University Archives and Records Center
University of Pennsylvania
Timeline of University History
| 1740 | Trust formed to establish a Charity School in Philadelphia at Fourth and Arch Streets |
| 1749 | The Academy is founded, with Benjamin Franklin named its President. |
| 1750 | The Trustees of the Academy buy the building of the Charity school. |
| 1751 | Academy opens in January. Free Charity School opens in September |
| 1755 | College chartered with the Reverend William Smith as the Provost |
| 1757 | First College class is graduated |
| 1765 | Medical School established |
| 1775 | The Continental Congress attends Commencement |
| 1778 | Continental Congress meets in College Hall |
| 1779 | The College is taken over by the State of Pennsylvania and renamed the University of the State of Pennsylvania |
| 1784 | Louis XVI donates books to the University Library |
| 1789 | College of Philadelphia is reactivated |
| 1790 | Law lectures given by James Wilson, one of the four original Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court |
| 1791 | By an Act of Legislature, the University of the State of Pennsylvania and the College of Philadelphia, are united as the University of Pennsylvania |
| 1802-1829 | University occupies the House built for the President of the United States, purchased by the University in 1800 |
| 1813 | The Philomathean Literary Society founded |
| 1829-1872 | University occupies two new buildings, at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, designed by William Strickland |
| 1849 | Delta Phi founded, the University's first Greek-letter fraternity |
| 1850 | Law School founded |
| 1852 | School of Engineering and Applied Science founded |
| 1862 | Penn Glee Club founded |
| 1863 | Scientific "Lazzaroni" under Professor Alexander Dallas Bache brings about foundation of the National Academy of Sciences |
| 1870 | Purchase of the Almshouse farm in West Philadelphia as the new site for the University, under Provost Charles Janeway Stillé |
| 1872 | Classes held in College Hall on the new campus in West Philadelphia. Department of Science established |
| 1873 | Athletic Association founded |
| 1876 | First Pennsylvania intercollegiate football game. A team from Yale was the opponent |
| 1878 | School of Dental Medicine founded |
| 1880 | First Penn degree conferred on a woman |
| 1881 | Wharton School of Finance and Commerce founded |
| 1882 | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences founded |
| 1884 | School of Veterinary Medicine founded. Pennsylvanian founded (later the Daily Pennsylvanian.) |
| 1887 | University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology founded |
| 1888 | Red & Blue magazine founded |
| 1889 | First earned Ph.D. awarded. The Mask and Wig Club founded |
| 1892 | Wistar Institute founded |
| 1893 | Graduate School of Education founded |
| 1896 | The first Student Union Houston Hall opened |
| 1900 | Association of American Universities established, with the University as one of the fourteen founding members |
| 1909 | School of Social Work founded |
| 1920 | School of Fine Arts founded |
| 1924 | Moore School of Electrical Engineering founded |
| 1930 | Thomas Sovereign Gates named first President of the University |
| 1932 | Morris Arboretum |
| 1933 | College of Liberal Arts for Women founded |
| 1935 | School of Nursing founded |
| 1946 | ENIAC, the first all-electronic digital computer built |
| 1952 | Faculty Senate organized |
| 1954 | The Ivy League established, with the University as one of the eight founding members |
| 1959 | Annenberg School of Communications founded |
| 1961 | Hill House, women's residence hall, opens |
| 1963 | Institute of Contemporary Art founded |
| 1971 | Penn's first College House, Van Pelt, built |
| 1972 | Freshman seminar program begins. Affirmative Action program for women and minorities begins. Three scientists with the University ties receive Nobel Prizes |
| 1974 | Faculty of Arts and Sciences begun, combining the College, the College for Women, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Social Sciences departments of the Wharton School |
| 1994 | University inaugurates its first woman President, Judith Rodin. Rodin is a graduate of the College for Women, Class of 1966, the first University alumnus to be named President in 50 years |
This list is an updated adaptation of the Chronology found in Martin Meyerson's and Dilys Pegler Winegrad's Gladly Learn and Gladly Teach, 1978.