1.
Harvard College
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Harvard College is the undergraduate liberal arts college of Harvard University. Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest institution of learning in the United States. The school came into existence in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony—though without a single building, in 1638, the college became home for North Americas first known printing press, carried by the ship John of London. Three years later, the college was renamed in honor of deceased Charlestown minister John Harvard who had bequeathed to the school his entire library, Harvards first instructor was schoolmaster Nathaniel Eaton, in 1639, he also became its first instructor to be dismissed, for overstrict discipline. The schools first students were graduated in 1642, in 1665, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck from the Wampanoag … did graduate from Harvard, the first Indian to do so in the colonial period. The colleges of Englands Oxford and Cambridge Universities are communities within the university, each an association of scholars sharing room. The Indian College was active from 1640 to no later than 1693, the body known as The President and Fellows of Harvard College retains its traditional name despite having governance of the entire University. Radcliffe College originally paid Harvard faculty to repeat their lectures for women students, since the 1970s, Harvard has been responsible for undergraduate governance matters for women, women were still formally admitted to and graduated from Radcliffe until a final merger in 1999. About 2,000 students are admitted each year, representing between five and ten percent of those applying, of those admitted, approximately three-quarters choose to attend and these figures make Harvard perhaps the most selective and sought-after college in the world. Midway through the year, most undergraduates join one of fifty standard fields of concentration. Joint concentrations and special concentrations are also possible, a smaller number receive the Scientiarum Baccalaureus. There are also special programs, such as a five-year program leading to both a Harvard undergraduate degree and a Master of Arts from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2012, dozens of students were disciplined for cheating on an exam in one course. The university instituted a code beginning in the fall of 2015. The total annual cost of attendance, including tuition and room and board, under financial aid guidelines adopted in 2012, families with incomes below $65,000 no longer pay anything for their children to attend, including room and board. Families with incomes between $65,000 to $150,000 pay no more than 10% of their annual income, grants total 88% of Harvards aid for undergraduate students, with aid also provided by loans and work-study. Each house is presided over by a senior-faculty Faculty Dean, while its Allston Burr Resident Dean supervises undergraduates day-to-day academic, many tutors reside in the House, as do the Faculty Dean and Resident Dean. The way in which students come to live in particular Houses has changed greatly over time, under the original draft system, Masters negotiated privately over the assignment of rising sophomores considered most—or least—promising
2.
Harvard University
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Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, james Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College, Harvards $34.5 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institution. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university, the nominal cost of attendance is high, but the Universitys large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. Harvards alumni include eight U. S. presidents, several heads of state,62 living billionaires,359 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 130 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalists, Harvard was formed in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, it obtained British North Americas first known printing press, in 1639 it was named Harvard College after deceased clergyman John Harvard an alumnus of the University of Cambridge who had left the school £779 and his scholars library of some 400 volumes. The charter creating the Harvard Corporation was granted in 1650 and it offered a classic curriculum on the English university model—many leaders in the colony had attended the University of Cambridge—but conformed to the tenets of Puritanism. It was never affiliated with any denomination, but many of its earliest graduates went on to become clergymen in Congregational. The leading Boston divine Increase Mather served as president from 1685 to 1701, in 1708, John Leverett became the first president who was not also a clergyman, which marked a turning of the college toward intellectual independence from Puritanism. When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, in 1846, the natural history lectures of Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus at Harvard College. Agassizs approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans participation in the Divine Nature, agassizs perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the divine plan in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on an archetype for his evidence. Charles W. Eliot, president 1869–1909, eliminated the position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, during the 20th century, Harvards international reputation grew as a burgeoning endowment and prominent professors expanded the universitys scope. Rapid enrollment growth continued as new schools were begun and the undergraduate College expanded. Radcliffe College, established in 1879 as sister school of Harvard College, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. In the early 20th century, the student body was predominately old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, by the 1970s it was much more diversified
3.
Memorial Drive (Cambridge)
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Memorial Drive runs along the north bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is designated as U. S. Route 3 or Massachusetts Route 3 for its entire length, formerly known as Charles River Road, the road was officially renamed Memorial Drive in 1923, when Charles River Park was taken over by the Metropolitan District Commission. It is named in honor of those who died in World War I, Memorial Drive begins in West Cambridge at a three-way junction with Greenough Boulevard and the Fresh Pond Parkway, which runs roughly north. It proceeds generally southward, following the curves of the river. In the western stretch it has four undivided lanes, two in each direction, after crossing River Street it turns more eastward at the Magazine Street beach, with Massachusetts Route 2 diverging southward at a rotary-like interchange with overpass to cross the BU Bridge. Soon afterward the road is lined on the north by the buildings of the main Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, a grassy median is introduced along this stretch, and the road crosses under Massachusetts Avenue, with ramps providing limited interchange options. The grassy median continues to divide the road until its end near Kendall Square at the Longfellow Bridge, the median, where present, has occasional opportunities for reversing direction. Memorial Drive, like the parkways along the side of the river, is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The closure is in effect from 11 am to 7 pm starting the last Sunday of April until the second Sunday of November, a median near Massachusetts Avenue requires executing a so-called Michigan left for certain turns. In 2003 a two-mile section of Memorial Drive was reconstructed as part of the DCRs Historic Parkways Initiative, the entire route is in Cambridge, Middlesex County
4.
Charles River
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The Charles River is an 80 mi long river in eastern Massachusetts. From its source in Hopkinton the river flows in a direction, traveling through 23 cities. Thirty-three lakes and ponds and 35 municipalities are entirely or partially part of the Charles River drainage basin, despite the rivers length and relatively large drainage area, its source is only 26 miles from its mouth, and the river drops only 350 feet from source to sea. The Charles River watershed contains more than 8,000 acres of protected wetlands and these areas are important in preventing downstream flooding and providing natural habitats to native species. Brandeis University, Harvard University, Boston University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located along the Charles River, near its mouth, it forms the border between downtown Boston and Cambridge and Charlestown. The river opens into a basin and is lined by the parks of the Charles River Reservation. On the Charles River Esplanade stands the Hatch Shell, where concerts are given in summer evenings, the basin is especially known for its Independence Day celebration. The river is known for its rowing, sculling, dragonboating. The river may also be kayaked, depending on the season, however, kayakers can only navigate the Charles by getting out, the Lower Basin between the Longfellow and Harvard bridges is home to Community Boating, the Harvard University Sailing Center, and the MIT Sailing Pavilion. The Head of the Charles Regatta is held here every October, in early June, the annual Hong Kong Boston Dragon boat Festival is held in Cambridge, near the Weeks Footbridge. The Charles River Bike Path runs 23 miles along the banks of the Charles, starting at the Museum of Science and passing the campuses of MIT, Harvard, the path is popular with runners and bikers. Many runners gauge their distance and speed by keeping track of the mileage between the bridges along the route, for several years, the Charles River Speedway operated along part of the river. On July 13,2013, swimming for the public was permitted for the first time in more than 50 years. The rivers name, preceding the English version, was thought to be Quinobequin, though that attribution has been discredited by, among others. The river was used by Native Americans for local transportation and fishing, when Smith presented his map to Charles I he suggested that the king should feel free to change any of the barbarous names for English ones. The king made such changes, but only four survive today. In portions of its length, the Charles drops slowly in elevation and has relatively little current, despite this, early settlers in Dedham, Massachusetts, found a way to use the Charles to power mills. In 1639, the town dug a canal from the Charles to a brook that drained to the Neponset River
5.
Leverett House
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Leverett House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It has the largest student population within the Harvard house system, the bulk of McKinlock Hall consists of 5 entryways, each of which leads to four or five floors of suites for approximately 35 students. The Leverett Towers, on the hand, serve a primarily residential function. Each tower consists primarily of singles and doubles and holds approximately 150 students, the top floors of the towers - especially those facing south - boast outstanding views of the Boston skyline and the Charles River for the students lucky enough to live there. The ground floor of G-Tower features an area that house residents have nicknamed the G-spot. The ground floor of F-tower includes class and meeting spaces as well as several house offices, between the towers and McKinlock sits the Leverett Library, which was constructed along with the towers and has won awards for its innovative design. The ground floor of the building houses the superintendents office. The top floors of 20 DeWolfe Street were annexed by the house in fall of 2007, Leverett House was named after John Leverett, who was President of Harvard from 1708 to 1724. Leveretts election was one of the significant turning points for Harvard, Leverett, during his tenure as president, improved the quality of instruction in the College and maintained the position of Harvard in the critical years when Yale was becoming a formidable rival. In the mid-1920s, Harvard constructed student residences on the banks of the recently dammed Charles River, McKinlock Hall, built in 1925, was one of those original buildings. The building was donated by the family of Lieut, george Alexander McKinlock Jr. a Harvard graduate who was killed by a German machine gun near Soissons in 1918. With the formation of Leverett House in 1930-31, Mather Hall, across Mill Street, was built along with the present dining hall, six squash courts were also constructed, adjacent to Mather Hall. Leverett remained in that configuration until the early 1960s when the College expanded, Mather Hall became a part of Quincy House, the squash courts were lost, and the Leverett Towers were built. The Saltonstall family gave money for a new library in honor of the ten generations of Saltonstalls who had attended Harvard, shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott designed the two-story library, as well as the two twelve-story Leverett Towers that were constructed at the same time. In 1983, McKinlock was renovated, and at time a new entrance to the dining hall was constructed. The first Master of the House was Kenneth Murdock, Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, the second Master was Leigh Hoadley, a biologist interested in the development of animals. The third Master was John Conway, an historian and bachelor for most of his tenure at the House and he married his wife Jill in Leverett House in the early 60s, and later they were at Smith College where she served as President. Richard T. Gill, an economist, was the fourth Master, Master Gill was a wonderful bass and sang each year in the Leverett House Opera—a fixture in the House
6.
Lowell House
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Lowell House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located on Holyoke Place facing Mount Auburn Street between Harvard Yard and the Charles River. Its majestic neo-Georgian design, centered on two landscaped courtyards, received the 1938 Harleston Parker Medal and might be considered the model for later Harvard houses nearby. Lowell House is simultaneously close to the Yard, Harvard Square, and other Harvard River houses and its first Master was Mathematics Department chairman Julian Lowell Coolidge, who also instituted Monday-night High Table. Historian Elliott Perkins was the first to hold the position of Resident Dean then was Master from 1942 to 1963, classicist Zeph Stewart was the third Master, and William and Mary Lee Bossert served from 1975 to 1998. Current co-Masters Diana Eck and Dorothy Austin are thus only the fifth Masters in Lowells 80 years, Lowells sister college at Yale University is Pierson College. House traditions include Masters Tea on Thursday afternoons, a May Day Waltz at dawn on the Weeks Footbridge, High Table, springtime brings the Bacchanalia Formal, often with a live swing band in the courtyard. There is a holiday dinner, and various sophomore, senior, Roundtable. Language tables and special-interest tables are common features of everyday lunches, many House events are organized by Lowells House Committee of elected undergraduates from within the House. The committee operates separately from the Harvard Undergraduate Council, to student events. The HoCo, as with the student government organizations in the Houses, are funded by the UC. Lowell House was the residence of Silas. The busts of President Abbott Lawrence Lowell and poet James Russell Lowell, are featured in the main courtyard. In the Dining Hall are portraits of Lowell and his wife Anna Parker Lowell, his sister, poet Amy Lowell, his brother, astronomer Percival Lowell, and his grandfather John Amory Lowell. Prior to the 1996 transition to randomized House assignments, Lowells central location, picturesque courtyard, elegant dining hall, and charming traditions made it a popular housing choice. The Lowell House arms are those of the Lowell family, blazoned, Shield, sable, crest, a stags head cabossed, between the attires a pheon azure. The house colors are blue and white, for three-quarters of a century, Lowell Houses bell tower was home to a set of authentic Russian zvon, one of the few complete sets of pre-revolutionary Russian bells surviving anywhere. Crane donated them to Harvard in 1930 just as plans for Lowell House were nearing completion, with word of Cranes gift, the planned tower was changed to the blue-capped bell tower seen today. The bells are consecrated, and are of significance to the Russian Orthodox Church. At Lowell, the bells were rung on Sundays at 1pm by resident Klappermeisters
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
John Winthrop
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John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England, following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of immigrants from England in 1630 and his writings and vision of the colony as a Puritan city upon a hill dominated New England colonial development, influencing the governments and religions of neighboring colonies. Winthrop was born into a wealthy landowning and merchant family and he trained in the law and became Lord of the Manor at Groton in Suffolk. He was not involved in founding the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628, Winthrop was a respected political figure, and his attitude toward governance seems authoritarian to modern sensibilities. Winthrops son John was one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony and his long list of descendants includes famous Americans, and his writings continue to influence politicians today. John Winthrop was born on 12 January 1587/8 to Adam and Anne Winthrop in Edwardstone, Suffolk and his birth was recorded in the parish register at Groton. His fathers family had been successful in the business, and his father was a lawyer. His mothers family was also well-to-do, with properties in Suffolk, when Winthrop was young, his father became a director at Trinity College, Cambridge. Winthrops uncle John emigrated to Ireland, and the Winthrop family took up residence at Groton Manor, Winthrop was first tutored at home by John Chaplin and was assumed to have attended grammar school at Bury St. Edmunds. He was also exposed to religious discussions between his father and clergymen, and thus came to a deep understanding of theology at an early age. He was admitted to Trinity College in December 1602, matriculating at the university a few months later, among the students with whom he would have interacted were John Cotton and John Wheelwright, two men who also had important roles in New England. He was a childhood and university friend of William Spring. The teenage Winthrop admitted in his diary of the time to lusts, so masterly as no good could fasten upon me. Biographer Francis Bremer suggests that Winthrops need to control his baser impulses may have prompted him to leave school early, in 1604, Winthrop journeyed to Great Stambridge in Essex with a friend. They stayed at the home of a friend, and Winthrop was favorably impressed with their daughter Mary Forth. He left Trinity College to marry her on 16 April 1605 at Great Stambridge, Mary bore him five children, of whom only three survived to adulthood. The oldest of their children was John Winthrop, the Younger and their last two children, two girls, died not long after birth, and Mary died in 1615 from complications of the last birth. The couple spent most of their time at Great Stambridge, living on the Forth estate, in 1613, Adam Winthrop transferred the family holdings in Groton to Winthrop, who then became Lord of the Manor at Groton
9.
Davenport College
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Davenport College is one of the twelve residential colleges of Yale University. Its buildings were completed in 1933 mainly in the Georgian style, the college was named for John Davenport, who founded Yales home city of New Haven, Connecticut. An extensive renovation of the colleges buildings occurred during the 2004–2005 academic year as part of Yales comprehensive building renovation project, Davenport College has an unofficial rivalry with adjoining Pierson College. John Davenport was born in 1597 to draper and Mayor of Coventry Henry Davenport and he attended Oxford University for three years starting in 1613 before leaving without a degree. He returned to Oxford to finish his MA and Bachelor of Divinity after serving as the chaplain of Hilton Castle, in 1633 he resigned from the Church of England after several disputes with the senior clergy. In 1638 he sailed to North America with his congregation and a patent for a colony in Massachusetts, one year later he co-founded the city of New Haven with Theophilus Eaton and served as its burgess until his departure to Boston 30 years later. Beginning in the 1640s, Davenport advocated for the creation of a college near the New Haven Green and he is also credited with co-founding the nearby Hopkins School. In 1668, Davenport left New Haven to serve as the pastor of the First Church in Boston and his invitation to that position was not without opposition due to his strict Puritan values, especially regarding infant baptism. Davenport died of apoplexy less than two years later, Davenport College was, like many of Yales residential colleges, designed by James Gamble Rogers. The inner face was featured in the 2008 movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, a half-story terrace and two house-like residential units flank the upper courtyard to the north. Traditionally, the colleges sophomores live in the suites bordering the lower courtyard, the crosspiece formerly held a second library in the top floor which has since been converted to student housing, with the book holdings moved into the expanded Library. Indoor spaces of note include the Davenport Common Room, the aforementioned Spitzer Library. The student buttery, or The Dive, is the snack shop, an entertainment center—and game room is nearby. The Davenport basement also includes a letterpress print-shop, a studio, a digital media arts center, a dance studio. These are all shared with students in Pierson, Davenport students also have access to shared facilities on the Pierson side of the basement, including music practice rooms and an exercise room containing treadmills, ellipticals, and free weights. Davenport College freshmen live on the Old Campus with the rest of their Yale College class, with the exception of students from Silliman, currently, Davenport College freshmen live in Welch Hall, which is located next to Phelps Gate. Welch is known for the 10- and 12-pack suites on the bottom floor, for a while after Davenport Colleges inception into the Yale residential college system, students were known as Hybrids, a reference to the hybrid style of the colleges architecture. While the nickname appeared in a few publications in the 1970s
