This month in Harvard history

April 29, 1636 – John Harvard marries Ann Sadler, sister of the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge University. Just over a year later, they emigrate to New England.

April 24, 1759 – The Board of Overseers recommends that the President and Fellows (the Corporation) repeal “the Law prohibiting the drinking of Punch.” The Corporation in turn allows a Commencer to “entertain any of the Guests at his Chamber, with Punch.” Two years later, the Governing Boards agree that “it shall be deemed no offence, if the scholars, shall in a sober manner entertain one another and strangers with punch (which as it is now usually made, is no intoxicating liquor).”

April 12, 1920 – The Harvard Corporation formally establishes the Graduate School of Education, which has already raised $2 million in endowment. The GSE opens in September. Its early home is Lawrence Hall (originally built in the mid-19th century for Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School), which burns in 1970 on the site now occupied by the Science Center. In 1921, the Governing Boards approve the admission of women to the GSE, which becomes the first sector of the University to admit women on equal terms with men.

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