Harvard Founded: America's First University in 1636
The Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to establish a college for training clergy, creating an institution that eventually became Harvard University. This decision launched the oldest center of higher learning in the United States, shaping American education for over three centuries.
October 28, 1636
390 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 28
The Praetorian Guard forced Emperor Nerva to adopt Trajan as his heir. Nerva was 66 and childless. The Guard had murdered his predecessor. They wanted a militar…
Maxentius declared himself Roman Emperor after his father's failed comeback attempt. The Praetorian Guard backed him. Rome's citizens backed him. The actual emp…
Constantine's army was outnumbered three-to-one. Maxentius held Rome and controlled the bridge across the Tiber. Constantine claimed he saw a cross in the sky w…
Visigothic forces sacked Braga, capital of the Suevi kingdom in northwest Iberia. They burned the city's churches to the ground. The Suevi had converted to Cath…
Byzantine forces recaptured Antioch in 969 after 333 years of Arab rule. Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas sent his best general, Michael Bourtzes, who climbed the w…
Byzantine general Michael Bourtzes scaled Antioch's walls at night with a small force and seized two towers. The city had been in Arab hands for 340 years. Bour…
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