Northwestern University Sesquicentennial: Historical Timeline

This site was created for Northwestern's Sesquicentennial celebration which concluded in 2001. The information is retained for archival purposes only and is not updated. For information about the celebration, contact archives@northwestern.edu or univ-relations@northwestern.edu.

[ 1850-1899 ] [ 1900-1949 ] [ 1950-2000 ]

EVENTS IN LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND WORLD HISTORY		EVENTS IN NORTHWESTERN HISTORY
	1950	Sargent Hall completed. Computer Center opens and features a newly purchased 650 IBM mainframe computer.
	1951	Northwestern's football team appears on television for the first time.
	1952	Shepard Hall completed.
Richard J. Daley elected Mayor of Chicago. First McDonaldâs opens in Des Plaines, Illinois. OâHare International Airport opens.	1955	Kresge Centennial Hall and Bobb and McCulloch Halls built.
Nasser seizes control of the Suez Canal.	1956	Warren Beatty appears in Waa-Mu Show. Garry Marshall graduates from Medill and becomes a TV and movie producer.
	1957	The Rock first painted by Daily Northwestern staffers.
	1958	The forerunner of Northwestern's TriQuarterly literary journal is started by English professor Edward Hungerford.
	1959	Elder Hall completed.
John F. Kennedy elected president.	1960	Allison Hall built. Ann Margret performs in Waa-Mu Show. Jerry Reinsdorf graduates from the School of Law. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson graduates from the College of Arts and Science.
Attempted invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro forces at Bay of Pigs.	1961	Searle Student Health Center opens.
Cuban missile crisis.	1962	Richard Gephardt graduates from the School of Speech and later becomes a Congressman.
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space. John F. Kennedy assassinated. Martin Luther King Jr. leads march for civil rights in Washington. The computer mouse patented.	1963	Jacquelyn Mayer becomes Northwestern's first Miss America.
Lyndon Johnson elected president.	1964	Alice Millar Chapel completed.
	1965	Vogelback Computing Center opens. Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) founded at Northwestern.
Indira Gandhi becomes the prime minister of India.	1966	Northwestern University Medical Center organized from seven hospitals affiliated with the University. Professor Myron L. Bender supervises the first known synthesis of a fully-functioning enzyme.
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated; rioting occurs throughout U.S. cities. Richard Nixon elected president. Democratic National Convention held in Chicago. Riots break out and Chicago Police, Illinois National Guard, and federal agents use force to dispel protesters.	1968	Rebecca Crown Center built. Black students occupy University business offices to protest for improvement in the racial climate on campus.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are first men on the moon.	1969	Graduate School of Management formed and undergraduate School of Business discontinued. Associated Student Government formed out of the Student Senate. Shelley Long appears in Waa-Mu Show.
	1970	University Library and Engelhart Hall built. From May 6 to 13, campus is shut down in protest of the Kent State shootings - the longest it has ever been closed.
	1971	University's affirmative action program established.
Evanston approves the sale of liquor by the glass.	1972	Norris University Center, Francis Searle Building, Foster-Walker Complex completed. Wesley Memorial Hospital and Passavant Hospital merge to form Northwestern Memorial Hospital. First five residential colleges established.
Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal; Gerald Ford becomes president.	1974	Blomquist Recreation Center built. Football stadium gets artificial turf. Patrick Quinn named first University archivist.
	1975	Pick-Staiger Concert Hall completed. First Dance Marathon.
Ronald Reagan elected president. Draft registration reinstituted for 19- and 20-year-old men.	1980	Mary and Leigh Block Gallery opens.
	1982	Football team's 32-game losing streak ends.
	1985	Arnold Weber becomes University president.
	1987	Jennifer D. Averill named the nation's outstanding field hockey player. Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park begins operation. Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Dellora A. and Lester J. Norris Aquatics Center open.
Tiananmen Square massacre. Berlin Wall falls. United States invades Panama. Richard M. Daley becomes mayor of Chicago.	1989	The Rock is moved 30 feet to the east as part of a beautification project in the plaza between Harris Hall and University Hall. Penn State joins the Big Ten.
Nelson Mandela freed in South Africa; process of dismantling apartheid begins.	1990	Women's basketball team wins a share of their first Big Ten title.
Soviet Union ceases to exist.	1991	Wrestler Mike Funk becomes Northwestern's first 4-time All-American.
Bill Clinton elected president.	1992	Gary Barnett becomes head football coach. Leon Forrest, professor of African American studies and English, publishes Divine Days. Charles Deering McCormick donates $10 million to establish endowed professorships that recognize outstanding teachers.
Yasser Arafat and Itzhak Rabin sign Palestinian peace agreement in Washington, DC.	1993	Garry Wills wins the Pulitzer Prize for his book Lincoln at Gettysburg. NUNet computer network installed.
	1995	Henry Bienen becomes University president. Northwestern ranks third in the nation in football, wins Big Ten, and loses to the University of Southern California on January 1, 1996, in the Rose Bowl. http://www.nwu.edu/univ-relations/media/observer/1994-95observer/university-news/bieindct-uwn.html
	1996	Princess Diana visits Northwestern. Click here to read a Northwestern Observer article that describes her visit.
Hong Kong restored to Chinese sovereignty. Princess Diana dies in car crash.	1997	Football stadium restored to natural grass surface. Northwestern hosts the NCAA Men's Golf Championship.
Bill Clinton becomes the second U.S. president to be impeached by Congress. Harry Caray dies.	1998	Professor John Pople is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
	2000	May 31, Northwestern commemorates the founder's first meeting by dedicating a historical marker at the corner of Clark and Lake streets in Chicago's loop. October 20 and 21, Northwestern celebrates the sesquicentennial with a two-day kick off celebration on the Evanston campus.

[ 1850-1899 ] [ 1900-1949 ]