Campus & Community

This month in Harvard history

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April 28, 1956 — The Harvard Observatory’s radio telescope at Agassiz Station (Harvard, Mass.) is dedicated. President Nathan Marsh Pusey delivers remarks for the occasion. The six-story-high instrument boasts a 60-foot paraboloid antenna that is the largest yet built in the U.S. Construction was financed by a $135,000 National Science Foundation grant and by an anonymous donor.

April 1957 — To the delight of Boston Red Sox fans, the Harvard Band performs on opening day at Fenway Park.

April 14, 1957 — Around 10:30 a.m., fire breaks out amid freshly delivered newsprint in the basement offices of “The Harvard Crimson” (14 Plympton St.). The sprinkler system spares the building, but $2,000 worth of insured newsprint is destroyed.

April 21, 1958 — By recommendation of the Chairman of the Board of Preachers, the Harvard Corporation expands its Memorial Church policy to allow the Church to be used for certain private, non-Christian ceremonies led by officials of other religions. Responsibility for granting permission for such use remains with the Chairman.

April 25, 1959 — At the invitation of the Law School Forum, Cuban Premier Fidel Castro speaks before a crowd of more than 7,000 at Soldiers Field. Introduced by FAS Dean McGeorge Bundy, Castro speaks in English, with periodic assistance from Public Relations Ambassador Teresa Casuso. Earlier at noon, Castro and an entourage of 50 dine at the Faculty Club.

April 28-30, 1959 — In Sanders Theatre, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín delivers three Godkin Lectures on the general topic of “Nationalism and Its Effect on World Tensions.” The lectures are also broadcast by WGBH-TV.

From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower