Q 01/05

In what year was Harvard, the oldest US institution of higher learning, founded?

A) 1746

B) 1636

C) 1620

D) 1701

Answer · why

B) 1636

1636 is the founding year, sixteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth; it was named Harvard College in 1639 in honour of the clergyman whose ...

Q 02/05

Which body voted the £400 that founded the college?

A) The English Privy Council in London

B) The Congregational Synod of New England

C) The Plymouth Colony's General Assembly

D) The colony's Great and General Court

Answer · why

D) The colony's Great and General Court

The colony's Great and General Court, the Massachusetts Bay legislature, voted the £400 at a session that opened on 8 September and was adjourned to 2...

Q 03/05

Besides half his estate, what did John Harvard bequeath to the college in 1638?

A) His library of some 400 volumes

B) His house in Charlestown

C) His church's pulpit Bible

D) A printing press from England

Answer · why

A) His library of some 400 volumes

His library of some 400 volumes, together with half his estate, made the Charlestown minister the college's first major benefactor; it was renamed Har...

Q 04/05

What single Latin word appears on the three open books of Harvard's shield?

A) Fides

B) Lux

C) Sapientia

D) Veritas

Answer · why

D) Veritas

Veritas, Latin for 'truth', was sketched on the books in a 1643 design that was forgotten until President Josiah Quincy rediscovered it in 1836; the 1...

Q 05/05

Which of these is Harvard's official school color?

A) Cardinal

B) Maroon

C) Crimson

D) Scarlet

Answer · why

C) Crimson

Its sports teams take the name Harvard Crimson and compete in the Ivy League without athletic scholarships.