Timeline 1951-2000


1961
1971
1981
1991
Navigator

 
  • The Inter-Fraternity Council became independent from the Student Senate (Feb.) 
  • Young Republicans Club formed (Feb.)
  • College presented with new Mace(Oct. 13) 
  • After two successful club seasons, lacrosse is recognized as a varsity sport (Nov.)
  • Prof. Eric Barnes resigned due to rising faculty and administrative tensions over salaries 
  • Average instructor's salary $4,120/yr 
  • Sophister Scholarships re-instituted to highest ranking junior and senior; first time since 1835 
  • Senior comprehensives dropped from graduation requirements because Korean war and WWII before made it increasingly difficult for males to finish an uninterrupted four years 
  • Summer session held to aid Korean War effort 
  • U.S. Army War College opened at the Carlisle Barracks 
1951
  • Twenty-second Amendment ratified; limited Presidential terms (Feb. 27) 
  • "The King and I" opened on Broadway (Mar.) 
  • Herman Wouk's Caine Mutiny  (Mar. 19) 
  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage (Mar. 29) and sentenced to death (Apr. 5) 
  • Pres. Truman  relieved General MacArthur of Korean command (Apr. 11)  
  • J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye (July) 
  • Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" film premiered  (July 28) 
  • Japanese Peace Treaty signed in San Francisco by Japan, U.S., and 47 other nations; United States occupation of Japan ended (Sep. 8) 
  • Britten's opera "Billy Budd" opened at Covent Garden  in  London (Oct. 1) 
  • Modern bus depot opened on North Pitt St. (Jan.) 
  • The City of Carlisle, in England, presented the College with two ancient building stones, one from Roman times the other from the reign of William Rufus (Feb.) 
  • Joseph Priestley Day, with the Priestley Award, first held.  Sir Hugh Stott Taylor first recipient (Mar.)
  • Drayer Hall completed and dedicated (May 1)
  • The Dickinsonian surveyed parents on proposed changes in social rules  
  • ROTC started  
  • Open hearing for student complaints held, number one was over compulsory chapel twice a week 
  • Dickinson "Follies" presented "The Sphinx Winx" during National Dramatic Society's Thespian Week
1952
  • Libya gained full independence (Jan. 2) 
  • Greece and Turkey joined NATO  (Feb.) 
  • Hank Williams' hit "Your Cheating Heart"   released seven weeks after his death (Feb. 21) 
  • "The African Queen" released (Feb. 20) 
  • Batista took power by coup in Cuba (Mar. 10) 
  • Gary Cooper won best actor Oscar for "High Noon" (Mar. 18) 
  • Ralph Ellison published The Invisible Man (May) 
  • Comet opened first jet passenger service (May 2) 
  • Eva Peron died in Argentina aged 33 (July 24) 
  • King Farouk left power in Egypt after a coup; replaced by Colonel Nasser (July 24) 
  • U.K. exploded its first atomic bomb (Oct. 3) 
  • U.S. first H-bomb test on Eniwetok Atoll (Oct. 31) 
  • State of emergency declared in Kenya (Oct.) 
  • Norman Vincent Peale published his Power of Positive Thinking 
  • Dwight Eisenhower elected president (Nov.) 
  • Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap first opened in London (Nov. 24) 
  • Albert Schweitzer won Nobel Peace Prize (Dec.)  
  • Senator J. William Fulbright, founder of the foreign scholarship program, spoke on the subject "The United States in World Affairs" (Feb.) 
  • Proposed plans for College buildings, dated 1887, found wrapped in paper under steam pipes in the library basement.  They included Latrobe plans for additions to Old West, designs for East College, and drawings for Emory College (Feb.) 
  • The Old Gymnasium badly damaged during an heavy rainstorm (May 17)
  • Class Dean system discontinued. Replaced by student counseling plan (May) 
  • Glee Club cut a record deal with RCA Victor (May)
  • College and Law School held seperate commencement ceremonies for the first time since W.W. II (June) 
1953
  • Samuel Beckett opened  "Waiting For Godot" in Paris (Jan. 4) 
  • Dwight Eisenhower sworn in as U.S. President (Jan. 20)
  • Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" premiered in New York (Jan. 22) 
  • Joseph Stalin died in Moscow (Mar. 5) 
  • Jonas Salk announced a polio vaccine (Mar. 26) 
  • "From Here to Eternity" won '52 Oscar (Mar.) 
  • King Hussein became King of Jordan (May 2) 
  • Mount Everest first climbed (May 23) 
  • Elizabeth II crowned at Westminster (June 2) 
  • Republic proclaimed in Egypt (June 18) 
  • The Rosenbergs were executed for espionage at Sing Sing Prison in New York (June 19) 
  • Korean Armistice signed at Panmunjom (July 27) 
  • U.S.S.R. exploded a hydrogen bomb (Aug.) 
  • William Clare Allison Church at West and High Streets burned in an electrical fire (Jan. 20) 
  • Durbin Oratory dedicated (Feb. 23)
  • College Commencement held in the open air for the first time (June)
  • College later pledged $200,000 and allowed new Allison church to be built on far side of campus (Mooreland Ave.) 
  • Social changes stated that women could now be invited without chaperone to dinner at fraternity houses from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and that fraternities could have mixed parties on Fridays, with chaperones and dancing, if desired 
  • Construction of Morgan Hall began 
  • Golf  Team won six of eight matches and was most successful of the spring sports 
  • President Edel established the Parents' Advisory Committee and appointed 27 parent members 
  • First Woman trustee, Mary Sharp Foucht named 
  • Tenure program enacted at last 
1954
  • Howard Stern born on Long Island (Jan. 12) 
  • U.S.S. Nautilus, first nuclear submarine, was launched (Jan. 21) 
  • Matt Groening, the creator of "the Simpsons," was born (Feb. 15) 
  • First shopping mall opened, in Michigan (Mar.) 
  • The nationally televised "Army" hearings led to Senator Joseph McCarthy's downfall. (Apr. 23) 
  • Roger Bannister ran sub 4 minute mile (May 6) 
  • TheViet Minh took Dien Bien Phu (May 7) 
  • Segregation by race in schools was declared unanimously unconstitutional by the Supreme Court - "Brown vs Board of Education" (May 17) 
  • Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" was released (May 20) 
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer dismissed from U.S. nuclear programs (May 27) 
  • Pres.  Eisenhower signed an order to add "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance (June 14) 
  • First Newport Jazz Festival was held (July 17) 
  • The Tonight Show debuted  (Sep. 27) 
  • In London, Kingsley Amis published Lucky Jim, William Golding Lord of the Flies (July) and J.R.R. Tolkein the first two books of The Lord of the Rings. 
  • Hemingway won Nobel Prize for Literature  (Dec.) 
  • U.S. Air Force Academy opened in Colorado with swearing in of first class (July 11) 
  • Zatae Longsdorff Straw died (Oct. 1) 
  • Morgan Hall completed and dedicated (Nov. 12) 
  • Faculty abolished the Modern Language reading examination after seven years of operation (Nov.) 
  • The Ford Foundation gave $500 million in grants to U.S. colleges and universities (announced in Dec.) 
  • College became one of the first in the country to possess an electron microscope 
  • The Dickinson women's varsity basketball team played its first inter-collegiate game, losing 63-47 to Wilson 
  • Median faculty salary was $4,500 
  • Alpha Chi Rho celebrated 50th anniversary on campus, Phi Delta Theta its 75th 
  • First Faculty Trustee dinner 
  • New senior high school opened in Carlisle 
1955
  • Marian Anderson became the first black person to star at the Metropolitan Opera (Jan. 7) 
  • Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened in New York (Mar. 25) 
  • Churchill retired as UK prime minister (Apr. 5) 
  • New Salk polio vaccine declared safe  (Apr. 12) 
  • Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois (Apr. 15) 
  • Albert Einstein died at Princeton (Apr. 18) 
  • West Germany joined NATO (May) 
  • Warsaw Pact founded (May 14) 
  • Walt Disney's movie "The Lady and the Tramp" opened (June 23) 
  • Disneyland opened in California (July 19) 
  • Elvis Costello born (Aug. 25) 
  • Pres. Eisenhower had a heart attack (Sep. 24) 
  • Gen. Peron overthrown in Argentina (Sep.) 
  • V. Nabokov published Lolita in Paris (Sep. 15) 
  • Microwave oven introduced (Oct. 25) 
  • Bill Gates born (Oct. 28) 
  • Elvis Presley signed by RCA (Nov. 22) 
  • Rosa Parks did not give up her seat (Dec. 1) 
  • Experimental "Honor Dorm" set up in Biddle House for senior women.  It wass under an honor system for social rules  (Jan. 30) 
  • Librarian May Morris '09 retired after 29 years (May) 
  • Alumni Gymnasium Gate, a gift of the class of 1935, was dedicated (Nov. 3)
  • C. Scott Althouse donated $300,000 for the contruction of a new chemistry building, the largest gift in College history from a living individual (Dec. 7)
  • President Edel announced scholarship plan to aid student refugees from Hungarian Uprising (Dec.) 
  • Asst. Prof. Laurent Raymond LaVallee brought before House Committee on Un-American Activities, pleaded fifth amendment when asked if he was a communist or had any communist connections. When he returned to campus he was immediately suspended.  Faculty and students supported Lavallee, while administration held a hearing in April, and he was found guilty of incompetence and dismissed. 
1956
  • Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" single went top of the charts and stayed eleven weeks (Jan. 8); he recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" in Nashville for RCA Records (Feb. 10) 
  • U.K. abolished the death penalty (Feb. 15) 
  • Nikita Krushchev began to denounce Stalin, his policies, and his methods (Feb. 24) 
  • Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier (Apr. 19) 
  • John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London (May) 
  • Gene Vincent released "Be-Bop-A Lula" (May 6) 
  • Sinking of the passenger ship Andrea Doria after a collision, 51 died (June 25) 
  • "In God We Trust" adopted as the U.S. national motto (July 30) 
  • Martina Navratalovna was born (Oct. 10) 
  • The Hungarian Uprising against Soviets began in Budapest (Oct. 23) 
  • Sinai War between Israel and Egypt (Oct. 29) 
  • Suez Canal crisis (Nov.) 
  • Fidel Castro landed in Cuba (Dec. 2) 
  • Martin Luther King Jr.  gained prominence
  • Walter Sandercock '58 found hanged in his Conway Hall dormitory room.   Twenty years old, from near Easton, he had been elected three weeks prior as the Dickinsonian editor-in-chief (Jan. 28) 
  • May Der '59 died in her sleep after taking poison at her home in Carlisle. She was a Phi Mu pledge and a freshman athlete (Jan. 29)  The two deaths shocked the campus. 
  • Robert W. Welsh Jr., the founder of the John Birch Society the following year, spoke at chapel on "A New Look on Americanism" (Feb. 21) 
  • Further tragedy for the College when an automobile accident killed students Anne Hilton, Edna Walton, and John Clifford Kelly, badly injured another, Frank Ventura.  They were returning from a picnic at Pine Grove.  This was the first fatal traffic accident in term, with students, for eight years (Mar. 13) 
  • Wrestling and cross country became men's varsity sports (Apr.) 
  • Professor Bertram Davis, English resigned (Apr.)
  • Helen Douglass Gallagher '26 became the first woman graduate elected to the Board of Trustees (June)
  • >Russell Thompson, former Dean, died at 58 after a protracted struggle with a brain tumors (Oct. 20)
  • Edel announced his intention to retire in two years 
1957
  • Humphrey Bogart died of throat cancer (Jan. 17) 
  • Walton's "Concerto for Cello & Orchestra" premiered (Jan. 25) 
  • The Boeing 707 went into service (Jan. 25) 
  • Dr. Seuss put out The Cat in the Hat (Feb.) 
  • Ghana won independence from U.K. (Mar. 6) 
  • Treaty of Rome signed,  began the European Comman Market (Mar. 25) 
  • Singapore independent from U.K. (Apr. 11) 
  • UK exploded its first H-Bomb (May 15) 
  • Buddy Holly and the Cricket's "That'll be the Day" released (May 27) 
  • "American Bandstand" first aired (Aug. 5) 
  • Jack Kerouac's On The Road published (Sep. 5) 
  • Federal troops sent to Little Rock, Arkansas to integrate Central High School (Sep. 24) 
  • Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's "West Side Story" opened (Sep. 26) 
  • Russians launched Sputnik I (Oct. 4) and II (Nov. 3) satellites; the second carried dogs. 
  • Ghana's finance minister refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.  President Eisenhower apologized (Oct. 10) 
  • Reputed last U.S. Civil War veteran, 117 year old Walter Williams, CSA, died in Texas (Dec. 11) 
  • The first commercial American light water nuclear power plant opened in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. (Dec. 18) 
  • In U.S., Elvis Presley was drafted (Dec. 20) 
  • Tome Science Building underwent $165K renovation 
  • Senate Elections ran under a "two party system." The United Party emerged as victors over the Students' Party (Mar. 6) 
  • Allison Memorial Church completed and opened as chapel for students and its own congregation (Apr. 20) 
  • American Association of University Professors (AAUP) censured the College for violations of academic freedom in the LaVallee case (May)
  • Martin Luther King and College begin correspondence 
  • Dickinson swim team had its first undefeated season 
  • All-American Don O'Neill led nation in scoring with 57 goals and his lacrosse team were 9-2 and winners of All-Pennsylvania and Penn-Delaware titles 
  • Sabbaticals, called "Refresher Years," became available to faculty beginning in Fall 1958 semester
1958
  • Alaska 49th state of  U.S. union (Jan. 3) 
  • In the US, N.A.S.A. founded (Apr. 2) 
  • Capote' Breakfast at Tiffany's published (Apr.) 
  • General Charles De Gaulle became French President (May) 
  • The film "Gigi" premiered (May 15); would  win record nine Oscars awards 
  • J.K. Galbraith published The Affluent Society 
  • Coasters "Yakety Yak" number one US song in  

    •  Billboard, first stereo record to be so (July 12)
  • Tension in Little Rock over court ordered school desegregation begins (Sep. 2) 
  • Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago published in the U.S. for the first time (Sep. 5) 
  • John XXIII installed as Pope (Oct. 28) 
  • "Sound of Music" opened on Broadway (Nov 16) 
  • John Birch Society founded (Dec. 9) 
  • Roscoe O. Bonisteel Planetarium in Tome completed and dedicated (Feb. 10)
  • Tuition rose to $950 for the 1959-60 year (Mar. 28)
  • A student referendum rejected a proposed Honor Code (Mar. 28)
  • Gilbert Malcolm elected as the College's Twenty-third President (June 6) 
  • Dickinson Flying Club purchased a 1947 Aeronca Champion aircraft (Oct. 30) 
  • Sigma Chi celebrated 100 years on campus (Nov. 13-15)
  • Education and Psycholgy Department moved into Reed Hall after $25,000 remodeling 
  • President Edel retired.  At his retirement dinner two awards were named after him  - the Edel Arts Award, and a new faculty chair, the William W. Edel chair of humanities 
  • Track team finished 9-0; best in its history 
  • Fourteen colleges and universities withdrew from federal student loan program because it required the borrower to sign a loyalty clause 
1959
  • The U.S.  severed its diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro rose to power and Cuba became communist (Jan.) 
  • Buddy Holly died in plane crash (Feb. 3) 
  • The first "Barbie" doll went on sale in the United States (Feb. 13) 
  • China crushed Tibetan Revolt; the Dalai Lama forced to flee to India (Mar. 10) 
  • Frank Lloyd Wright died (Apr. 9) 
  • Billie Holiday died (July 17) 
  • Hawaii became 50th U.S. state (Aug. 21) 
  • Food Stamps authorized in Congress (Sept. 11) 
  • U.S.S.R. probe Lunik I reached moon (Sept 12) 
  • The Guggenheim opened in NYC (Oct. 21) 
  • Heavy border clashes between China and India (Nov.) 
  • Ben Hur released in the US  (Dec.) 
  • Ian Fleming published Goldfinger 
  • "Tom Dooley" (Jan.) and "Mack the Knife," (Aug.) were hit songs 
  • Total all-time U.S. automobile deaths reached 1.25 million. 
  • Ice Hockey club won its first ever game (Jan. 17) 
  • Faculty announced that Russian would be restored to the curriculum in the upcoming year (Apr.)
  • Dickinson granted a $2,015,000 federal loan; a women's dormitory and the fraternity quadrangle are proposed as ways to spend it (Oct. 21) 
  • Michigan residents initiated a petition when Wayne State University lifted a ten-year ban on Communist speakers (Oct.) 
  • Swim team fell to Delaware 50-45, ending a thirty-six meet winning streak (Dec. 10)
  • College retained its Middle States accreditation but renewal was postponed until 1962 to provide ample time for work on "weak points"
  • College enrollment in the U.S. was now over two million 
1960
  • During the year the new nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, and Togo all become independent, changing the map of Africa completely. 
  • Albert Camus died in auto accident (Jan. 3) 
  • France exploded its atomic bomb (Feb. 13) 
  • First Playboy Club opened in Chicago (Feb. 29) 
  • The Soviet Union destroyed a U.S. "U2" spy plane over Russia and captured its pilot (May 1) 
  • Caryl Chessman executed in California (May 2) 
  • Israeli intelligence captured Adolf Eichmann in Argentina (May 23) 
  • Chubby Checker's "The Twist" released (Aug 1) 
  • Cyprus became a republic (Aug. 16) 
  • Oscar Hammerstein II died (Sep. 1) 
  • The Kennedy and Nixon debate appeared as the first presidential debate on TV. (Sep. 26) 
  • The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created (Nov. 14) 
  • American Heart Association warned of health risks for middle aged who were heavy smokers 
  • Robert Bolt staged "A Man for All Seasons" 
  • History Department reorganized curriculum - surveys reduced, Historiography and the History Seminar introduced,  orals added to honors (Jan.) 
  • The Ray Charles Orchestra performed in Alumni Gymnasium (Mar. 7) 
  • Faculty meeting abolished the requirement to have a minor to graduate (May 1)
  • Martin Luther King came to campus (Apr. 11) 
  • Congressional experts on subversion announced that a communist recruiting wave was hitting campuses nationwide (May) 
  • Tennis team finished with a perfect 9-0 record 
  • President Malcolm retired (June) 
  • Howard Rubendall took office as 24th President (July 1) 
  • Football beat F. & M. for the first time in 36 years, score 25-0 (Oct. 14) 
1961
  • Oral contraceptive introduced for first time, in Australia (Jan. 1) 
  • John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as youngest ever President of the U.S., the 35th. (Jan.) 
  • President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Peace Corps (Mar. 1) 
  • Russian Air Force Major Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. (Apr. 12)  U.S.  Alan Sheppard later made a U.S. sub-orbital flight 
  • Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba failed. (Apr. 17) 
  • Freedom Riders began to challenge segregation on interstate buses (May 4) 
  • Park Chung Hee seized power in South Korea by military coup (May 16) 
  • Amnesty International founded (May 28) 
  • South Africa withdrew from Commonwealth and became an independent republic (May 31) 
  • Truffaut's "Jules and Jim" out in France (June) 
  • Ernest Hemingway shot himself (July 2) 
  • Berlin Wall began construction (Aug. 13) 
  • Joseph Heller published his Catch 22 (Oct.) 
  • Faculty resolution demanded that fraternities and sororities do away with all forms of religious and racial discrimination by June 1, 1963 (Mar. 5) 
  • Music and Fine Arts majors established (Mar. 5) 
  • Increased enrollment led Morgan and Drayer dining rooms to switch to cafeteria-style breakfasts and lunches (Sep.) 
  • Rubendall presented plans for the quads, HUB, and library (Oct. 2)  
  • Williams College announced plans to abolish its fraternities after 129 years (Oct. 19) 
  • WDCV  began broadcasting (Nov. 18) 
  • Boyd Lee Spahr retired from the Board (Dec. 15)  
1962
  • U.S. astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth. (Feb. 20);  Carpenter and Schirra followed 
  • Beatles signed their first record contract (May 9) 
  • Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" debuted in Coventry Cathedral (May 30) 
  • Adolf Eichmann hanged in Israel (May 31) 
  • William Faulkner died in Mississippi (July 6) 
  • President Kennedy issued the order that protects federal employees' right to organize and bargain collectively, but not to strike  
  • James Meredith became the first African American student to attend the University of Mississippi, with help of 3000 U.S. troops (Oct 2) 
  • Beatles first single released in UK (Oct. 5) 
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis (late Oct.) 
  • Eleanor Roosevelt died (Nov. 7) 
  • David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" premiered in London (Dec. 10); later won the Oscar 
  • U.S. had 200 nuclear reactors functioning, U.K. had 39 and the U.S.S.R had 39 
  • Old West dedicated as a registered national historical landmark (Apr. 25) 
  • Philadelphia Conference of Methodist Church voted to withhold money from Dickinson over morality on the campus.  At issue was the ongoing "social rules experiment that permitted person 21 and older to drink at registered functions (May 16)  
  • The Longwood Foundation donated $480,000 for a new Biology building (Sep. 18) 
  • Adams Hall was dedicated as a women's dormitory. It also contained the College Guest Suite (Oct. 5) 
  • Forty-two students participated in a library "sit-in" demanding more open hours in semester (Oct. 28) 
  • Mermaid Players produced Maxim Gorki's "The Courageous One" (Nov. 7-9) 
1963
  • Robert Frost died (Jan. 29) 
  • Sylvia Plath published The Bell Jar (Jan.) and committed suicide (Feb. 11) 
  • Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in the US (Feb. 19) 
  • The Beach Boys released their single "Surfin' U.S. A." (Mar. 23) 
  • US submarine Thresher sank off Cape Cod; 129 lives lost (Apr. 10) 
  • Birmingham Riots in the U.S. (May) 
  • Pope John XXIII died (June 3);  Paul VI elected 
  • Valentina Tereshkova first space woman (June) 
  • U.S. Post Office started zip codes (July 1) 
  • "Great Train Robbery" in Britain (Aug. 8) 
  • Beatles released "She Loves You" (Aug. 23) 
  • W.E.B Du Bois died at 95 in Ghana. (Aug. 27) 
  • 200,000 civil rights activists rallied in Washington; at conclusion Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I have a dream" speech (Aug. 28)
  • Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed between the U.S., U.S.S.R., and U.K. (Oct.) 
  • Tony Richardson's "Tom Jones" released (Oct. 7); later won eight Academy Awards 
  • "Louie, Louie" released (Nov. 9)  
  • Vietnamese staged a U.S. backed  coup in Vietnam, overthrowing the Diems (Nov. 1) 
  • President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, by Lee Harvey Oswald  (Nov. 22); Lyndon Johnson sworn in as 36th President 
  • Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Osward (Nov 24) 
  • Kenya gained independence from U.K. (Dec. 12) 
  • Dickinson Endowment Fund for the Teaching of the Humanities and the Social Sciences established - received notice in the NY Times.  (Mar. 9) 
  • Faculty passed significant revisions of the curriculum; in course plan (Mar. 16) and Independent Study option, non-Western requirement, and required 2.0 for graduation (Apr. 13) 
  • Women's Tennis completed second undefeated season in three years (May) 
  • The "Fraternity Quadrangle" occupied for the first time at start of fall term (Sep.) 
  • The Union Philosophical's Mock Election had 66% of student voting for LBJ over Goldwater (Oct. 27) 
  • The College announced its affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Center for International Studies in Italy, at Bologna (Nov.) 
  • Joseph A. Borelli, a student from Reading, was killed in an automobile accident (Dec. 5) 
1964
  • LBJ declared "War On Poverty" (Jan. 8) 
  • First U.S. Government warning on hazards of cigarette smoking (Jan. 11) 
  • Twenty-fourth amendment in U.S. abolished the poll tax in Federal elections (Jan. 23) 
  • Cassius Clay became world heavyweight boxing champion (Feb. 25) 
  • Brendan Behan died in Dublin (Mar. 20) 
  • Douglas MacArthur died aged 84 (Apr. 5) 
  • Ford Motors introduced the Mustang (Apr. 17) 
  • Pandit Nehru died in India (May 27) 
  • Congress passed the Civil Rights Act (June) 
  • First topless bar in the United States opened in San Francisco (June 19) 
  • Bodies of three murdered civil rights workers found in Mississippi (Aug. 4) 
  • Gulf of Tonkin incident heated up Vietnam War; Tonkin Resolution passed Congess (Aug. 7) 
  • The Beatles' music arrived in US along with their film "A Hard Day's Night" (Aug. 11) 
  • Orbison's "Pretty Woman" released (Aug. 29)  
  • "Fiddler on the Roof " (Sep. 22) and "My Fair Lady" (Oct. 21) opened on Broadway 
  • Martin Luther King Jr. won Nobel Peace Prize, youngest person ever to do so (Oct. 14) 
  • China exploded its first nuclear bomb (Oct. 16) 
  • Tokyo hosted the 18th Summer Olympics, the first held in Asia (Oct. 10-24) 
  • Herbert Hoover died at age 90 (Oct. 20) 
  • Tanzania and Zambia became independent republics (Oct. 24) 
  • Verranzano-Narrows Bridge opened in N.Y.C. 
  • Bomb threat emptied Denny Hall (Feb. 22) 
  • Students abstained from dinner, with proceeds from the savings donated to the rebuilding fund for the thirty-three black churches destroyed by arson in Mississippi (Mar. 23)  
  • President emeritus Gilbert Malcolm died (July 2) 
  • The Dickinson College Bowl team made its first appearance on NBC's General Electric College Bowl, defeating St. Francis 260-165 (Sep. 19) The team finally retired after winning all five of its matches through Oct. 24 and garnering $10,500 in scholarships 
  • The Sunday meal dress code in the new Holland Union Building was jackets and ties for men and dresses and heels for women; no thongs, bare feet, cut-offs any time 
1965
  • T.S. Eliot died (Jan. 3) 
  • Lyndon Baines Johnson inaugurated for a complete term as 36th U.S. President (Jan. 20) 
  • W. S. Churchill died in London, aged 90 (Jan. 23) 
  • Canada introduced its Maple Leaf flag (Feb. 15) 
  • Nat King Cole died (Feb. 15) 
  • Malcolm X was assassinated (Feb. 21) 
  • Selma to Montgomery March began (Mar. 21) 
  • Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs released the song “Wooly Bully” (Apr. 3) 
  • Beatles film "Help!" released in U.K. (July 28)  
  • Medicare Program became law in U.S. (July 30) 
  • Severe riots in Watts area, Los Angeles (Aug.) 
  • Albert Schweitzer died (Sep. 4) 
  • First draft card burned in U.S. (Oct. 15) 
  • Great East Coast blackout in U.S. (Nov. 9) 
  • White Rhodesia declared UDI (Nov. 11) 
  • Vietnam War escalated, Air Force over the North 
  • Herbert Marcuse wrote Culture and Society 
  • Holland Union Building was dedicated (June 4) 
  • Religion and Philosophy became two seperate departments (Fall) 
  • Malcolm Hall for men was completed (Sep.) 
  • Dana Hall was dedicated (Oct. 6) 
  • The Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary established, three thousand acres in Perry County, with College as its manager (Oct.) 
  • Nearly a thousand students participated in "the March for Better Architecture," the largest demonstration in College history to that time.  Two proposed college dormitories were burned in effigy to protest designs of Lewis Shey and Associates and federally mandated restrictions (Nov. 7) 
  • Professor Arun K. Ratta of the Economics Department deported to India after accusations from the Immigration and Naturalization Department that he was a security risk (Nov. 18) 
1966
  • "Batman" premiered on ABC (Jan. 12) 
  • International Days of Protest over Vietnam War 
  • Soviet Lunik 9 (Feb. 25) and U.S. Surveyor1 (June 2) made soft moon landings  
  • The Cultural Revolution began in China (May) 
  • De Gaulle requested NATO leave France (June 1) 
  • England won World Cup in London (July 30) 
  • Charles Whitman killed 13 and wounded 31 others firing from the Univ. of Texas tower in Austin (Aug. 1) 
  • "Star Trek" first aired on television (Sep.  6) 
  • The "QE2" launched on the Clyde (Sep. 20) 
  • The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded (Oct. 29) 
  • Walt Disney, died of lung cancer (Dec. 15) 
  • Faculty approved an experiment involving a "Reading Period" before final exams (Jan. 9)
  • Demonstration and counter-demonstration over the bombing of North Vietnam - three day fast (Feb. 10) 
  • Viral respiratory infections sent 1000 students to the Health Services in first thre weeks of term (Feb.) 
  • Faculty approved a Pass/Fail option for one course per semester (May 1) 
  • The first public Jewish services ever held in the Borough of Carlisle took place in Memorial Hall during Rosh Hashanah (Oct. 5-6) 
  • The "bookwalk" took place, with the college community moving the entire collection from the Bosler Library to the new Spahr Library in one day (Oct. 12) 
  • Witwer Hall dedicated as a women's dorm (Oct. 15) 
  • The Boyd Lee Spahr Library dedicated (Nov. 4) 
  • The link between the CIA and the National Students Association was discovered by the media. 
1967
  • Truman Capote published In Cold Blood (Jan 1)
  • First Super Bowl played; Packers beat Chiefs in Los Angeles (Jan. 15) 
  • Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffe burned to death in Apollo 1 during training (Jan. 27) 
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer died of cancer (Feb 18) 
  • Kurt Cobain born (Feb. 20) 
  • Muhammad Ali indicted for draft refusal (May 8) 
  • Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" released (May 26) 
  • "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" first shown on WQED in Pittsburgh (May 22) 
  • Arab-Israeli "Six Day War" began (June 5) 
  • US Supreme Court struck down state laws banning interracial marriages (June 12) 
  • Carl Sandburg died in North Carolina  (July 22) 
  • Detroit Riots began the violence that led to 40 deaths and 2000 injuries in the city (July 23) 
  • Thurgood Marshall became first black man to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court (Aug. 30) 
  • British Embassy in Beijing sacked (summer) 
  • Woody Guthrie died (Oct. 3) 
  • Che Guevera, Cuban revolutionary, killed in Bolivia (Oct. 10) 
  • Boston Red Sox won a pennant (Oct.) 
  • Rolling Stone Magazine appeared (Nov. 9) 
  • "Twiggy" gained prominence in New York 
  • Dozens of students joined the workers on the picket line striking the Carlisle Tire and Rubber plant (Feb.) 
  • College approved the five-day class schedule, ending the Saturday morning class (Mar. 4)  
  • Follies celebratd twenty years by performing "Kiss Me Kate" (Mar. 16-19) 
  • The Kappa Sigma house was bombed, causing $1500 in damages (Apr. 5) 
  • Jesse Owens was the guest speaker at the D-Club's Spring Awards Banquet (May 15) 
  • Central Pennsylvania Consortium was formed (July 1) 
  • The Students for a Democratic Society led a protest at the opening of the George Wallace presidential campaign headquarters in Carlisle (Sep. 28) 
  • The IFC passed an amendment designed to end discrimination in pledging and initiation (Oct.) 
  • Soccer team goal-keeper Doug Smith named as first-team All American by National Soccer Coaches Association of America 
1968
  • Christian Barnard performed first heart transplant in South Africa (Jan. 2) 
  • PBS began in U.S. with 70 stations (Jan. 10) 
  • The spyship USS Pueblo was captured in North Korean waters and held for months (Jan. 23) 
  • The Viet Cong attack all American bases in Vietnam - the Tet Offensive (Jan. 30)  
  • "Cabaret" opened in London (Feb. 28) 
  • In Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek begins the "Prague Spring" (Mar.) 
  • "Oliver!" won the Academy Award (Mar.) 
  • President Johnson announced he would not seek reelection (Mar. 31)  
  • Martin Luther King assassinated (Apr. 4) 
  • Student Riots in Paris (May 10) 
  • Yuri Gagarin died in an air accident (Mar. 27) 
  • Helen Keller died, aged 87 (June 1) 
  • Robert Kennedy shot dead in Los Angeles (June 6) 
  • The U.S., U.S.S.R. and Britain signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (July 1) 
  • Riots at Democratic Convention in Chicago (Aug) 
  • Warsaw Pact troops invaded to "restore order" in Czechoslovakia; Dubcek arrested (Aug.) 
  • Hundreds of student demonstrators shot dead in Mexico City weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games (Oct.) 
  • Jackie Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis (Oct. 20) 
  • Ulster Civil Rights campaign sparked violence in Northern Ireland (Oct.) 
  • Tom Wolfe published The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and GoreVidal Myra Breckinridge  
  • Kisner-Woodward built and occupied (Apr.) 
  • Declare Day - classes cancelled, General Assembly of all college community to discuss and challenge the College and its systems (Mar. 5) 
  • Morgan Hall for men became first dorm to enjoy "social autonomy;" female visitors allowed at any time (Apr. 7) 
  • Three Dickinson students arrested for disorderly conduct after heated and racially charged incidents in Carlisle (Apr. 7); 110 students and thirty Carlislians picketed Municipal Building (Apr. 8); students announced one week boycott of Carlisle businesses to protest police actions against black students (Apr. 17) 
  • Student Senate established a legal aid fund for students involved in legal proceedings (Apr. 15) 
  • Prof. Daniel Crofts refused to report to the Philadelphia Selective Service board, due to his belief that the Vietnam War is illegal and immoral (Apr. 22) 
  • Thirteen hundred students, faculty and citizens Marched peacefully on the Army War College in Dickinson's Vietnam Moratorium Day (Oct. 15) 
  • College announced the foundation of a Sports Hall of Fame.  First members inducted (Nov. 8)
  • In protest of College grading policies, Prof. Ralph Sandler awarded all 150 students in his English 380 class the "A" grade; controversy erupted when the Administration changed every grade to "Pass"
1969
  • Richard Nixon became 37th President of U.S. (Jan. 20)
  • Judy Garland died of drug overdose (Jan. 22) 
  • Golda Mier became Israel's first female  prime minister (Feb. 17) 
  • The Concorde jet  made its first test flight (Mar. 2) 
  • Musical "1776" opened in New York (Mar. 16) 
  • De Gaulle resigned French presidency (Apr. 8) 
  • John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded "Give Peace a Chance" (May 30) 
  • Walter Gropius died in Boston (July 5) 
  • Apollo 11 landed on the moon (July 20) 
  • Mary Jo Kopechne drowned in Ted Kennedy car accident at Chappaquidick (July 20)  
  • Heavy sectarian street fighting in Northern Ireland;  Army called in (Aug.) 
  • Sharon Tate and others murdered by Manson "Family." (Aug. 8) 
  • Woodstock Festival held (Aug.) 
  • Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi seized power in Libya (Sep. 1) 
  • "Sesame Street" began on PBS (Nov. 10) 
  • By this time the U.S. had 630,000 soldiers in the Vietnam war,  plus troops from elsewhere.  
  • Mario Puzo published The Godfather and J.P. Donleavy The Beastly Beatitude of Balthazar B.
  • "Midnight Cowboy" won the Academy Award 
  • With space at a premium, Pres. Rubendall announced that fraternities, then all occupying the new quadrangle buildings, which could not find the required 44 person membership to fill them would lose the third floor to independents. With fewer than 25 members, fraternities would lose privilege to assign spaces (Jan.)
  • International Studies major approved (Feb. 2) 
  • Annual Public Affairs Symposium focused on public policy and environmental pollution  (Feb. 8-11) 
  • John Denver appeared in HUB concert (Mar. 6) 
  • Kent State shooting overflows into Dickinson with a strike (May 4) and non-peaceful attempt at a March on the Army War College. At one point in this period, 448 U.S. colleges and universities were closed or on strike (May) 
  • Carlisle Borough bans spontaneous and short-notice Marches without permit (July 9) 
  • Boyd Lee Spahr died (Aug. 15) 
  • August Hodge, 17 year old Carlisle resident, died as a result of accidental gunshot wound suffered in Phi Delta Theta House in quadrangle (Nov. 2)
  • Peaceful March on the U.S. Army War College
1970
  • "All My Children" began on ABC (Jan. 5) 
  • Nigerian-Biafra War ended in W. Africa (Jan 15) 
  • Bertrand Russell died aged 98 (Feb. 2) 
  • The Beatles split-up announced (Apr. 10) 
  • Ill-fated Apollo XIII mission took off (Apr. 11)
  • U. S.  started observing "Earth Day" (Apr. 22)
  • Gypsy Rose Lee died of cancer aged 56 (Apr. 26) 
  • Prince Norodom Shianouk of Cambodia driven from power by General Lon Nol (Mar.)  Lon Nol attempted to drive the Vienamese Communist troops out of Cambodia.   U.S. and ARVN forces entered Cambodia (Apr. 30) and protests in America against that move caused the killing of four students at Kent State (May 4) and closing 75 American colleges for the rest of the term.
  • Janis Joplin made her singing debut (July 12) 
  • Fiji independent from Britain (Oct. 10) 
  • Jimi Hendrix died in London (Sep. 18) 
  • Charles De Gaulle died (Nov. 9) 
  • Faculty approved the India Institute Program and the Harrisburg Urban Semester (Feb. 1) 
  • Ralph Nader spoke at the annual Public Affairs Symposium (Feb. 7) 
  • Students voted to reject unaninously the eleven point grading system faculty had proposed and to retain the five grade system (Mar. 10) 
  • East College was formally rededicated as the Bernard Center for the Humanities (Apr. 24) 
  • Adminsitration veto the idea of an All-College Senate, composed of both students and faculty (Apr. 26) 
  • A.T.S. was formally dedicated (May 22) 
  • Colombia Semester in Medellin approved (Oct. 4) 
  • Members of Chi Omega voted to discontinue their national affiliation and become Delta Nu, a local organization (Oct. 8) 
  • Marcel Marceau performed at Dickinson (Oct. 21)
1971
  • "All in the Family" premiered on CBS (Jan. 12) 
  • Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda (Feb. 2) 
  • UK & Ireland  switched to decimal currency (Feb. 15) 
  • Lt. William Calley convicted of My Lai Massacre and sentenced to life (Mar. 29) 
  • Charles Manson sentenced to death for Tate murders; later commuted (Mar. 29) 
  • Pentagon Papers appeared in N.Y. Times (June 13) 
  • The 26th Amendment (18 year old voting) was ratified (July 1) 
  • Jim Morrison died in Paris aged 27 (July 1) 
  • Louis Armstrong died (July 6)
  • The Attica Prison rising and storming, with forty-two killed (Sep. 13) 
  • Disneyworld opened in Orlando (Oct. 1) 
  • U.S. table-tennis team was invited to compete in China - a sign of improving relations. China later took its seat on U.N. Security Council (Oct. 25) 
  • Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" shown (Dec. 1) 
  • India and Pakistan went to war (Dec. 4)
  • U.S.  bombed Cambodia; fighting in Laos 
  • Rugby recognized as a club sport (Feb. 22) 
  • Mock convention in ATS, George McGovern emerged as the victor (Apr. 29) 
  • Hurricane Agnes flooded the streets of Carlisle and College set up a flood relief center; 158 persons were housed in Drayer, 550 meals were served. Fifty-five students and recent graduates work around the clock to register victims and provide information (June 22-25) 
  • Commission on the Status of Women at Dickinson held its first meeting (Dec. 11)
  • The Dickinsonian celebrated its 100th anniversary 
1972
  • President Nixon signed bill limiting speeds on U.S. freeways to 55 mph (Jan. 2) 
  • President Nixon visited China (Feb.) 
  • "The Godfather" premiered (Mar. 15)
  • "The French Connection" won Oscar (Mar.)
  • J. Edgar Hoover died in office (May 2)
  • U.S. returned Okinawa to Japan (May 15) 
  • Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace shot and paralyzed (May 15) 
  • Five men arrested in Watergate Hotel (June 18) 
  • Soviet Venus 8 soft-landed on Venus (July 22) 
  • Terrorists attacked the Israeli team at the Munich Olympic Games, 11 died (Sep. 5) 
  • CBS premiered "The Waltons" (Sep. 14) 
  • M.A.S.H. debuted on CBS (Sep. 17) 
  • US  and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks agreement SALT I (Oct.) 
  • Dow Jones closed over 1000, first ever (Nov. 14) 
  • Harry S. Truman died (Dec. 26)
  • U.S. Armed Forces became all-volunteer; the last man drafted (Dec.)
  • Paris Peace talks on Vietnam continued; only 24,000 U.S. troops remained in South Vietnam 
  • Board of Trustees rescinded 1967 policy of gender ratios and announced "that henceforth there will be no arbitrary discrimination in admissions based on sex." (Jan.)
  • Faculty present 1773-1973: An Historical Review for the College Bicentennial celebrations (Feb. 22-24) 
  • Controversy among students and faculty with the denial of tenure to a sociology professor (Feb. - Mar.) 
  • Florence Jones Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary designated a National Landmark (Feb.)
  • Skull and Key's status as an honorary society was revoked  (May 1) 
  • ROTC began to offer commissions to female student cadets (Fall) 
  • WDCV became an FM station (Oct.)
1973
  • UK, Ireland joined European Community (Jan. 1) 
  • Roe v. Wade became abortion law (Jan. 22) 
  • Lyndon Johnson died (Jan. 22) 
  • Vietnam War cease-fire signed (Jan. 27); war cost U.S. 46,000 combat deaths, a third of a million wounded, and $109.5 billion. 
  • Pablo Picasso died in France (Apr. 8) 
  • 56, 800 people saw Led Zeppelin at Tampa Stadium, largest crowd in U.S. to see a single act (May 5) 
  • Senate Watergate hearings began (May 17) 
  • J.R.R. Tolkein died aged 81 (Sep. 2) 
  • Military coup in Chile; President Salvador Allende killed (Sep. 11) 
  • Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs (Sep. 20) 
  • The Arab oil-producing nations began an oil embargo (Oct. 19) 
  • Yom Kippur War ended (Oct. 24) 
  • Watergate now a fullblown scandal and talk of impeachment begins after Nixon dismissed special prosecutor Archibald Cox (Oct. 20) 
  • Pablo Casals died in Puerto Rico (Oct. 22) 
  • Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice-President; Gerald Ford appointed, taking office (Dec. 6) 
  • President Rubendall announced that he would retire at the end of next academic year (Feb. 1)
  • Physical Education requirement reduced from eight blocks to six (Apr.)
  • George Allan, Philosophy, took up post of Dean of the College (Jul. 1)
  • Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert on campus - cost $5000, tickets $1900, loss $3100  (Oct. 20)
1974
  • Patty Hearst kidnapped (Feb. 4) 
  • Hank Aaron became the life-time home run hitter, passing Babe Ruth (Apr. 8)  
  • Niger president Hamani Diori deposed (Apr. 15) 
  • Dictatorship deposed in Portugal after the bloodless "Carnation Revolution" (Apr. 25) 
  • India exploded an atomic bomb (May 18) 
  • Duke Ellington died (May 24) 
  • Turkey invaded Cyprus (July 20) 
  • Articles of impeachment drawn up in House (July 30); Nixon resigned (Aug. 9) and Gerald Ford became the 38th U.S. President 
  • Pres. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon and gave Vietnam draft evaders limited amnesty (Sep. 8) 
  • Ali reclaimed world title in "the rumble in the jungle" vs George Foreman (Oct. 30)  
  • Oil driven inflation slowed growth in West to zero; Dow Jones at 663 
  • Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow won the National Book Award (published Feb. 1973) 
  • Bonnie Raitt concert on campus (Apr.)
  • Union Philosophical Society resumed activities (Apr. )
  • Rubendall retired and was succeeded by Samuel Alston Banks (Jul. 1)
  • Charles C. Sellers named as assistant to the president (Aug. 1)
  • Jimmy Buffet concert on campus (Oct.25)
  • The Student Affairs Committee endorsed room by room co-ed dormitories (Nov.)  Trustees did not agree.
1975
  • Margaret Thatcher became leader of Tory Party (Feb. 11) 
  • Chang Kai Shek died in Taiwan (Apr. 5) 
  • North Vietnam over-ran South Vietnam (Apr.) 
  • Khmer Rouge took  power in Cambodia (Apr.) 
  • Christian-Moslem fighting in Beirut (Apr.) 
  • S.S. Mayaguez captured by Cambodia (May 12) 
  • Rod Serling died aged fifty (June 28) 
  • U.S. Apollo and Soviet Soyuz 19 spacecraft link up in space (July 17) 
  • "A Chorus Line" opened in NYC (July 25) 
  • Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in Detroit (July 30) 
  • The Helsinki Accords signed (Aug. 1) 
  • Pathet Lao took control of Laos (Aug.) 
  • Patty Hearst was captured by FBI  (Sep. 18) 
  • Michael Shaara publishedhis novel The Killer Angels (Sep.) 
  • Pres. Ford narrowly escaped two assassination attempts in Sep., by 26 year old "Squeaky" Fromme and another by Sara Jane Moore 
  • Casey Stengel died (Sep. 29) 
  • Angola & Mozambique independent of Portugal (Nov. 11) 
  • Francisco Franco died (Nov. 20); Spain's monarchy restored 
  • Watergate investigations led to convictions of  Nixon staff
  • In Honduras, news that American owned fruit company - United Brands - had bribed the government sparked a military coup 
  • Russell R. Shunk became assistant director of Admissions (Jan.)
  • Dickinson Womens' Basketball team won Pen-Mar Conference Championship (Mar.)
  • Dickinson freshman Carol A. Olnick transferred to become one of the first contingent of thirty women accepted to West Point the following year (Apr.)
  • Twelve grade marking system approved in Faculty Meeting (Apr.)
  • George Shuman Jr. retired as College vice-president (Jul. 1) 
  • New computor mainframe - Digital Electronics Corp. PDP 11/55 (Aug.)
  • 1976-77, Tenure system under renovation by President Banks and Dean George Allan
  • First year of the Nisbet Scholar program, which waived distribution requirements for ten percent of an incoming class. Students would plan their own course of study with the help of an advisor and fellow students
  • U.S. Air Force Academy admitted women, the first military service academy to do so
1976
  • Chou En-Lai died in Beijing (Jan. 8) 
  • Agatha Christie died (Jan. 12) 
  • Concorde began passenger service (Jan. 21) 
  • Paul Robeson died in Philadelphia (Jan. 23) 
  • Alaskan Pipeline began (Mar. 9) 
  • "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" swept all five major Academy Awards, first since 1934 (Mar.)
  • Howard Hughes died (Apr. 5) 
  • J.P. Getty died in England aged 83 (June 6) 
  • North & South Vietnam reunited (June 24) 
  • Alex Haley published Roots (Aug. 1) 
  • Mao Zhedong died (Sep.  9) 
  • Worldwide Episcopal Church allowed ordination of women (Oct.) 
  • The Meadowlands opened in NJ (Oct. 10) 
  • National Theatre opened in London (Oct. 25)
  • Benjamin Britten died in Norfolk (Dec. 4)
  • Saul Bellow won Nobel Literature Prize (Dec.)
  • Reverend Moon active in the U.S.
  • Paul Kaylor, College Chaplain, resigned (Jan.)
  • Students and faculty join picket line at J.P. Stevens Company in Carlisle in solidarity with striking workers (Feb.)
  • Kenneth Laws, Associate Dean, returns to teaching in Physics Department (Feb.)
  • Leonard Goldberg replaced Robert Barr as Dean of Educational Services (Jul. 1)
  • College Christmas tree stolen from steps of Old West and destroyed shortly after being put up (Dec.)
  • Study of SAT tests showed a steady decline in standards between 1963 and 1977
1977
  • James Earl Carter sworn in as 39th  U.S. President  (Jan. 20)
  • "Rocky" won the Best Picture Oscar (Mar.) 
  • The movie "Star Wars" opened (May 25) 
  • Neutron bomb tested in The U. S. (July 7) 
  • Another great New York blackout (July 13) 
  • "Gang of Four" expelled from China (July 22) 
  • Elvis Presley died in Memphis (Aug. 16) 
  • Groucho Marx died at 86 (Aug. 19) 
  • Steven Biko was murdered in South African police custody. He was 30 (Sep. 12) 
  • Maria Callas died in Paris, at 53 (Sep. 15) 
  • The USA and Panama agreed on two new treaties giving Panama sovereignty over Canal Zone and allowing Panama's "complete" control of the canal in 2000. U.S. would still have the right to "defend the canal's neutrality." (Sep. 7) 
  • U.S. Department of Energy established (Oct.) 
  • Anwar Sadat visited Israel, first Arab leader ever to do so (Nov. 28) 
  • Ed Koch elected mayor of NYC (Nov.) 
  • Amnesty International won Nobel Peace Prize (Dec. 10)
  • TV adaptation of  Roots becomes most popular show in U.S. 
  • Student Affairs Committe once again endorsed room by room co-educational housing (Jan.) Trustees again refuse (Apr.)
  • Extremely heavy snowfall forced College to hire students as snow clearers at $3 hour (Jan.)
  • Pres. Banks suffered small coronary and is hospitalized (Feb.)
  • Russian Flu epidemic spread from F&M; more than 1000 cases in eleven days on campus.  College remained open (Feb. - Mar.)
  • Writing Center opened in basement of Spahr Library (Mar.)
  • Student Senate forced College Fencing Club to amend its constitution to remove article that allowed impeached officers to call for "trial by combat" as final arbitration (Mar. 16)
  • During the Fall, after several attacks and near attacks, rape became an issue on the campus and in the neighboring law school. Result was more security patrols, heightened education from Womens Center, and the institution of a campus escort service.
1978
  • Sally Ride named as first woman in the U.S. astronaut program (Jan. 16) 
  • Former Italian leader Aldo Moro kidnapped and murdered by the Red Brigades (Apr. - May) 
  • U.S. Marines named first woman general (May) 
  • The first "test-tube" baby - Louise Brown - was born in London (July 25) 
  • The sitcom "Taxi" began (Sep. 12) 
  • Camp David Accords signed (Sep. 17) 
  • Pope Paul VI  then Pope John Paul I died in Rome; John Paul II  became the first ever Polish Pope (Oct. 16) 
  • Norman Rockwell died aged 84 (Nov. 8) 
  • In Guyana, South America, 917 members of (American) Jim Jones' People's Temple commit mass suicide (Nov. 18) 
  • Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk murdered in San Francisco (Nov. 27)  
  • U.S. dollar fell to record low against Japan's yen 
  • U.S. & China announced full diplomatic relations would resume Jan. 1, 1979 (Dec. 15) 
  • Dow Jones record day's advance - 35 points (Dec.) 
  • Three Mile Island Incident.  Campus closed for a week when 75% of students and several faculty fled (Apr. 1) WDCV remained on the air for 141 consecutive hours to provide news.
  • In the aftermath, faculty-student project launched to document with oral history techniques the emergency locally. 
  • Student fundraising competition for t-shirt slogans raises $300.  Winners: "Hell no, We won't Glow,"  "I survived Three Mile Island ...  I think," and "Visit Harrisburg and have 2.6 children." (Apr.)
  • Assistant Prof. John Osborne hired from Stanford University to teach History
  • Joseph DuCharme named Mens' Athletic Director (July 1)
  • Carlisle Borough removed crosswalk in front of Spahr Library.  Students immediately replaced it  with white spray paint (Sep.)
  • Dining Hall now required ID cards for entry (Sep.)
  • Carlisle police raided three female students off-campus apartment and seized 37 marajuana plants (Sep. 7) 
  • IFC voted to ban "Geeks" (non-fraternity or sorority members) from the Quad (Oct. 17)  College immediately overturned ruling
  • Explosion in Althouse chemistry class - one student injured slightly (Nov. 1)
  • William Masland named as new Board of Trustees president (Nov.)
1979
  • Vietnamese Army invaded Cambodia and overthrew Khmer Rouge government (Jan. 7)
  • Shah of Iran overthrown (Jan. 16) 
  • Sid Vicious died in Chelsea Hotel, NYC (Feb. 2)
  • Camp David Accords signed (Mar. 26)
  • Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first woman prime minister (Mar. 28)
  • Three Mile Island Nuclear facility narrowly averted disaster in partial meltdown (Mar. 28)
  • "The Deer Hunter" won Academy Award (Mar.)
  • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, president of Pakistan, was executed by military government (Apr. 4)
  • Talcott Parsons died in Munich (May 8)
  • John Wayne died of cancer (June 11)
  • SALT 2 Treaty signed in Vienna (June 18)
  • Sony introduced the Walkman (July 1)
  • Henry Marcuse died aged 81 (July 29) 
  • Sandinistas take power in Nicaragua (July) 
  • Park Chung Hee assassinated in Korea (Oct. 26)
  • Peter Shaffer staged his "Amadeus" at the National Theatre in London (Nov. 2) 
  • U.S. Embassy overrun and 100 Americans taken hostage in Teheran (Nov. 4)
  • Soviets invaded Afghanistan (Dec. 27) 
  • Mother Theresa won Nobel Peace Prize (Dec.)
  • William Styron published Sophie's Choice and V.S. Naipaul his Bend In the River
  • Eight hour protest outside Denny Hall (home of ROTC) against the reinstitution of Selective Service (Feb. 8)
  • Library called student employee door-check security system ineffective due to peer pressure.  Thefts of  books not declining while costs going up.  Electronic screening system was in place by fall (Feb.)
  • Archery night attack on Beta Theta Pi by five drunken Kappa Sigma pledges - narrow escapes but no injuries. Culprits censured (Apr. 16)
  • Senior Laurie Lucas won the Miss Cumberland Valley contest (Apr.)  Earlier in the month, a visiting scholar had sponsored a "role reversed" male beauty pageant - Dean of Housing Bruce Wall won.
  • Computer Science major approved (Apr.)
  • Ninety seven women graduated as first female officers from the Air Force Academy (May 28)
  • Kline Sports Life Learning Center opened on September 3 and was dedicated October 25.
  • Early 1980's  - Fraternities began to move out of the quads, changing the campus dynamics 
  • Freshman seminars were approved – these were to stress analytical thinking, research, discussion, as well as library and writing skills 
  • Bomb exploded in the Bologna railway station and killed 84 people; no Dickinsonians nearby
1980
  • US  boycotted Moscow Olympics (Feb. 20)
  • Jesse Owens died, aged 67 (Mar. 31)
  • Arthur Fry invented 3-M's Post-It notes (Apr. 4)
  • Jean-Paul Satre died in Paris (Apr. 15)
  • Military attempt at rescue of U.S. Embassy staff held in Iran failed (Apr. 24-25)
  • Iranian Embassy in London seized (Apr. 30); British SAS free hostages and kill four of the five Iranian dissident terrorists (May 5) 
  • Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state and killed 36 (May 18)
  • CNN went on the air (June 1) 
  • Bjorn Borg won 5th consecutive Wimbledon singles title (June)
  • Iraq and Iran began a disastrous war (Sep.)
  • Steve McQueen died, aged 50 (Nov. 7)
  • "Dallas" was the television rage; who shot J.R? 83 million tuned in to find out (Nov. 21) 
  • Three US nuns & a lay-worker raped and killed by El Salvadorian troops (Dec. 3) 
  • John Lennon killed in New York  (Dec. 8)
  • Soviets were now involved in heavy fighting against Afghan rebel forces. 
  • David Edgar's "Nicholas Nickelby" London hit 
  • Conveyor Belt in Dining Hall installed (Jan.)
  • NCAA took control of womens' sports from the AIAW (Jan.)
  • Sprinkler malfunction caused $75, 000 in damage at Kline Center (Feb. 1)
  • Faculty approved Policy and Management Studies Program (Mar.)
  • Lobbying students requesting a Whole Earth House given a quad building  (Apr.)
  • Three fraternities leave the Quad for other campus housing- SAE, Beta, and Phi Ep (Apr.)
  • Skull and Key (Black Hats), after a warning, continue a short tradition of throwing beer kegs through a window.  (Apr. 17)  Contributed to end of organization on campus.
  • Work begins on converting Alumni Gymnasium to the Arts Center (Summer)
  • Record number of 575 freshmen enrolled.  This required the conversion of Stuart to student  housing (Sep.)
  • New ID system enabled charges for the first time as well as library & dining hall use (Sep.)
  • First freshmen seminars began (Sep.)
  • Amnesty International chapter revived on campus (Sep.)
  • BACCHUS chapter organized on campus (Sep.)
  • Giant brassiere suspended between Spahr Library and Montgomery.  Art student group named RUCKUS responsible (Oct. 27)
1981
  • Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th U.S. President and, following the ideas of supply-side economics, began to cut away at federal spending and reduce income tax to the wealthy (Jan. 20)
  • Walter Cronkite retired (Mar. 6)
  • Assassination attempt made on President Reagan by John Hinkley (Mar. 30)
  • Bob Marley died of cancer (May 11)
  • Assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II (May)
  • MTV, the first 24 hour music channel, debuted (Aug. 1)
  • IBM launched the PC (Aug.)
  • Sandra Day O'Connor became first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (Sep. 25) 
  • Anwar Sadat assassinated in Egypt (Oct. 6) 
  • Muhammad Ali retired from boxing (Dec.) 
  • President Reagan gave the CIA permission to begin paramilitary operations against the Sandinista government (in Nicaragua)
  • Scientists identified Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
  • Solidarity became a national movement in Poland
  • "Cats" opened in London
  • First space-shuttle flight, by Columbia
  • Rioting in mixed-race British urban areas
  • PanHel voted for fifth sorority - Kappa Alpha Theta (Mar. 10)
  • Faculty approve new SAC proposed alcohol policy which mandates heavier sanctions and more responsibility from students and organizations.  Also directed campus security to arrest and cite violators (May)
  • WDCV upped its wattage (from 10 to 450) and its range to 20-30 miles (Sep.)
  • College added a Sexual Harassment Policy to the Student Handbook (Sep.)
  • First Metzger Series held (Oct.)
  • Alumni Gymnasium was completely remodeled and converted into the Emil R. Weiss Center for the Arts.   Emil Weiss donated $250, 000 and the new Arts Center - completed six months ahead of schedule is opened with his name on it  (Nov. 1)
1982
  • Theolonius Monk died (Feb. 17)
  • "Chariots of Fire" was Best Picture at Oscars (Mar.)
  • British Task Force ordered to retake Falkland Islands (Apr. 3); landed (May 21) and were successful (June 14) with Argentine surrender.
  • Grace Kelly died in an automobile accident in Monaco (Sep. 14) 
  • U.S.A. Today's first issue published (Sept. 15)
  • "Cats" opened on Broadway (Oct. 7)
  • Leonid Breshnev died in office (Nov. 10)
  • Vietnam Veterans' Memorial dedicated (Nov. 13) 
  • Charlie Brooks died in first U.S. execution by lethal injection, in Texas (Dec. 7)
  • Directed by the CIA, the Contras blew up two bridges in Nicaragua and began the Contra insurgency. 
  • "ET" becomes a hit film, also "Tootsie" and "Gandhi" 
  • Thomas Keneally published Schindler's List 
  • Spain joined NATO
  • Bosler renovations proceeded smoothly
  • Students, led by College Democrats petition, protest 13.5% tuition hike (Feb.)
  • Tuition cost raised further comments as the College built a limestone wall around Weiss Center, to encourage use of crosswalk (Mar.)
  • Skull and Key  disbanded permanently following persistent disciplinary problems, including pledging while suspended (Apr.)
  • Hispanic Student Society activated (Apr.)
  • Languages and Education returned to the renovated Bosler Hall (Aug. 31) 
  • Departments moved from Denny Hall to temporary home in Stevens School while Denny was gutted and renovated (Aug.)
  • Plans announced for the College purchase of 301 W. Louther, the Brethren in Christ Church, for $1.25 million (Sep.)
  • Students allowed for the first time to exchange meal points for dinner in Snack Bar (Sep.)
  • Maurice Sendak spoke as part of the "Art of the Book" symposium (Oct.)
  • Old Arts/Media Building demolished on High Street west of Spahr (Dec.)
1983
  • The final episode of the television  comedy "M*A*S*H ", the 251st,  is aired. (Mar. 2) 
  • Sir William Walton died in Italy (Mar. 8)
  • U.S. President Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" and proposed his S.D.I program - "Starwars" (Mar. 23)
  • Sally Ride first U.S. woman in space (June 18) 
  • Korean airliner shot down over U.S.S.R. (Sep. 1) 
  • Suicide attacks in Beirut kill 242 U.S. & 62 French military personnel (Oct. 23) 
  • 6000 U.S. troops invaded Grenada, winning 8,612 medals in the week long effort (Oct. 25)
  • U.S. unemployment 12 million, most since 1941
  • Solidarity's Lech Walensa won the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Start of  cellular phone networks in U.S. 
  • The compact disc was launched
  • Hit music: "Beat It"  "Every Breath You Take" 
  • Hills & Knowlton hired as consultants on admissions (Feb. 2)
  • Freshman Seminar voted as graduation requirement at Faculty Meeting (Feb. 6)
  • Male student shot in the eye by Carlisle youth after incident at Alpha Chi Rho in lower quad (Mar. 3)
  • Stevie Rae Vaughan concert scheduled for May 3 cancelled due to lack of ticket sales (Apr. 27)
  • Five co-eds -Gwena Straub, Suzi Wooley, Linda Coyne, Cicely Glaser and Stacy Camillo - produce "Men of Dickinson Calendar" (May)
  • College purchases "Rainbow Micro Computers" for public use; students begin to have computer accounts (Sep.)
  • Renovated snackbar in HUB reopens with a new name -"Union Station" (Oct. 1)
  • Faculty authorize Dickinson in England Program as new year option (Oct. 1)
  • First women's varsity soccer team finishes its maiden season with 7-3 record (Oct. 31)
  • East Asian Studies major approved in Faculty Meeting; Japanese to be taught (Dec. 5)
  • College secured $1,000,000 Challenge Grant from National Endowment  for the Humanities for a boost in study abroad and foreign language  programs. 
  • German language students conversed with staff members of the National Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, West Germany, via satellite 
1984
  •  Apple MacIntosh computer launched (Jan. 23) 
  • Michael Jackson's hair caught fire (Jan. 27) 
  • Oprah Winfrey's talk show debuts, and within a month was top of the local ratings (Jan.) 
  • The "AIDS" virus isolated (Apr. 23)
  • "Count" Basie died (Apr. 26)
  • Richard Burton died in Geneva (Aug. 5) 
  • Truman Capote died in Los Angeles (Aug. 25)
  • Indira Gandhi assassinated in India (Oct. 31) 
  • Toxic gas leak in Bohpal, India - 2,500 died (Dec. 3)
  • The United States signed a free-trade agreement with Israel that includes, among other things, a requirement that Israel would have to  discuss all its industrial policies with the US before action
  • British miners began year-long strike
  • Milan Kundera published The Unbearable Lightness of Being
  •  Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" released
  • "Beverly Hills Cop" & "Ghostbusters" hit films
  • Mens' Ski Team MAC champions (Mar.)
  • Harrisburg Urban Semester (THUS) ended due to disinterest from students (Apr. 10)
  • Prof. Fred Petty of Music celebrated with a party as his 1969 Ford Fairlane reached 238,000 miles - the distance from the Earth to the Moon - without major repair (Apr. 24)
  • Vandalizing of public computers on campus, along with several thefts seen as a serious problem (Apr.)
  • Attorney General Edwin Meese III spoke on Civil Rights and Equality under the Constitution (Sep. 17)
  • Limestone wall to be built on High Street side of Morgan Field to encourage use of single crosswalk to main campus (Sep.) Completed September 1986.
  • John Buonocore, class of 1987, killed in terrorist attack at Rome airport while studying abroad (Dec. 27) 
-
1985
  • Mikhael Gorbachev head of U.S.S.R. succeeding the late Konstantin Chernenko (Mar.)
  • Bob Geldorf's Live Aid concert in London and Philadelphia (July 13) 
  • Mexico City earthquake killed 7,000 (Sept. 19)
  • Rock Hudson died of AIDS (Oct. 2)
  • Palestinian terrorists hijacked cruise ship "Achille Lauro" (Oct. 6)
  • Orson Welles died in Hollywood (Oct. 10) 
  • Charles "Richter Scale" Richter died (Apr. 30) 
  • Microsoft Windows 1.0 appeared (Nov.)
  • Reagan & Gorbachev met in Geneva (Nov.)
  • Studs Terkel's The Good War won  a Pulitzer
  • The U.S. became the world's largest debtor nation, had a deficit of $130 billion. 
  • Between 1980 - 1985 the U.S. defense budget rose by 51%
  • Trustees commitee on Finance and Investments debated divestment in companies dealing in South Africa; nothing decided (Feb.-Mar.)
  • Influenza hit the College hard (Mar.)
  • Public Affairs Symposium held on the topic of "Terrorism." (Mar. 13)
  • Gamma Phi Beta sorority did not have a pledge class; suspends, then disappeared (Apr. 3)
  • "Flock of Seagulls" performed, drawing an audience where Stevie Rae Vaughan had failed two years before (May)
  • Dickinson soccer team competed in five international soccer exhibitions in Australia and Fiji (Aug.)
  • SAE fraternity experimented voluntarily with "Dry Rush" (Oct.)
  • Rumor of a psychic prediction of a mass murder in a small college co-ed dorm near the Susquehanna caused anxiety among women on campus, many went home for weekend (Nov. 6)
  • President Banks left to accept position as president at the University of Richmond (Dec.) 
  • George Allan acting president, Dec. 1986 - July 1987 
1986
  • Portugal and Spain entered the E.U. (Jan. 1)
  • Space shuttle Challenger exploded (Jan. 28)
  • Soviet spacestation MIR launched (Feb. 19) 
  • James Cagney died (Mar. 30) 
  • US and UK  bombed Libya (Apr. 15) 
  • Nuclear disaster began in Chernobyl (Apr. 26) 
  • Jorge Luis Borges died, aged 87 (June 14)
  • Henry Moore died, aged 88 (Aug. 31)
  • Reagan and Gorbachev met in Reykjavik (Oct. 9-12)
  • Cary Grant died (Nov. 29)
  • Pres.  Reagan admits to having sold arms to Iran and using some of the profits to support the rebel Contras in Nicaragua (Nov.)
  • Desmond Tutu became first black Archbishop of Capetown in South Africa 
  • Toxic volcanic gas killed 20,000 in Cameroon
  • "Blue Velvet" and "Crocodile Dundee" hit films 
  • "Phantom of the Opera" premiered in London 
  • Le Musee D'Orsay opened in Paris
  • New computer room opened in HUB with twenty IBM computers in space Geology left  (Jan.)
  • College purchased 2.68 acres limestone quarry in West Pennsboro Township (Jan. 7)
  • Freshman Jonathan Monheit transferred to Goucher College where he became that college's first full-time male student (Apr.)
  • Phi Beta Kappa Alpha of Pennsylvania celebrated its centenary (Apr. 13)
  • A.  Lee Fritschler  elected as the twenty-sixth president of Dickinson College (Apr. 17)
  • Students called for availability of contraceptives on campus due to AIDS risks (Spring); by October, the Health Center was distributing condoms and educational materials.
  • Portrait of first president Charles Nisbet stolen from the President's House - returned safely when a phone call to local police stated the painting had been left on President's porch.  Two juniors later arrested (Nov.)
1987
  • Andy Warhol died, aged 59 (Feb. 22)
  • "Les Miserables" opened on Broadway (Mar. 12)
  • "Platoon" won Best Picture Oscar (Mar.)
  • Primo Levi died (Apr. 11)
  • U.S.S. Stark hit by Iraqi missile, 37 died (May 17)
  • Fred Astaire died, aged 88 (June 22)
  • Andreas Segovia died, aged 96 (Sep. 23)
  • Dow Jones Industrials went over 2,000 for first time but on "Black Monday" crashed 23% or 508 points (Oct. 19) 
  •  James Baldwin died (Nov. 30)
  • Paul Simon's "Graceland" a popular hit 
  • Jacqueline Dupree died, aged 43 
  • The Americans refused to re-open discussion with Israel on trade deal that forced Israelis to discuss any new industrial policies with  the U.S.  
  • The U.S. and Mexico signed a three page trade agreement that they would consult with each other if they have a trade dispute. During the negotiation stages Mexico asked the US to include a promise that the U.S. would not use military intervention to enforce any trade dispute but the U.S. refused
  • Margaret Thatcher re-elected in U.K. 
  • Channel Tunnel between U.K. and France begun
  • 2000 died in Philipino ferry disaster
  • Oscar Arias won Nobel Peace Prize
  • Carlisle council mulled over zoning ordinances which would keep student housing to the traditional dormitories (Jan.)
  • College stores and snack bars ceased the sale of  tobacco products (Apr. 7)
  • "Autocat" computerized library catalogue came online in prototype form (Apr. 13)
  • Alpha Phi Omega, national service fraternity, chartered on camus (Apr.)
  • "Buildings and Grounds" renamed as "Dickinson Physical Plant" (Sep.)
  • Former Byers' Lumber property near Kline Center renovated as student social space (Oct.)
  • Campus become fully non-smoking in public areas, including offices (Nov.)
  • Habitat for Humanity chapter founded on campus (Nov.)
  • College purchased 75 acres of land on Ritner Highway west of campus for future use as athletic fields and possible development (Dec.)
  • Dickinson Football tied with F&M in first Centennial Conference Championship (Dec.)
1988
  • Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time was published (Spring) 
  • Disgraced TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart was defrocked by the Assemblies of God (Apr. 8)
  • The USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner killing 290 people (July 3) 
  • Iran and Iraq agreed to a ceasefire (Aug. 20)
  • Rudolf Hess committed suicide in Berlin (Aug.)
  • Roy Orbison died, aged 52 (Dec. 2)
  • Armenian earthquake killed 25,000 (Dec. 7)
  • Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland (Dec. 8)
  • Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses caused Iranian extremists to sentence him to death
  • Soviets began to withdraw from Afghanistan
  • Between 1985 and 1988 the American national deficit tripled. 
  • Bobby McFarrin's "Dont Worry, Be Happy" a hit 
  • "Dickinsonians for Daycare" met in Social Hall (Feb. 20)  By August, a fully functioning daycare Childrens' Center was in operation.
  • Eddie Money appeared in campus concert - only 469 people attended - loss of $19,000 (Apr. 23)
  • Rev. Mary Anne Moorefield resigned as chaplain when  position reverted to part-time secular role (Apr.) 
  • "Strategic Plan 2000" prepared to attract top students, retain faculty, build facilities, and improve financial aid over ten years (May 4)
  • Steven Butterworth died after falling from window in Alpha Chi Rho house in the quads, now Atwater. (Sep. 2) Fraternity suspended and disbanded (Oct. 2) as punishment.  Reaction also led to rush and pledging beingchanged from freshman to sophomore year. 
  • Senior Management Group banned beer kegs on campus and therefore "kegerator" use in fraternities.  Almost a thousand students demonstrated and signed a petition protesting the ruling - the largest student action since the 1970 march on the Army War College. The policy stood (Sep.)
  • Declare Day II held to discuss the state of the College (Sep. 29)
  • Trustees refused to divest from companies dealing with South Africa (Oct.)
  • Dickinson Football team selected for Division III Playoffs (Nov.15)
  • Faculty Meeting voted to institute a "Common Hour" (Dec. 7)
  • Womens' Studies 200 offered for the first time during spring semester.
1989
  • Emperor Hirohito of Japan died (Jan. 7)
  • Laurence Olivier died, aged 81 (Jan. 20)
  • The serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida (Jan. 24)
  • George Bush sworn in as U.S. President (Jan.)
  • Barbara Harris became first Episcopal female bishop (Feb. 11)
  • Death sentence was declared on Salman Rushdie for anti-Islamic writing (Feb. 14) 
  • The tanker Exxon Valdez caused the greatest oil spill ever (Mar. 24) 
  • First free elections ever in Russia (Mar. 26) 
  • Hillsborough stadium disaster in England, with 94 dead (Apr. 15) 
  • Explosion on the battleship U.S.S. Iowa killed 47 sailors (Apr. 19)
  • Ayatollah Khomeini died (June 3)
  • Pro-democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square; seven week occupation ended in violence with the army clearing the square (June 4)
  • Hashemi Rafsanjani became the  president of Iran (Aug. 3)
  • General Colin Powell became first ever black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Aug.)
  • Irving Berlin died, aged 101 (Sep. 22)
  • Graham Chapman died, aged 48 (Oct. 4)
  • An earthquake hit San Francisco just before  a World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics; 67 died (Oct. 17)
  • Doug Wilder of Virginia became first ever black elected governor in the U.S. (Nov. 7) 
  • The Berlin Wall came down (Nov.) 
  • US sent 25,000 troops to seize Panama's General Manuel Noriega (Dec. 20) 
  • APC recommended shutting down the Nisbet Program, last Nisbet Scholar graduated in Spring 1991 (Feb. 1)
  • Ralph Nader was keynote speaker at PAS which had as its topic "The Environment: Putting All the Pieces Together"(Feb.15)
  • Choir of Charles University, Prague performed on campus (Feb. 17)
  • Student discontent over concert policy paid off with appearance of "The Kinks" in the Kline Center with 2,200 tickets sold (Apr. 22)
  • Campus Security renamed "Department of Safety and Security" (Jul. 1)
  • Common Hour began together  with the adjusted Wednesday class schedule (Sep.)
  • Biddle House now office space (Sep.)
  • Memorial service held in the Library for the Card Catalogue, now completely replaced with "Autocat" computerized system (Oct. 31)
  • Football team won third straight Conference crown (Nov. 15)
  • College received record total of $4,000,000 in gifts in fiscal year
1990
  • Dow Jones at 2,800 for first time ever (Jan. 2); broke 3000 level in July 
  • D.C. Mayor Marion Barry arrested for possession of "crack" cocaine (Jan. 18) 
  • First Moscow MacDonalds' opened (Jan. 31) 
  • Nelson Mandela freed from prison (Feb. 11) 
  • Gen.  Noriega taken to U.S. for trial (Feb.) 
  • Greta Garbo died in New York aged 85 (Apr. 15) 
  • Jim Henson died, aged 54 (May 15) 
  • Negotiations between Canada, USA, and Mexico on a free trade agreement began (June) 
  • Iraq invaded Kuwait. (Aug. 2) 
  • Ellis Island National Site opened (Sep. 8) 
  • Leonard Bernstein died (Oct. 14) 
  • Margaret Thatcher resigned (Nov. 28)
  • Bush and Gorbachev agreed to cut nuclear arms and chemical weapons (Nov.) 
  • Aaron Copeland died in Tarrytown (Dec. 2) 
  • Lech Walensa elected Polish president (Dec. 9)
  • Gulf War nervousness brought six students home from Bologna program; Dickinson overseas programs remained open (Feb.)
  • Peace Rally with 50 people on campus (Feb. 7)
  • Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, who was to have given the address at Commencement, died in a helicopter crash (Feb.)
  • Major Marie T. Rossi, U.S. Army, class of 1980, killed in Gulf War (Mar.1)
  • The student "improv" group "Run With It" made its debut on campus (Apr. 11)
  • President Emeritus Rubendall died (Apr.13)
  • Kappa Kappa Gamma became the first Dickinson sorority ever to obtain campus housing (Apr.)
  • Announced that Carlisle Theater would be renovated and reopened as a community theater, including facilities for Mermaid Players (Sep.)
  • Announcement made that the "Quads" would be named for significant figures in Dickinson's history (Oct.)
1991
  • US-led coalition began bombing Iraq (Jan. 12) 
  • Dame Margot Fonteyn died (Feb. 21) 
  • A video tape of Los Angeles police beating 25 year old black motorist Rodney King the night before, was aired on CNN (Mar. 4) 
  • Rajiv Ghandi assassinated in India (Mar. 21) 
  • The Warsaw Pact was dissolved (Mar. 31)
  • "Raise the Red Lantern" nominated for an Oscar, was banned in China (Apr.)
  • U.S. lifted most economic sanctions against South Africa (June 10) 
  • Croatia, Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia (June) 
  • Michail Gorbachev resigned (Aug. 24)  
  • Trial of former Panama dictator General Noriega began in the U.S. (Sep. 5) 
  • Eight people entered the "Biosphere II", a three acre enclosure in the Arizona desert (Sep. 26) 
  • Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia (Nov.) 
  • Soviet Union was dissolved (Dec. 25) 
  • Bernard Center reverted to traditional name of East College, endowment never paid (Feb. 13)
  • Bud Shaw, class of 1980, died of AIDS; spoke on campus the previous fall (Mar. 13)
  • Admissions received applications from all fifty states for the first time ever (Spring)
  • Spin Doctors warmed up concert on campus for Blues Traveler (Apr. 12)
  • "The Devils' Den" convenience store opened in the HUB basement (Sep.)
  • ALLIES formed on campus (Sep.)
  • Patricia Smith, sophomore, suffocated at home in a ventilation accident (Oct.)
  • Holland Union lower level to be open 24 hours
1992
  • Mike Tyson convicted of statutory rape (Mar. 26) 
  • Sam Walton died in Little Rock (Apr. 5) 

    • Arthur Ashe revealed he had AIDS (Apr. 8)
    Sam Kinison died in auto accident (Apr. 10)
  • Violence in Los Angeles after an all white jury acquited four white police officers of  beating Rodney King (May 2) 
  • U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (June 3-14) 
  • Agreement on NAFTA was reached (Aug.)  
  • Bill Clinton elected US. President (Nov.  3) 
  • Football coach Ed Sweeney resigned and Darwin Breaux was chosen as his replacement. (Feb. 4)
  • Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun spoke in ATS as demonstrators protested his pro-abortion verdict in ‘Roe v. Wade’ (Feb. 9)
  • Seamus Heaney spoke at Common Hour (Mar 3)
  • Dickinson’s Eakin Trio performed at Carnegie Hall (Mar. 7)
  • Robert Freeland became head of C& D (April 1)
  • Former Attorney General Edwin Meese spoke at Dickinson (May 6)
  • Emergency phones activated on campus (Sept. 9)
  • Many campus elms and dogwoods discovered to be diseased and rotting. (Sept. 23)
  • “Coming Out Day,” celebrated supporting gay rights (Oct. 11)
  • Men’s soccer won ECAC tournament (Nov. 7)
  • “Rape Awareness Week” held (Nov. 11)
  • The College added “sexual orientation” to its non-discrimination policy. (Dec. 2)
  • George Allen, Dean of the College, announced he would resign from his post (Dec. 9)
  • The Centennial Conference, founded in 1983 as a football conference, began competition in all sports 
1993
  • Thurgood Marshall died (Jan. 24) 
  • World Trade Center bombing (Feb. 26)
  • Marian Anderson died, aged 96 (Apr. 8)
  • A federal jury convicts two police officers of civil rights violations in beating Rodney King  (Apr.)
  • The FBI storm the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas (Apr.) 
  • In the U.S. , last episode of "Cheers" (May 20) 
  • Middle East Peace Accord signed in Washington (Sep. 13) 
  • NAFTA passed U.S. House 238-200  and passed the Senate two days later (Nov. 19) 
  • The Brady Bill passed Congress (Nov. 24) 
  • “Lumberyard” collapsed in heavy snow (Jan 17)
  • College plan to cut enrollment by 10% (Feb. 5)
  • Women’s Basketball won the Centennial Championships. (Feb. 26)
  • Cigarette smoker started a fire at Baird Hall. The room left charred, hall evacuated. (Mar. 13)
  • Aztec elders performed the “Four Colors Ceremony” on Weiss Field (Apr. 16)
  • Sarah Brady spoke at Commencement with vocal pro-gun protesters in attendance (May 22)
  • Dickinson began the public phase of a $40 million Capital Campaign (Sept.15)
  • ‘Equality House’ resident in Quad 2 (Sept. 15)
  • Environmental Studies major proposed (Sep. 22)
  • Dickinson announced all employee pay would be directly deposited to bank accounts (Oct. 6)
  • Reenactors camped on campus on the anniversary of the Whiskey Rebellion. (Oct. 8)
  • College voted to give benefits to same-sex partners of employees. (Oct. 8)
  • “The Depot” is voted as name for the new social space replacing the “Lumberyard” (Nov. 10)
  • Football team won their seventh consecutive conference title. (Nov. 12)
  • Faculty votes to make the SATs an optional part of admissions. (Nov. 14)
  • Alumna Lisa Rossbacher is named as the new Dean of the College (Dec. 23)
  • Hans Joachim Schädlich, renowned German author, was the Max Kade Center Writer in Residence for the Spring Semester 
1994
  • NAFTA took effect (Jan. 1) 
  • Rudolph Nureyev died (Jan. 6) 
  • Byron De La Beckwith convicted of murder of Medger Evers 31 years after the event (Feb. 5) 
  • Aldrich Ames and wife charged as spies (Feb. 21)
  • Church of England ordains 33 women priests (Mar. 12)
  • Schindler's List won Oscar (Mar. 21)
  • Kurt Cobain committed suicide, aged 27 (Apr. 8)
  • Former President Nixon suffered a stroke and died 4 days later (Apr. 18)
  • First universal suffrage elections held in South Africa (Apr. 26-29); Nelson Mandela sworn in as South African president (May 10) 
  • Channel Tunnel open for business (May)
  • 1994 World Cup begins in US (Jun. 17)
  • Kim Il-Sung of N. Korea died (July 8) 
  • U.S.  baseball strike (Aug. 11) ended the season (Sep. 14) 
  • Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres (Oct. 14)
  • First  snowless December in Baltimore Maryland history
  • Russia invaded breakaway Chechnya
  • Washington Redskins announced they will no longer train at Dickinson (Feb. 23)
  • “Students for a Free Tibet” become official campus organization (Feb. 27)
  • The new student social space, The Depot, opened, replacing The Lumberyard, which was destroyed the previous year (Mar.4)
  •  Trout Gallery exhibit with text, photos and traditional art from Haiti. (Mar. 10)
  • Clarke Center Director Eugene Hickok named PA. State Secretary of Education. (Mar. 20)
  • “Our Town” presented in Mathers,  celebrating its first production 30 years before (Apr.7)
  • Neil Weissman named new Clarke Center Director (Apr. 20)
  • Larry Mench, Dean of Admissions, retired (Jun 30)
  • Dickinson advanced to the first tier in U.S. News and World Reports rankings (Sep. 18)
  • VAX networking system replaced (Sep. 21)
  • Plans made to install cable television in dorm rooms (Sep. 28)
  • Gordon Quinn, director of “Hoop Dreams,” spoke at Dickinson (Oct. 10)
  • Two large spheres, instantly nicknamed “HUBnuts,” added to the Union steps (Oct. 26)
  • College administrators discussed possible business department (Nov. 9)
  • College unveiled plans to construct a new library (Dec. 4)

    •  
1995
  • Gary Larson published the last "Far Side" he started in 1980 (Jan. 1)
  • Newt Gingrich became speaker of the House (Jan. 4)
  • Dow-Jones hit record 4011.74 (Feb.24) 
  • Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died (Jan. 22)
  • Michael Jordan came out of retirement (Mar. 19)
  • Tokyo religious cult released nerve gas on city's subway, killing twelve people (Mar. 20)
  • Terrorist bomb destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 (Apr. 19)
  • U.S.  restored relations with Vietnam (July 11)
  • French nuclear testing in the Pacific despite protests (Sep. 5- Jan. 29, 1996)
  • Jerry Garcia died (Aug. 9)
  • O. J. Simpson acquitted  (Oct. 3)
  • Kinglsey Amis died (Oct. 22)
  • Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in Tel Aviv (Nov. 4)
  • President Clinton was reelected (Nov. 5)
  • Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia signed Dayton Treaty in Ohio (Dec. 14)
  • U.S. Congress passed the Helms-Burton Libertad law denying admission to the U.S. to top executives that used or invested in property that was confiscated by Cuba's communist government
  • Part-time Political Science professor Charles Gerow announced a Republican run for Congress against the incumbent (Jan. 24)
  • Several campus buildings sustained damage due to January blizzards (Feb. 8)
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabar spoke on campus (Feb. 20)
  • Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge spoke at commencement (May 19)
  • The Religious Affairs office eliminated (Jul. 1)
  • Internet was now available in the dorms. (Sep. 5)
  • Former president William Wilcox Edel died in California, aged 102 (Sep. 26) 
  • New “Business and Management” major approved (Oct. 7)
  • Raven’s Claw celebrate its centennial (Oct. 10)
  • Bill Clinton won in a campus-wide “mock” presidential election (Oct. 30)
  • The AIDS quilt put on display in the Trout Gallery (Dec. 11)

    •  
1996
  • Gene Kelly died (Feb. 2) 
  • Deep Blue computer beat world champion Garry Kasparov under tournament rules (Feb. 10)
  • Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens (Mar.29)
  • "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski arrested (Apr. 3) 
  • Freeman group in Idaho surrendered after an 81-day standoff  (June 13)
  • Terrorist bomb killed a woman during Atlanta Olympic Games (June 27)
  • HotMail, a free internet E-mail service, began (Jul. 4)
  • Roy Rogers died (July 6) 
  • U.S. Senate approved 90 cents raise to $4.25 minimum wage (Jul. 9)
  • TWA Flight 800 exploded, killed 230 (July 17) 
  • The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, and hanged former president Najibullah (Sep. 27)
  • TV industry agreed to adopt a ratings system (Dec. 18)
  • Dickinson School of Law merged with Penn State. (Jan. 17)
  • Russian Communist party leader Gennady Zyvganov spoke at Clarke Center (Feb. 19)
  • Construction began at new library. (Mar. 13)
  • New Biochemisty major planned (Apr. 3)
  • Jack Henderson, director of off-campus studies, announced his retirement (Apr. 24)
  • Admissions rose substantially with the Class of 2001 (Aug. 29)
  • Kenneth Starr gave the Constitution Day address. (Sep. 18)
  • Trout Gallery displayed art from 1773 to 1998, celebrating the College’s 225th year (Oct. 3)
  • Revolutionary War re-enactors camp at Dickinson. (Oct. 11)
  • President Fritschler announced his plans to retire as college president (Oct. 20)
  • The Dickinsonian published its first online issue (Oct. 23)
  • Former Costa Rican president and Nobel laureate Oscar Sanchez spoke (Nov. 17)
  • 200 students participate in a Hunger Fast for the homeless (Nov. 20) 
  • The Dickinsonian celebrates its 125th anniversary (Dec. 4)

    •  
1997
  • Kofi Annan of Ghana became United Nations Secretary General (Jan. 1) 
  • Madelaine Albright became the first female U.S. Secretary of State (Jan. 23)
  • O.J. Simpson found liable in murders of his wife and Ron Goldman (Feb.4)
  • Deng Xiaoping died in China (Feb. 19) 
  • Scottish scientists announced that they had cloned a sheep (Feb. 24) 
  • Members of the Heaven's Gate cult commit suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California,  39 died (Mar. 23 - 25)
  • Tony Blair became prime minister of U.K. after unprecedented Labour Party victory (May 1) 
  • Timothy McVeigh convicted of Oklahoma City bombing (June 2) 
  • Hong Kong returned to Chinese control (July 1) 
  • NASA's Pathfinder landed on Mars (July 4) 
  • Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died of AIDS aged 58 (Aug. 2) 
  • Mother Teresa died (Sep.5)
  • Princess Diana buried (Sep. 6)
  • Financial crisis in Southeast Asia
  • $50,000 in damage after wires accidentally fell in construction of the new library (Jan. 29)
  • Search committee named to find a new President (Jan. 29)
  • A fire broke out in McKenney Suites (Feb. 6)
  • Card-swipe copy machines installed in the library (Feb. 6)
  • Amnesty International reestablished itself on campus (Feb. 19)
  • College received a $7.5 million dollar gift from the Sharp family (Mar. 9)
  • U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley spoke at the College (Mar. 27)
  • College Model U.N. team went to Brazil to participate in a conference (Apr. 16) 
  • Historian David McCullough spoke at Commencement (May 17)
  • Human bones were discovered underneath the steps of Old West (Sep. 10)
  • Ira Glasser, director of the ACLU, spoke on campus (Sep. 22) 
  • Soccer coach John Osborne won his 100th match (Oct. 3)
  • Faculty approved a new writing course requirement (Oct. 5)
  • Dickinson pledges $250,000 to construction of the downtown Comfort Suites (Oct. 8)
  • Treasurer and Vice-President Michael Britton died unexpectedly at his desk (Oct. 10)
  • Robert A. Waidner section of the Waidner-Spahr Library dedicated (Oct. 23)
  • Candidates for the president position begin to visit campus, starting with alumnus William Durden (Nov. 5)
  • Dickinson hosted the NCAA National Cross-Country Championships (Nov. 21)
1998
  • Easter Peace Accord in N. Ireland (Apr. 10)
  • Gerhard Schroeder elected German chancellor (Apr. 21)
  • Carlos Castaneda died (Apr. 27)
  • First Euro coin minted in France (May 11) 
  • Frank Sinatra died (May 14) 
  • India & Pakistan test nuclear weapons (May) 
  • U.S. Supreme Court declared the "line-item veto" unconstitutional (June 25) 
  • US embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar  es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 257 people (Aug. 7) 
  • U.S. launched a retaliatory missile strike against a chemical plant in Sudan and terrorist camps in Afghanistan. (Aug. 20) 
  • The U.S. House approved an impeachment vote against Clinton on various charges (Oct. 8) 
  • Former dissident Kim Dae-jung elected President of South Korea (Dec. 18)
  • U.S. President ordered air strikes against Iraq. 
  • The Washington Post disclosed a sexual liaison between President Clinton and a White House intern. President Clinton denied the affair, but an investigation continued. 
  • Board of Trustees announced William Durden as their choice for the College’s next president. (January)
  • P.E.  requirements changed; ‘Truly Living’ class no longer required (Mar. 11)
  • Benjamin Rush scholars no longer required to keep a minimum GPA (Mar. 11)
  • Student Senate elections offer an email voting option for the first time (Mar. 31)
  • College Orchestra held a tribute concert for departing President Fritschler. (Apr. 21)
  • Robert Massa chosen as head of the enrollment management and college relations division (Apr. 22)
  • President Fritschler retired (June 30)
  • Though unfinished, the new science center is opened for classes (Aug. 27)
  • An unexpectedly large freshman class forced students to live in study lounges. (Sep. 9)
  • Yongyi Song and his wife, Helen Yao, were apprehended by authorities in China, the beginning of a six-month struggle to free the Dickinson librarian (Sep. 24)
  • Vice-President Massa announced his plans to increase diversity on campus (Oct. 11)
  • William Grady Durden, class of ’71,  became Dickinson’s 27th President. (Oct. 30)
  • Chief Justice William Rehnquist delivered the “Constitution Address.” (Nov. 12)
  • Dickinson began a study abroad program in Brisbane, Australia (Nov. 19) 
  • HIV testing made available on campus (Nov. 19)
1999
  • The European Monetary Union began (Jan. 1) 
  • The Senate acquitted President Clinton. (Feb. 12)
  • Dusty Springfield died of breast cancer (Mar. 2)
  • Stanley Kubrick died at his home in England days after completing his final film, Eyes Wide Shut (Mar. 8)
  • Dow Jones over 10,000 for first time (Mar. 29)
  • US led NATO in bombing Yugoslavia (Mar.) 
  • Poland, Hungary & the Czech Republic join NATO (Mar.) 
  • Mel Torme died, aged 73 (June 5) 
  • The German parliament approved a national Holocaust Memorial for Berlin (June 25) 
  •  King Hassan II of Morocco died (July 23) 
  • Berlin again official German capital (Aug. 23)
  • Joseph Heller died (Dec. 12)
  • Portugal returned Macau to China (Dec. 20)
  • Control of Panama Canal reverted to Panama (Dec. 31)
  • Librarian Yongyi Song wass released from a Chinese prison (Jan. 29)
  • President Durden unveiled his “strategic plan” for the College (Feb. 7)
  • Housing Lottery reformed to give top 10% students in academic rank first pick (Feb.25)
  • New telescope arrived for Tome (Feb. 29)
  • Film Studies minor announced (March 25)
  • WDCV  began Internet broadcasts (May 13)
  • Antonio Banderas given an honorary degree at Commencement (May 15)
  • Baird and McClintock dorms renovated over the summer to become one building (Aug.27)
  • Carlisle and College organized a “unity rally” in response to a KKK rally in town (Sept. 19)
  • Dickinson limited the student usage of the file-sharing program Napster (Sept. 24)
  • Comedian Lewis Black performed (Oct. 7)
  • Women’s cross-country won the Centennial Conference Championship (Oct. 28)
2000
  • Charles Schultz died (Feb. 12) 
  • Microsoft guilty of anti-trust violations (Apr. 3) 
  • Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad died (May 10) 
  • Jean-Pierre Rampal died in Paris (May 20) 
  • The Concorde jet crashed for the first time, after takeoff from Paris, 104 were killed (July 25) 
  • Sir Alec Guiness died aged 86 (Aug. 5) 
  • Russian nucleur submarine Kursk sank with all hands (Aug. 11) 
  • "Cats" closed on Broadway (Sep. 10)
  • 27th Olympic games open at Sydney, Australia (Sep. 17)
  • Victor Borge died in Connecticut  (Dec. 23)