This month in Harvard history

April 14, 1955 – Steeplejack Laurie Young ascends the spire of the Memorial Church to survey the weathervane to determine whether it can be regilded in place. He begins the four-month job in early May. The Buildings and Grounds Department (now Facilities Maintenance Operations) will repaint the spire’s more accessible lower portion.

April 16-18, 1970 – More than 600 geophysicists from around the world come to Cambridge for “The Nature of the Solid Earth,” a symposium honoring Geology Professor Francis Birch for his 40 years of teaching at Harvard.

April 11, 1972 – By near-unanimous vote, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences approves the creation of an undergraduate concentration in East Asian Studies.

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