A Princeton Time Line
October 22, 1746. The founding trustees are awarded a royal charter by the provincial governor to establish an institution of higher learning. College of New Jersey founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey, by the Presbyterian Synod. Jonathan Dickinson appointed 1st president. May 27, 1747. The first class of students of the College of New Jersey meets at the parsonage of the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Dickinson in Elizabeth, NJ. The first commencement will take place in November, 1748. College moves to Newark under President Aaron Burr, Sr. (2nd). 1748. Present charter granted in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 1753. Nathaniel and Rebeckah FitzRandolph and others deed 10 acres in Princeton to the College. 1756. Nassau Hall completed; College of New Jersey moves from Newark to Princeton. November 28, 1757. The College of New Jersey meets in Nassau Hall, in Princeton, for the first time. In the summer of 1783, The Continental Congress convenes at Nassau Hall for three months, making it the capitol of the nation. Jonathan Edwards becomes 3rd president. 1759. Samuel Davies installed as 4th president. 1761. Samuel Finley becomes 5th president. 1768. The Reverend John Witherspoon of Scotland installed as 6th president. 1769. American Whig Debating Society formed. 1770. Cliosophic Debating Society formed. 1776. President Witherspoon signs the Declaration of Independence. 1777. George Washington drives the British from Nassau Hall. 1783. Continental Congress meets in Nassau Hall, which served as a capitol of the United States from June until November. Summer 1787. Nine graduates of the College of New Jersey are delegates to the Constitutional Convention, more than from any other college. 1795. Samuel S. Smith becomes 7th president. 1812. Ashbel Green installed as 8th president. 1823. James Carnahan becomes 9th president. 1826. James Madison, Class of 1771 and former president of the United States, becomes the first president of the Alumni Association of the College of New Jersey. 1836. West College (present home of Admissions, Financial Aid, and offices of the college) constructed as a dormitory. Summer 1843. The college calendar is adjusted to move the opening of the fall term to August, from November. This changes Commencement to late June, from late September. 1854. John Maclean, Jr. installed as 10th president. April 1861. The College of New Jersey, with a broad geographical distribution of students, is torn asunder by the commencement of the Civil War, but maintains its academic program throughout the hostilities. October 1868. Dr. James McCosh arrives from Scotland by way of Ireland to assume the presidency (11th). He reorganizes the plan of study and introduces a graduate-level curriculum leading to the Ph.D., first awarded in 1879. 1876 The Princetonian is published for the first time (still published daily by students during the academic year). 1879. Earned doctorates awarded for the first time. 1883 Triangle Club (originally called Princeton College Dramatic Association) founded. 1888 Francis L. Patton becomes 12th president; Princeton University Art Museum founded. 1893 Honor system established. October 22, 1896. The College of New Jersey officially changes its name to Princeton University on the occasion of its Sesquicentennial. Gothic Revival architecture is introduced around this time. 1900 Graduate School established. Princeton Alumni Weekly first published. June 1902. Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879, elected 13th president. He will revolutionize teaching, via his "precept plan". 1905 System of preceptorials adopted; faculty doubles in size. 1906 Carnegie Lake created by Andrew Carnegie. 1912 John G. Hibben installed as 14th president. 1913. Graduate College dedicated. 1914. Palmer Stadium completed. 1919. School of Architecture established. 1921. School of Engineering established. 1922. Commencement held on Nassau Hall green for first time. 1925. Senior thesis instituted. 1928. Princeton University Chapel dedicated. 1930. School of Public and International Affairs established. Triangle Club moves into new McCarter Theatre. 1933. Harold W. Dodds becomes 15th president; Albert Einstein becomes a life member of the Institute for Advanced Study, with an office on the Princeton campus. 1935. Orange Key gives first campus tour. JFK enters Princeton (but falls ill after five weeks and drops out). 1937. Reading Period added before exams. 1940. Program of Annual Giving established. Undergraduate radio station (then WPRU, now WPRB) founded. 1943. Princeton assumes editorial stewardship of Thomas Jefferson papers. 1947. Princeton graduates its first black students. John Howard receives his degree February 5, 1947. Later that year degrees go to "Pete" Wilson (conferred 6/9/47) and to James War (conferred 10/1/47). Dillon Gymnasium opens. 1948. Firestone Library dedicated. 1951. Forrestal Campus established on U.S. Route 1; "Project Matterhorn" research in nuclear fusion begins there. In 1961 its name is changed to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. 1954. Ivy League formed. September 1956. Princeton Class of 1960 matriculates, the majority having had a public -- rather than private -- school education. 1957. Robert F. Goheen installed as 16th president. 1962. $53 million fund-raising campaign, under President Robert F. Goheen, concludes. It exceeded its goal and raised $61 million. 1964. Ph.D. degree awarded to a woman for the first time. January 12, 1969. Trustees resolve to implement plans for undergraduate co-education. (The Graduate School matriculated the first woman graduate student in 1961.) 1970. Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC), a deliberative body of faculty, students, staff, and alumni, is established. May 1970. Colleges around the nation adopt the "Princeton Plan" (fall recess) in response to the student unrest following the Cambodian incursion in Southeast Asia. 1971. Third World Center founded. 1972. William G. Bowen becomes 17th president. 1973. Outdoor Action program established. 1976. Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library opens. 1982. System of residential colleges established. 1985. First Communiversity (town-gown street fair) held. 1986. A five-year "Campaign for Princeton" concludes under President William G. Bowen after raising $410.5 million. 1987. Words to "Old Nassau" updated to reflect coeducation. 1988. Harold T. Shapiro installed as 18th president. October 1996. The University begins its 250th anniversary celebration, beginning on the eve of Alumni Day and ending with Commencement in 1997. 1998. Princeton University Stadium dedicated. 1999. Nude Olympics banned. 2000. For its 100th anniversary on December 13, 2000, the Graduate School kicks off its year-long set of events and programs in May. A five-year "Anniversary Campaign" concludes under President Harold T. Shapiro after raising $1.14 billion. 2001. Shirley M. Tilghman becomes 19th
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