KU History
A passion of the KU Memorial Union
  • Wednesday, April 1, 1874

    Natural Observer

    The Observer of Nature, KU’s first serious student publication, issues its premiere edition.
  • Tuesday, April 3, 1917

    KU Women "Do Their Bit"

    The first group of KU women "do their bit" to support the country by enrolling in Red Cross classes as America edges closer to war.
  • Friday, May 21, 1886

    A Swell Yell

    Professor Edgar Henry Summerfield Bailey first proposes the cheer that will evolve into the “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, K.U.” yell.
  • Friday, September 29, 1944

    Cut The Caps

    Forty World War II veterans, enrolled as freshmen at KU, refuse to don “freshman caps,” thus marking the beginning of the end of this controversial, decades-old tradition.
  • Saturday, May 9, 1914

    Not Exactly A Hoot

    The Sour Owl, a KU student publication featuring salacious gossip and bawdy sexual humor, issues the premiere edition of its intermittent 40-year run.
Thursday, April 18, 1861
The Jayhawk in History and Legend
James Lane's Jayhawkers take up residence in the East Room of the White House to protect the President. Lincoln's assistant wrote "The White House has turned into a barracks. Jim Lane marshaled his Kansas Warriors...the western Jayhawkers..." Hay described Lane as a "gaunt, tattered, uncombed and unshorn figure."
Wednesday, April 1, 1874
Natural Observer
The Observer of Nature, KU’s first serious student publication, issues its premiere edition.
Friday, March 29, 1878
Marvin's Gardens
Chancellor James Marvin leads the first concerted “campus beautification” campaign at KU, a joint student-faculty effort on Arbor Day that culminates in the planting of more than 300 trees on Mount Oread and sets the stage for the development of present-day Marvin Grove.
Friday, May 21, 1886
A Swell Yell
Professor Edgar Henry Summerfield Bailey first proposes the cheer that will evolve into the “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, K.U.” yell.
Wednesday, April 2, 1890
Eight Is Enough
Eight KU professors establish the University’s chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society, the first west of the Mississippi and the 31st nationwide.
Friday, May 1, 1891
Mayday Mayhem
Male students participate in the first "Maypole Scrap," a rowdy fracas that will be a KU tradition and popular spectator sport for over a dozen years.
Monday, June 3, 1895
Our Weekly Reader
After nearly twenty years of short-lived niche publications of uneven quality, a student-run newspaper, the Kansas University Weekly, emerges with the “official approval and support of the University.”
Friday, September 30, 1898
Music Men (And Ultimately Women)
Two dozen male KU students gather on Mount Oread to form what will become the KU Marching Jayhawks.
Saturday, September 17, 1904
The First Kansan
The Semi-Weekly Kansan, forerunner of today’s University Daily Kansan, makes its debut on campus with the support of faculty, administration, and students alike.
Wednesday, June 9, 1909
“A Marvel Of Perfection”
The first four graduates of KU’s Training School for Nurses receive their diplomas.
Tuesday, April 19, 1910
A Streetcar Named The KU Loop
Electric trolleys from the Lawrence city system initiate 23 years of streetcar service to the KU campus.
Tuesday, January 16, 1912
Birth Of A Notion
The University Daily Kansan becomes the first college daily newspaper in the Sunflower State.
Monday, March 25, 1912
The "Big Tooter"
The campus power plant steam whistle begins marking the end of each hour’s classes.
Friday, March 14, 1913
The Ideal Jayhawker
From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 14, 1913:
Saturday, May 9, 1914
Not Exactly A Hoot
The Sour Owl, a KU student publication featuring salacious gossip and bawdy sexual humor, issues the premiere edition of its intermittent 40-year run.
Wednesday, May 26, 1915
"To Serve, Not to Advertise Self…"
The Kansas Engineer first appears on campus.
Tuesday, April 3, 1917
KU Women "Do Their Bit"
The first group of KU women "do their bit" to support the country by enrolling in Red Cross classes as America edges closer to war.
Monday, December 15, 1924
Radio Days
KFKU, the University’s first radio station, makes its inaugural broadcast.
Monday, March 30, 1925
"Plenty Hot, But Not Scorching"
First issue of The Dove, a purportedly “radical” student newspaper generally printed on pink paper, makes its campus debut.
Friday, December 17, 1926
Blackmar's Origin Of The Jayhawk
Dr. F.W. Blackmar, the first Dean of the Graduate School from 1889-1929, attempts to explain the origin of the Kansas Jayhawk during KU's Radio Nite program.
Monday, July 31, 1939
Semi-Organization Men
The University announces that the “Men of 1011,” founders of the first semi-organized house for KU students, will move from their Indiana Street home into the original chancellor’s residence at 1345 Louisiana.
Wednesday, November 22, 1939
No More Hobohemia
The University Daily Kansan records the passing of Hobo Day, an often rowdy “annual festival of rags” in which KU students dressed in hobo costumes to show school spirit and cause “a great deal of unnecessary trouble.”
Friday, September 29, 1944
Cut The Caps
Forty World War II veterans, enrolled as freshmen at KU, refuse to don “freshman caps,” thus marking the beginning of the end of this controversial, decades-old tradition.
Wednesday, October 9, 1946
“We Were Out to Save the World”
The University Daily Kansan reports the opening of a new cooperative living residence on Massachusetts Street named after KU student Don Henry, who had been killed while serving with the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War.
Monday, February 19, 1951
Mixed Doubles
The University Daily Kansan reports on the formation of what is thought to be the country’s first housing co-op for married students.
Tuesday, May 20, 1952
Night Moves
Approximately 1,500 undergraduate KU men engage in the largest panty raid in the University’s history.
Friday, September 27, 1957
Nighty Night For The Nightshirt Parades
700 KU students participate in what will be the final Nightshirt Parade, putting to bed a University tradition that stretches back more than half a century.
Thursday, September 18, 1969
Of The Students, By The Students, For The Students …
The KU Student Senate meets for the first time.
Friday, November 7, 1969
The Queen Is Dead
In what will be the final crowning of a Homecoming Queen, KU awards the tiara to Janet Merrick, a senior from Johnson County.
Wednesday, October 15, 1975
"Sound Alternative"
Student-run radio station KJHK-FM goes on the air with DJ Steve Doocy, bringing jazz, progressive and "alternative" rock to Mount Oread, along with a fair share of controversy.
Thursday, September 12, 1996
Jayhawk Jubilee
A parade is held in honor of Harold “Hal” Sandy, creator of the smiling Jayhawk, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his version of the Jayhawk, which has served as the University’s mascot since 1946.
Monday, January 7, 2002
“A Letter From Home”
Kansas Alumni marks the 100th anniversary of KU alumni journals, an enterprise that began with the 1902 appearance of the Graduate Magazine and, in total, represents the University’s longest-running continuous publication.
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One of 34 U.S. public institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities
44 nationally ranked graduate programs.
—U.S. News & World Report
Top 50 nationwide for size of library collection.
—ALA
5th nationwide for service to veterans —"Best for Vets: Colleges," Military Times