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Historic Milestones

1824Mar. 9Leland Stanford born
1828Aug. 25Jane Lathrop Stanford born
1861Sept. 4Leland Stanford elected governor of California
1868May 14Leland Stanford Jr. born
1869May 10Leland Stanford drives Gold Spike at Promontory, Utah, for the first transcontinental railroad
1872MayEadweard Muybridge performs first horse-in-motion experiments
1884Mar. 13Leland Stanford Jr. dies in Italy at 15
1885Jan. 28Leland Stanford elected U.S. senator from California
 Nov. 11Founding Grant of the university executed
1887May 14Cornerstone of the university laid
 1891Oct. 1Opening Day of the university; 555 students registered the first year
1892Mar. 19Stanford wins first Big Game vs. University of California, Berkeley
 June 27Hopkins Marine Station established on Monterey Bay
1893June 21Leland Stanford dies
1894May 30First PhD awarded
1895May 29Pioneer Class graduates, including Herbert Hoover
1896April 4First women’s intercollegiate basketball game
1903Jan. 25Memorial Church dedicated
1905Feb. 28Jane Lathrop Stanford dies
1906April 18Great San Francisco Earthquake causes extensive damage
1908Oct. 30Cooper Medical College acquired
 Dec. 18School of Law organized
1913May 23School of Medicine organized
1917April 27School of Education organized
1919June 20Hoover War Collection (now Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace) established
 July 14Main Library opens
1920Jan.First undergraduate tuition charged
1921May 23Honor Code adopted
1925May 15School of Engineering organized
 Sept. 30Graduate Business School opens
1941JuneUniversity’s 50th anniversary celebrated; Hoover Tower dedicated
1946 Creative Writing Program founded by Wallace Stegner
 1947 School of Mineral Sciences (now Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability) organized
1948Sept. 1Schools of Biological Sciences, Humanities and Physical Sciences and Social Sciences merged into School of Humanities and Sciences
1951Oct. 1First Stanford Research Park lease signed with Varian Associates
1952April 1Biology Professor Douglas Whitaker becomes first provost
 Nov. 6Physics Professor Felix Bloch becomes Stanford’s first Nobel laureate
1958June 24First overseas campus opened near Stuttgart, Germany
1962The radio telescope called the Dish begins operations
1967Sept. 9Stanford Linear Accelerator Center dedicated, now called the SLAC National Accelerator Center
1968Sept. 12Inaugural session, Senate of the Academic Council
1971May 1First Stanford Powwow held
1974Feb. 11B. Gerald Cantor donates his collection of Rodin sculptures
1989Oct. 17Loma Prieta earthquake causes extensive damage
1998Sept.Stanford Alumni Association integrated into the university
1999Jan.The Leland Stanford Jr. Museum reopens as part of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts
2000May 2The foothills surrounding the Dish become a habitat conservation area
 Oct. 20John Hennessy is inaugurated as Stanford’s10th president
2005Dec. 31Campaign for Undergraduate Education raises more than $1 billion
2011April 15Stanford earns its 100th NCAA team national title
2012Feb. 8The Stanford Challenge fundraising campaign raises $6.2 billion
2014Sept. 21The Anderson Collection at Stanford University opens
2016The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program launches
2019Mar. 21Stanford Redwood City opens
2020Worldwide pandemic moves classes, many university activities online
2022Sept. 1Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability opens