This month in Harvard history

Dec. 29, 1627 — John Harvard enters Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, England.

December 1763 — Hollis Hall is completed in the Yard.

Dec. 2, 1859 — Abolitionist John Brown is executed in Virginia. When the news reaches the Divinity School, many students attend a funeral service for him at Tremont Temple, while a Divinity School senior offers an evening prayer of “thanks for the vindication of justice.”

December 1890 — The Faculty of Arts and Sciences establishes the Division of American Archaeology and Ethnology.

Dec. 2, 1899 — At Chicago’s University Club, the third annual meeting of the Associated Harvard Clubs takes place. Among the guests of honor is Jutaro Komura, LL.B. 1877, Minister Plenipotentiary of Japan to the U.S.

Dec. 6, 1899 — At the Columbia University Gymnasium, representatives from Columbia, Harvard, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale convene to discuss the formation of an intercollegiate gymnastic association.

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