This month in Harvard history

February 6, 2003 1 min read

Feb. 1, 1838 – An explosion rocks the chapel (now the Faculty Room) of University Hall in the first of several blasts in the building&’s history. Outsiders are deemed the likely culprits.
February 1896 – On Spy Pond (Arlington, Mass.), the Harvard Ice Polo Association plays its first game, against Brown, launching the nation&’s oldest college hockey rivalry. Harvard wins, 5-4. Players use a rubber ball instead of a puck.
Feb. 12, 1955 – In East Lansing, Mich., President Emeritus James Bryant Conant speaks at the 100th-anniversary celebration of Michigan State College.
February 1970 – The first Faculty Council is elected to serve as a faculty steering committee and as the FAS Dean&’s cabinet. The 18-member group supplants the Committee on Educational Policy.
Feb. 9, 1970 – Harvard signs two contracts (for Gutman Library and an addition to the Music Building) that assure equal employment opportunity to black and other minority workers by requiring the builder to hire between 19 and 23 percent of workers from minority groups.– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower

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