| 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 |