Stories of names

Who was Harvard named after? Origin of university names

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Who were the men named Harvard, Rice, or Duke? Only true visionaries would donate half of their estate to sculpting the minds of the future. From the heartfelt tribute behind Stanford’s name to the post-revolutionary rebranding of Columbia, these stories are monuments to history and culture. Let’s take a stroll through academia’s memory lane and uncover the origins of these storied university names!

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Ah, Harvard! The Ivy League giant was once a small college in the Massachusetts Bay Colony settlement called New Towne. But where did "Harvard" come from?

Enter John Harvard, a clergyman who, in 1638, decided to bequeath half his estate and his library (a whopping 400 books!) to the fledgling college. Grateful for this generous gift, they promptly named the institution after him.

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A gem of New Haven, Connecticut, Yale is another Ivy League powerhouse known for its prestigious law and drama schools.

It owes its name to Elihu Yale, a wealthy merchant who, in 1718, donated a modest shipment of goods (including portraits, books, and textiles) to a struggling collegiate school. Those goods were auctioned off, raising a much-needed £562 –a small fortune at the time.

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This New Jersey Ivy Leaguer, famous for its stunning Gothic architecture and strong emphasis on undergraduate education, has a bit of a nomadic past. Originally called the College of New Jersey, the educational institution moved around and changed names over the decades.

Eventually, it settled in Princeton, and became popularly referred to as "Prince-town’s College." However, the name wasn’t formally adopted until 1896.

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In the urban jungle of New York City, Columbia University boasts a vibrant campus life and a reputation for academic excellence. But did you know it was once known by a less-than-patriotic name?

It was founded in 1754 as King's College, which became a bit awkward after the revolution. It was then renamed Columbia College, "Columbia" being a poetic name for the new, independent country that was America at the time.

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Dartmouth is renowned for its beautiful rural setting, nestled in the picturesque town of Hanover, New Hampshire. It was named after the Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, a British nobleman who supported the college's founding –despite never actually setting foot in America!

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This Rhode Island Ivy, known for its open curriculum and emphasis on student choice, was founded with a mouthful of a name – the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

It was renamed in 1704 for Nicholas Brown, Jr., a prominent merchant whose family donated generously to the school.

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Perched atop a hill overlooking Ithaca, New York, Cornell is celebrated for its diverse academic programs and its stunning natural surroundings.

Founded by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, this university was unique for its commitment to practical education, allowing students the freedom to choose their own course of study. It was a revolutionary notion at the time, which would guide a curricular reform across the country.

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Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford is renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and its close ties to the tech industry. But this California powerhouse has a touching origin story.

Leland Stanford, Jr., the founder's son, tragically died young from typhoid fever. His father Leland Sr., railroad magnate and former state governor, his mother Jane, founded the university in his memory, ensuring his legacy lived on through the pursuit of knowledge.

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This North Carolina research giant, known for its strong medical and law schools, underwent a bit of a name change in its history.

Originally called Trinity College, it was renamed Duke University in 1924 after James Buchanan Duke, a tobacco and electric power industrialist who founded the American Tobacco Company. He established The Duke Endowment, to which he donated throughout his life and left half his estate after his death.

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Nestled in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt is a renowned research university with a vibrant campus life. It owes its name to "The Commodore," Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping and railroad magnate, who provided the initial gift to establish the university.

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Texas businessman William Marsh Rice provided the initial funding for this Houston university, but did not live to see its opening. He was murdered by his valet as he slept, in a plot to forge the man’s will.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Rice University flourished through the years, becoming an institution known for its strong engineering and science programs.

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"USC" is a sprawling campus known for its film school and its Trojan spirit. It was founded by Robert Maclay Widney, a judge who envisioned a university that would serve the growing area. Back then it was only an expanding frontier town, which would evolve to become the city of Los Angeles.

Get the ball rolling!

From pankration to jousting: 10 sports that no longer exist

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There was a time when there were countless sports that enjoyed great popularity but are now extinct. Some of them are the ancestors of modern sports. Others had to be banned because they involved high levels of violence. From the ancient Greeks to the Middle Ages and pre-Columbian civilizations, in this article, we’ll explore 10 sports that no longer exist but that you will surely find super interesting. Read on to discover more!

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The ancient Greeks were the creators of the Olympic Games, so it is unsurprising that they also invented many games and sports. Pankration was an ancient Greek wrestling match with a twist: there were no rules and contenders played completely naked. The word pankration means "all of power".

Pankration is considered the historical antecedent of contemporary mixed martial arts. According to the myth, it was Theseus who invented it during his confrontation with the Minotaur in the labyrinth and who subsequently transmitted it to mankind. Pankration combined boxing and wrestling techniques. Kicks and punches to the face were allowed, and wrenches and grapples were used to immobilize the opponent, reduce him to the ground, and force him to surrender.

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La soule à la crosse was a popular game played by peasants in Normandy, Brittany, and Picardy from the Middle Ages through the 19th centuries. It was practiced during village festivals and the rules were simple: Two teams of up to 500 participants each had to get a large ball into the opponent's net or onto their side. The game could last for several days, especially since the goals could be separated by miles.

La soule à la crosse means "the hit with a stick". It was a game very similar to hurling, Irish Gaelic football, and is a sort of precursor of other modern sports such as American and Australian football, and Canadian Lacrosse. Soule was such a violent sport that ecclesiastics called it "this fatal sport" and on numerous occasions, it was banned.

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This extraordinary ceremonial ball game was the most important in the ancient Mayan world. Ōllamalīztli means "to play in a ritual ball game" in the Nahuatl language. In English, it is known as Pok Ta Pok, a term coined in 1932 by Danish archaeologist Frans Blom who probably adapted it from the word puctal-puctal which means "to bend down several times".

The rectangular playing field was delimited on its sides by two parallel high walls holding 20 ft. high stone rings through which the ball had to pass. The objective of the game was to keep the ball permanently in motion while scoring points against the other team. Sounds familiar?

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Club swinging originated in India and was an exercise practiced by soldiers to develop strength and mobility. The British Army imported it to the Western world, becoming popular in the Victorian era among men and women alike. There were even gyms set up especially for this sport.

Club swinging competitions were held at the 1904 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Participants held a bowling pin-like club in each hand and spun them in a complicated maneuvering routine, a strange mixture of juggling and rhythmic gymnastics. The sport remained popular in America until the 1950s. The last U.S. championship took place in 1953.

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Jeu de Paume is an ancestor of racquet sports invented in France. It was a kind of indoor tennis very popular in the 18th century. In Italy it was known as Giocco della palla with similar rules but with subtle differences. Jeu de paume literally means "game of palm", as it was initially played with bare hands.

The game consisted of returning a ball over a net, as players do in modern tennis. The way of counting points (15, 30, 40, and game) is the same used in tennis to this day. Jeu de Paume was one of the disciplines in competition at the 1908 Olympic Games. An American, Jay Gould II, won the gold medal.

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Jousting was a popular sport among the Anglo-Norman knighthood in which they could test their military skills. It arose in the Middle Ages and continued to be practiced well into the 16th century. The term jousting comes from the Old French word joster, in turn from Latin iuxtare "to approach, to meet".

Jousting was a duel based on a knight on his galloping horse aiming his lance at his opponent's shield or throat. The objective was to seize weapons, armor, and anything else of value that the opponent was carrying. Despite the violence and danger involved in this sport, honor, glory and the expectation of financial gain were strong motivations for participation.

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Yes, believe it or not, cannon shooting was not only a sport but also a competition held in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900. Well, actually it was more of a demonstration organized by the Parisian Society for Cannon Shooting, but it is so unique that it’s worth mentioning.

The competition was divided into three categories: individual shooting, field battery shooting, and assault battery shooting. In the individual round, participants had to fire a cannon four times as fast as possible at targets 195 ft away. For the field battery firing, 16 officers assisted by 30 other people fired six cannons. The prize for the winners was not medals as is customary in the Olympics, but cash.

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Another popular sport among the ancient Greeks was episkyros. Episkyros is considered one of the forerunners of contemporary games such as rugby and American soccer. Dating back to the 5th century BC, this game was a vigorous —and sometimes violent— physical activity involving a large number of participants and spectators.

The main objective of the game was to pass a leather ball filled with sand or grass using any part of the body, including the hands, into the opposing team's goal. As episkyros spread to nearby regions, such as Rome, it gradually evolved into the Roman harpastum (meaning "snatched away"). Harpastum shared similarities with its Greek predecessor but had some variations that made it more similar to the game we now know as soccer.

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Cuju or Ts'u-chü originated during the Han dynasty in China, more than 2,000 years ago. Like many of the sports included in this list, cuju is also considered a precursor to modern games such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball. The word cuju is a combination of the words cu, meaning "to kick", and ju, which means "a type of leather ball".

This ancestral football game combined athletic abilities with technical skills and its practice was considered a cultural and ceremonial event. It was mainly practiced by soldiers as part of their military training, as it was believed to strengthen the body and mind. Over time, cuju became popular among the civilian population, turning it into a highly appreciated recreational activity within Chinese society.

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Kolf is a game that originated in the Netherlands during the 13th century. This ancestor of modern golf was played in open fields or indoors. It is believed that the name comes from the Middle High German word for club, "kolbe". Kolf consisted of hitting a ball with a long club to get it to a specific spot in as few strokes as possible.

This pastime required skill, precision, and strategy. It was popular among people of all ages and social classes and was a common activity seen in squares and parks. As it spread throughout Europe, Kolf was adopted in different countries with variations in the rules and equipment used, which contributed to its popularity and evolution over the centuries.