This month in Harvard history

May 1638 — The College Yard expands as the Town of Cambridge grants the College a lot of land that today includes Harvard, Hollis, Stoughton, and Holworthy halls.

May 14, 1927 — At dedication ceremonies for the John W. Weeks Memorial Bridge, Henry Hornblower, representing the firm of Hornblower & Weeks, formally presents the bridge to Harvard. The University in turn presents the footbridge across the Charles to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

May 8, 1939 — The Littauer Center of Public Administration (predecessor of the John F. Kennedy School of Government) is dedicated.

May 18-29, 1942 — About 50 newspaper editors from across the nation convene in the Faculty Club Library for an “Institute on War Problems,” sponsored by the Nieman Foundation (for journalism). In on- and off-the-record talks, participants learn helpful cues for interpreting wartime news on a global scale.

May 3, 1943 — The Harvard Corporation hosts an informal dinner for the heads of Cambridge government in the Eliot House rooms of the Society of Fellows. The results are so successful that it is unanimously voted to make it an annual event.