in 1859, the campus moved to Durham in 1892. Tobacco magnate James B. Duke endowed the school with $40 million in 1924, upon which its name was changed to Duke University.

Ref: 5

1853

Apr 13

Loyola College in Baltimore was chartered under Roman Catholic auspices.

Ref: 5

Jun 03

Central College was chartered in Pella, Iowa under Baptist auspices. (In 1916 the university passed to Dutch Reformed leadership.).

Ref: 5

Jul 05

Cecil John Rhodes diamond tycoon; founded Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford University; the African country of Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe] was named after him; is born.

Ref: 4

1854

Lincoln University, a black college, chartered (Oxford PA).

Ref: 5

1855

Apr 28

First veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston.

Ref: 5

1856

Dec 20

Newberry College was chartered in Newberry, SC, under Lutheran auspices. The campus moved to Walhalla, SC, in 1868, but returned to Newberry in 1877.

Ref: 5

1857

Feb 16

The National Deaf Mute College was incorporated in Washington, DC. It was the first school in the world for advanced education of the deaf. It was later renamed Gallaudet College.

Ref: 4

Apr 30

What is now know as San Jose State University is founded.

Ref: 5

1858

Oct 19

Alice Josephine McLellan Birney, child welfare worker whose ideas evolved into the PTA, is born.

Ref: 2

1859

Jan 02

Erastus Beadle published The Dime Book of Practical Etiquette.

Ref: 4

Jul 26

The first intercollegiate regatta began in Worcester, MA. Harvard University defeated both Yale and Brown on Lake Quinsigamond.

Ref: 4

1860

Feb 15

Wheaton College was chartered in Illinois under Methodist sponsorship. (The following year the school passed into Congregational control. Today, Wheaton is non-denominational.).

Ref: 5

Jul 25

Harvard and Yale University freshmen met in the first intercollegiate billiards match -- at Worcester, MA.

Ref: 4

1861

May 20

Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle.

Ref: 5

Sep 17

First day school for freedmen forms at Fortress Monroe Virginia.

Ref: 5

Nov 04

University of Washington founded in Seattle.

Ref: 5

1862

Jul 02

Lincoln signs act granting land for state agricultural colleges.

Ref: 5

1864

Apr 29

Theta Xi, a professional fraternity, was founded -- in Troy, NY.

Ref: 4

Nov 15

First US mines school opens in basement of Columbia University, NY.

Ref: 5

1865

Feb 20

M I T establishes first US collegiate architectural school.

Ref: 5

Apr 27

Cornell University (Ithaca NY) is chartered.

Ref: 5

Jul 26

Patrick Francis Healy is first black awarded PhD (Louvain Belgium).

Ref: 5

1866

Nov 20

Howard University founded (Wash, DC).

Ref: 5

1867

Feb 14

Morehouse College organizes (Augusta GA).

Ref: 5

Feb 18

The Augusta Institute was founded in Georgia. Established as an institution of higher learning for black students, it moved to Atlanta in 1879, and in 1913 changed its name to Morehouse College.

Ref: 5

Mar 01

Howard University, Washington DC, chartered.

Ref: 5

Mar 02

US Congress creates the Department of Education.

Ref: 5

Michigan becomes 1st state to tax property to support a university

Ref: 5

May 01

Howard University chartered.

Ref: 5

1868

Mar 02

University of Illinois opens.

Ref: 5

Mar 23

University of California founded (Oakland CA).

Ref: 5

Apr 01

The Hampton Institute is founded in Hampton, Va.

Ref: 2

Jun 09

First meeting of the Board of Regents, University of California.

Ref: 5

Oct 07

Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, N.Y.

Ref: 70

Dec 05

The first American bicycle school opened in NY City. It announced courses for velocipede riding.

Ref: 4

1869

Mar 03

University of South Carolina opens to all races.

Ref: 5

1870

Jan 27

Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women’s Greek letter society, or sorority, is founded at Indiana Asbury University -- now DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

Ref: 4

Mar 17

The Massachusetts Legislature authorized the incorporation of Wellesley Female Seminary. It later became Wellesley College.

Ref: 70

Sep 05

Three Roman Catholic universities were founded in the United States on this exact same date: St. John's in New York City, Loyola in Chicago, and Canisius in Buffalo, New York.

Ref: 5

Nov 27

First sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw University in Greencastle IN).

Ref: 5

1872

Feb 07

Alcorn A & M College opens.

Ref: 5

May 02

A lectureship was established at Yale Divinity School in memory of American clergyman Lyman Beecher (1775-1863). The lectures were to cover topics on preaching and the work of the Christian ministry.

Ref: 5

1873

Aug 26

The first public school kindergarten in the U.S. was authorized by the school board of St. Louis, MO.

Ref: 4

1874

Jan 30

The first mechanical engineering research laboratory in the US is established at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken NJ. (XDG, p 4A, 1/30/2001)

Ref: 83

Mar 10

Purdue University (Indiana) admits its first student.

Ref: 5

Apr 15

New York legislature passes compulsory education law.

Ref: 5

Jul 12

Ontario Agricultural College founded.

Ref: 5

Jul 30

Patrick Francis Healy was inaugurated president of Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in America. Healy at the same time became the first African-American to head a predominantly white university.

Ref: 5

1875

Oct 03

Hebrew Union College was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio under Jewish auspices. It was the first Jewish college in America to train men for the rabbinate.

Ref: 5

1876

Jan 03

First free kindergarten in US opens in Florence MA.

Ref: 5

Feb 22

Johns Hopkins University opens.

Ref: 5

Aug 14

Prairie View State University forms.

Ref: 5

Nov 07

Edward Bouchet, is first black to receive a PhD in US college (Yale).

Ref: 5

Dec 08

Suriname begins compulsory education for 7-12 years.

Ref: 5

1878

Jan 28

The Yale News was published for the very first time. It was the first daily collegiate newspaper in the United States.

Ref: 4

Mar 26

Hastings College of Law founded

Ref: 2

1880

Nov 24

Southern University established.

Ref: 5

1881

Apr 11

Spelman College founded.

Ref: 5

Jul 04

Tuskegee Institute opened its doors to the students who built it with bricks made in their own kiln. An abandoned plantation in Tuskegee, Alabama was the site chosen for Booker T. Washington’s institution for academic and vocational training.

Ref: 4

1882

Feb 28

First US college cooperative store opens, at Harvard University.

Ref: 5

1883

Oct 01

American churchman A. B. Simpson founded the first school in America to train missionaries, in NY City. Called the Missionary Training Institute in 1894, its name was changed to Nyack College in 1972.

Ref: 5

1884

Mar 12

The State of Mississippi authorized the first state-supported college for women. It was called the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College.

Ref: 4

1887

Jan 05

First US school of librarianship opens at Columbia University.

Ref: 5

Apr 19

The Catholic University of America was chartered in Washington, D.C.

Ref: 5

Jul 26

First Esperanto book published

Ref: 5

1889

Jun 11

A high school devoted to business opened in Washington, DC. The Washington Business High School was the first such institution in America.

Ref: 4

Oct 01

World's first sex education course at Abbotsholene School in England.

Ref: 10

1890

Jan 03

The first college level dairy school in the US opens at the University of Wisconsin's College of Agriculture. (XDG, p 4A, 1/3/2001)

Ref: 83

1891

May 19

Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered.

Ref: 5

1892

Feb 23

First college student government established, Bryn Mawr PA.

Ref: 5

Sep 11

The Scarritt Bible and Training School in Nashville, TN, was dedicated, primarily as the result of the conception, urging and fund-raising of southern Methodist missions leader and social reformer, Belle Harris Bennett (1852-1922).

Ref: 5

1893

First US college extension courses for credit, University of Chicago.

Ref: 5

Mar 10

New Mexico State University cancels its first graduation ceremony, because the only graduate was robbed and killed the night before.

Ref: 2

1897

Feb 17

The National Congress of Mothers (later the PTA) is organized in Washington, DC by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst.

Ref: 4

1898

May 07

The first Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association meet was held in New Haven, CT. Clay pigeons were used for the competition.

Ref: 4

1900

Compulsory education in Netherlands goes into effect.

Ref: 5

Mar 30

Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts Compulsory education law.

Ref: 5

1901

Hall of Fame for Great Americans on NYU campus dedicated.

Ref: 5

1902

Apr 04

British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships for Americans at Oxford University in England.

Ref: 70

1904

Oct 03

Mary McLeod Bethune opens Daytona Normal & Industrial School.

Ref: 5

1905

Apr 16

An endowment of a college teachers’ pension fund was established by Andrew Carnegie. He donated $10,000,000 of personal money to set up the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Ref: 4

May 22

Royal Academy in Delft Holland becomes Technical High School.

Ref: 5

1906

Mar 21

Ohio passes a law that prohibits hazing by fraternities.

Ref: 2

Apr 19

Belgian naval education ship Comte The Stain de Naeyer sets sail.

Ref: 5

Bezalel Art School opens in Jerusalem.

Ref: 5

1907

Jan 06

Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome).

Ref: 5

Jun 06

Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, a graduate school for biblical and rabbinical studies, was chartered in Philadelphia.

Ref: 5

1908

Jan 29

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, at Cornell University, incorporates.

Ref: 5

Feb 12

Anna Jeanes bequeathes $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female.

Ref: 5

Mar 04

The New York board of education bans the act of whipping students in school.

Ref: 2

Mar 14

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered in Waco, Texas. Originally named Baylor Theological Seminary, the school campus relocated in 1910 to Fort Worth.

Ref: 5

1909

Feb 09

First forestry school is incorporated at Kent OH.

Ref: 5

May 24

Bristol University granted Royal Charter.

Ref: 5

Dec 21

McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, CA became the first authorized junior-high schools in the U.S. (grades 7,8 and 9). The schools were actually identified as introductory high schools.

Ref: 4

1910

Jan 02

First junior high schools in US open in Berkeley CA.

Ref: 5

1911

May 15

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Indiana University, incorporates.

Ref: 5

Nov 10

Andrew Carnegie tops previous educational grants;founds Carnegie Corp. and gives $125 M.

Ref: 10

1912

Aug 21

Mr Carter-Cotton chosen first chancellor of Univ of British Columbia.

Ref: 5

1913

Jan 29

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, at Howard University, incorporates.

Ref: 5

1914

Oct 28

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, founded at Howard University, incorporates.

Ref: 5

1915

Sep 22

Xavier University, the first African-American Catholic college, opens in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ref: 2

Sep 22

Southern Methodist University (Dallas Texas) holds its first class.

Ref: 5

1916

University of Gent goes under Dutch control.

Ref: 5

1917

Oct 08

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered in New Orleans by P. I. Lipsey. The school opened for its first classes in September 1918.

Ref: 5

1918

Mar 09

Wageningen Agricultural College Netherlands opens.

Ref: 5

Jul 24

On Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, the cornerstone for Hebrew University was laid by Dr Chaim Weizmann. (Weizmann was later elected first president of the modern state of Israel.)

Ref: 5

Dec 19

Robert Ripley began his Believe It or Not column in The NY Globe.

Ref: 4

1920

Jan 20

Dutch 2nd Chamber passes school laws.

Ref: 5

Jan 31

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, at Howard University, incorporates.

Ref: 5

Oxford University begins admitting women.

Ref: 10

1921

A new Elementary Education Act goes into effect in the Netherlands.

Ref: 17

1922

Apr 28

WOI (Ames, Iowa) country's first licensed educational radio station.

Ref: 5

1923

Jan 28

Demonstration against a Dutch University in Ghent.

Ref: 5

Mar 20

Belgian Senate rejects Dutch University in Ghent.

Ref: 5

Mar 30

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, formed at Howard University in 1920, incorporates.

Ref: 5

Jul 07

University of Delaware invents the "junior year abroad" (at Sorbonne)

Ref: 5

1924

Jan 12

History of Science Society organized at Boston.

Ref: 5

Feb 22

Columbia University declares radio education a success.

Ref: 2

Mar 21

First foreign language course broadcast on US radio (WJZ, New York NY).

Ref: 5

1925

Mar 13

Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signs legislation prohibiting the teaching of evolution within the state's public school system. (A celebrated violation of this law led to the famous July Scopes Monkey Trial.)

Ref: 5

Mar 21

State of Tennessee forbids teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in state schools.

Ref: 10

Mar 23

Tennessee becomes first state to outlaw teaching theory of evolution.

Ref: 5

Apr 01

On Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, British statesman Lord (Arthur James) Balfour dedicated Hebrew University.

Ref: 5

May 05

High school biology teacher John T. Scopes, 24, was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in his Dayton, TN classroom.

Ref: 5

May 09

Cornerstone for Hebrew University, Jerusalem laid.

Ref: 5

In Tallahassee, Florida, the State legislature passed a bill requiring daily Bible readings in all public schools.

Ref: 5

May 25

John T. Scopes was indicted in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.

Ref: 70

Jun 10

Tennessee adopts a new biology text book denying the theory of evolution.

Ref: 2

Jun 18

The first degree in landscape architecture was granted by Harvard University.

Ref: 4

Jul 10

The trial of TN teacher John T. Scopes opens, with Clarence Darrow appearing for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution.

Ref: 2

Jul 21

The so-called "Monkey Trial" ended in Dayton, Tenn., with John T. Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. The conviction was later overturned. (Go to article.)

Ref: 70

Jul 24

John T. Scopes convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton, TN, fined $100 & costs.

Ref: 5

Oct 16

Texas School Board prohibits teaching of evolution.

Ref: 5

1926

Jan 06

Kees Boeke opens first comprehensive school in Holland.

Ref: 5

Feb 09

Teaching theory of evolution forbidden in Atlanta GA schools.

Ref: 5

Nov 11

The University of Wisconsin announced that women could get college credit for a dance course offered by the school.

Ref: 4

1927

Aug 27

Parks College, America's oldest aviation school, opens.

Ref: 5

Sep 14

Bob Jones University opened in Greenville, South Carolina, and eighty-eight students registered for the first fall term.

Ref: 5

1928

Mar 29

Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (New York NY)

Ref: 5

1929

Mar 17

Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera closes university of Madrid.

Ref: 5

Dr Annie Webb Blanton forms Delta Kappa Gamma Society in Austin TX.

Ref: 5

May 16

The Shaffer Lectureship was established at the Yale Divinity School, in memory of Kent Shaffer, Ph.B.

Ref: 5

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority incorporates.

Ref: 5

1934

Feb 19

The University of Southern California (USC) and Notre Dame were cited as examples of commercialism in intercollegiate sports. They each signed a three-year contract for football, while other schools were “feeling the depression.”

Ref: 4

1935

Dec 04

1,200 at St Joseph's College (Philadelphia) enroll in anticommunism class.

Ref: 5

1937

May 31

The first quadruplets to complete college courses of study were awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees, individually. Mary, Mona, Roberta and Leota Keys received their degrees from Baylor University in Waco, TX.

Ref: 4

Aug 16

Harvard University in Cambridge MA, becomes the first school to institute graduate study courses in traffic engineering and administration.

Ref: 4

Sep 27

The first school for Santa Claus' opens in Albion, NY. Six students apply.

Ref: 5

1938

Aug 28

The first degree given to a ventriloquist's dummy is awarded to Charlie McCarthy--Edgar Bergen's wooden partner. The honorary degree, "Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback," is presented on radio by Ralph Dennis, the dean of the School of Speech at Northwestern University.

Ref: 2

Nov 21

WBOE in Cleveland, OH became the first school-operated radio station (owned by a municipality) to receive a license from the FCC. WBOE went on the air as a 500-watt AM station and later became an FM station.

Ref: 4

1939

Mar 03

A new and much publicized fad began to take shape at the Ivy League’s Harvard University: goldfish swallowing.

Ref: 4

1940

May 06

More than 100 colleges are closed due to student riots over Kent State. Ref

May 26

Invitation to Learning was first heard on CBS radio. The educational radio program ran for 15 years on the network.

Ref: 4

1941

Feb 26

Vichy-France makes religious education in school mandatory.

Ref: 5

1943

Apr 12

Dutch Catholic University Nijmegen closed.

Ref: 5

Apr 13

Catholic University Nijegen closes.

Ref: 5

1944

Apr 24

United Negro College Fund incorporates.

Ref: 5

Apr 25

United Negro College Fund incorporates.

Ref: 5

Chicago University called it quits to sports when it announced plans to withdraw from the Big 10 Conference of the NCAA and all other athletic competition.

Ref: 4

1945

Jan 03

Cato-Meridian School, NY, installs germicidal lamps in every room.

Ref: 5

Catholic University of Nijmegen reopens.

Ref: 5

Nov 16

Yeshiva College (University), chartered in NY, is the 1st US Jewish College.

Ref: 5

1946

Aug 01

President Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. William J. Fulbright.

Ref: 70

1948

Jan 11

President Harry S Truman proposes free, two-year community colleges for all who want an education.

Ref: 2

Jan 18

First courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Ref: 5

1950

Sep 05

Baptist Bible College was founded in Springfield, MO, under auspices of the Baptist Bible Fellowship. With an enrollment of over 2,000, it is today one of the largest Bible colleges in America.

Ref: 5

1951

Feb 18

Netherlands Radio School forms.

Ref: 5

Mar 03

"Mr. Wizard", educational science program for kids, first comes to TV

Ref: 62

1952

Jan 12

University of Tennessee admits its first black student.

Ref: 5

1953

Apr 04

The first Phi Beta Kappa chapter at a black college is organized at Fisk University.

Ref: 17

Schools first use Cliff's Notes.

Ref: 5

1954

Feb 20

The Ford Foundation gives a $25 million grant to the Fund for Advancement of Education.

Ref: 2

Sep 27

School integration begins in Wash DC & Baltimore Md public schools.

Ref: 5

1955

Apr 30

A few University of Iowa men students released a little pent-up energy. What did they do? They conducted panty raids at women’s dorms. Some say the Hawkeyes were still celebrating their February 28th basketball win (72-70) over the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota. Others think the men were celebrating the fact that enough snow had melted after the long winter to make it possible to find the women’s dorms again. In any case, panty raids became the in thing to do at colleges everywhere. Now that colleges have coed dorms, the raids have become a part of collegiate history along with the swallowing of goldfish.

Ref: 4

1956

Feb 03

Autherine J Lucy admitted to University of Alabama, suspended 2/7 after a riot.

Ref: 5

Feb 06

St. Patrick Center, the first circular school building in the United States, opened in Kankakee, IL.

Ref: 4

Feb 06

University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black).

Ref: 5

Feb 07

Autherine Lucy, first black admitted to University of Alabama, is expelled.

Ref: 5

Aug 09

The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in AL.

Ref: 4

1958

Mar 08

William Faulkner says US schools degenerated to become babysitters.

Ref: 5

1959

Feb 02

Arlington and Norfolk, Va., peacefully desegregate public schools.

Ref: 2

1962

Jan 18

Southern University closed due to demonstrations.

Ref: 5

Jun 10

The archdiocese of Atlanta GA announces a nonracial admission policy for the coming school year.

Ref: 17

1963

Oct 22

225,000 students boycott Chicago schools in Freedom Day protest.

Ref: 5

1965

Jan 15

Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor MI forms.

Ref: 5

Mar 02

Montcalm Community College in Sidney MI, founded.

Ref: 5

1966

Federal education funding is denied to 12 school districts in the South because of violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Ref: 5

1967

Mar 24

University of Michigan holds first "Teach-in" after bombing of North Vietnam.

Ref: 5

May 06

400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College.

Ref: 5

May 18

Tennessee Governor Ellington repeals "Monkey Law", upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial.

Ref: 5

1968

Mar 19

Howard University students seize administration building.

Ref: 5

Mar 29

Students seize building at Bowie State College.

Ref: 5

Students & police battle in Paris, 100s injured.

Ref: 5

Nov 14

Yale University announces its plan to go co-ed.

Ref: 2

1970

May 04

Ohio National Guardsmen open fire on student protesters at Kent State University, killing four (William Schroeder, Sandy Scheuer, Jeffrey Miller and Allison Krause) and wounding nine others.

Ref: 2

Jun 09

Bob Dylan received an honorary Doctorate in Music from Princeton University. Corretta Scott King (Doctor of Humanities) and Walter Lippman (Doctor of Laws) also received honorary degrees. Dylan wrote the song "Day of the Locust" about the event (it was the year the locusts invaded).

Ref: 4

Aug 14

City University of NY inaugurates open admissions.

Ref: 5

Sep 01

Dr. Hugh Scott of Washington, D.C. becomes the first African-American superintendent of schools in a major U.S. city.

Ref: 2

1971

Apr 23

Columbia University operations virtually end, by student strike.

Ref: 5

1973

Aug 26

The University of Texas at Arlington is the 1st accredited school to offer belly dancing.

Ref: 5

1975

Sep 16

Administrators for Rhodes Scholarships announce the decision to begin offering fellowships to women.

Ref: 2

1977

Oct 26

Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of NY.

Ref: 5

1979

Sep 27

Congress gave final approval to forming the Department of Education, the 13th Cabinet agency in US history.

Ref: 5

Oct 30

President Carter announced his choice of federal appeals judge Shirley Hufstedler to head the newly created Department of Education.

Ref: 6

1980

53rd National Spelling Bee: Jacques Bailly wins spelling elucubrate.

Ref: 5

Aug 06

University adm declares 5 Pac-10 schools ineligible for conference titles & post-season play due to transcript & curriculum abuses.

Ref: 5

1982

Jan 05

A Federal judge voids a state law requiring balanced classroom treatment of evolution and creationism.

Ref: 2

1984

May 31

57th National Spelling Bee: Daniel Greenblatt wins spelling luge.

Ref: 5

1986

In a report issued on this day by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, it was revealed that high school salaries for U.S. principals topped $70,000. The lowest salary reported for a high school principal was $15,200. The average salary for a high school principal was $49,670. On average, a principal would hand out more than 1,342,328,321 hours of detention in his or her career.

Ref: 4

59th National Spelling Bee: Jon Pennington wins spelling odontalgia.

Ref: 5

1987

Jan 21

BB King donates his 7,000 record collection to University of Mississippi.

Ref: 5

May 28

60th National Spelling Bee: Stephanie Petit wins spelling staphylococci.

Ref: 5

1988

Mar 13

Gallaudet University, a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president.

Ref: 70

Aug 09

President Reagan nominated Lauro F. Cavazos to be secretary of education. Cavazos was the first Hispanic in US history to be named to a cabinet position. On Sep 20, 1988, he was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate. President George Bush (I) asked him to continue as Secretary following the Nov 1988 election and he remained in that position until resigning in December 1990.

Ref: 4

1989

Apr 23

Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts.

Ref: 5

Jun 02

14 year old Scott Isaacs spells spoliator to win 1989 Spelling Bee.

Ref: 5

10th United Negro College Fund raises $12,000,000.

Ref: 5

1990

Apr 10

CUNY/Lehman College, Bronx, opens a branch campus in Hiroshma Japan.

Ref: 5

May 31

63rd National Spelling Bee: Amy Marie Dimak wins spelling fibranne.

Ref: 5

11th United Negro College Fund raises $10,000,000.

Ref: 5

1991

Apr 18

President Bush unveiled his "America 2000" education strategy, which included a voluntary nationwide exam system and aid pegged to academic results.

Ref: 6

64th National Spelling Bee: Joanne Lagatta wins spelling antipyretic.

Ref: 5

1992

Curaçao becomes first in Dutch Antilles to have compulsory education.

Ref: 5

May 28

65th National Spelling Bee: Amanda Goad wins spelling lyceum.

Ref: 5

Dec 27

13th United Negro College Fund raises $11,000,000.

Ref: 5

1994

Jan 09

14th United Negro College Fund raises $11,000,000.

Ref: 5

1995

Jan 08

15th United Negro College Fund raises $12,200,000.

Ref: 5

Jul 20

University of California drops its affirmative action policies on admissions and hiring. (XDG, p 4A, 7/20/2000)

Ref: 83

1996

Jan 07

16th United Negro College Fund raises $12,600,000.

Ref: 5

69th National Spelling Bee: Wendy Guey wins spelling vivisepulture.

Ref: 5

Jun 01

An estimated 200,000 participants, most of them schoolchildren, gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to protest government cuts for social and educational programs.

Ref: 6

Dec 19

The school board of Oakland, CA., voted to recognize black English, also known as "Ebonics," in a decision that set off a firestorm of controversy (the board later modified its stance).

Ref: 70

1997

70th National Spelling Bee: Rebecca Sealfon wins spelling euonym.

Ref: 5

1998

Jun 02

Voters in California passed Proposition 227, requiring that all schoolchildren be taught in English.

Ref: 70

1999

Nov 18

Twelve people were killed when a bonfire under construction at TX A&M University collapsed.

Ref: 70

2000

May 02

An investigating panel concluded that Texas A&M University students cut corners in construction and school officials failed to adequately supervise them before a bonfire collapse

Ref: 6

Aug 31

Detroit's teachers went on strike, wiping out the first day of class for 172-thousand students in one of the largest teachers' strikes in years. (The walkout lasted nine days.)

Ref: 6

Sep 06

In Detroit, striking teachers and the school board agreed on a tentative agreement aimed at ending a weeklong walkout. (The teachers ratified the contract two days later.)

Ref: 6

2002

Jan 20

One month before a scheduled visit to China by President GW Bush, China frees Tibetan music scholar, Ngawang Choephel, who had served 6˝ years of an 18-year sentence for spying. He was put on a flight to Detroit accompanied by a US Embassy official. (NY Times, p A7, 1//21/2002)

2003