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Harvard-Yale Regatta
The first Harvard–Yale Boat Race—and the first American intercollegiate sporting event—took place on August 3, 1852 Harvard's Oneida prevailed over Yale's Shawmut by about two lengths, The first place prize was a pair of black walnut, silver-inscribed trophy oars. The trophy oars were awarded to Harvard by General Franklin Pierce became the 14th President of the United States of America. Today the 1852 trophy oars are the oldest intercollegiate athletic prize in North America. -
First-ever college baseball game
On July 1, 1859, Williams College played in the first-ever college baseball game, losing to Amherst 73–32 in a game that lasted 25 innings. -
Oneida Football Club
The Oneida Football Club was established in 1862 by Gerrit Smith Miller, a graduate of the Latin School of Epes Sargent Dixwell, a private college preparatory school in Boston. At the time there were no formal rules for football games, with different schools and areas playing their own variations. Organized other recent preparatory school graduates to join what would be the first organized football team in the United States. -
1869 New Jersey vs. Rutgers football game
The 1869 New Jersey vs. Rutgers football game occurred between the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and Rutgers College played on November 6, 1869. The rules governing play were based on the London Football Association's 1863 rules that disallowed carrying or throwing the ball. As a result, it is considered the first collegiate soccer match and the birth of soccer in the United States. Rutgers won the game 6–4 -
First intercollegiate track and field event
The first intercollegiate track and field event occurred in 1873. This competition featured a two-mile race between athletes from Amherst College, Cornell University, and McGill University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. -
New Standardized Rules of Football
Representatives of Harvard,Yale, Princeton and Columbia meet at the Massasoit House in Springfield, Massachusetts to standardize a new code of rules based on the Canadian rugby game first introduced to Harvard in 1874. One important difference is the introduction of the touchdown as the primary means of scoring instead of the field goal Three of the schools (Harvard, Columbia and Princeton) form an Intercollegiate Football Association as a result of the meeting. Yale will join in 1879. -
Intercollegiate Football Association Collapses
When Harvard and Columbia withdrew in the early 1890s, leaving only Yale and Princeton as members, the Intercollegiate Football Association collapsed. -
The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives is formed
Initiated and led by Purdue University President James Henry Smart, the presidents of the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, Purdue University met in Chicago on January 11, 1895 to discuss the regulation and control of intercollegiate athletics. The eligibility of student-athletes was one of the main topics of discussion. At the time, the organization was more commonly known as the Western Conference (Big 10) -
First Concrete Stadium built by Harvard
Built in 1903, it was a pioneering execution of reinforced concrete in the construction of large structures. The stadium is the nation's oldest permanent concrete structure dedicated to intercollegiate athletics. Harvard Stadium led to the creation of two of the most fundamental aspects of modern American football: standard field dimensions and the legal forward pass. -
Formation of IAAUS (NCAA)
The NCAA dates its formation to two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century in response to repeated injuries and deaths in college football. Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules; The IAAUS was officially established on March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910.
