Rites and rituals are certainly ways Penn brings students together. However, tradition at Penn means a lot more than fraternities and fight songs. The University has a rich history of groundbreaking accomplishments as well.
Here are some facts and firsts every Penn student should know.
Did you know?
*Engineering School graduates have contributed to the inventions of the radio, camera, the infrared television remote control, the liquid crystal display in digital watches, automotive cruise control and the lunar land rover.
*College Hall is rumored to have inspired the mansion in The Adams Family, created by Penn alumnus Charles Addams.
*Fifteen Penn scholars have received Nobel Prizes.
*Nine signers of the Declaration of Independence and eleven signers of the Constitution studied or worked at Penn.
Penn's claims to fame in sports:
*The Penn Relays are the largest track meet in the world.
*Franklin Field is the oldest two-tiered college stadium in use today and has the nation's first stadium scoreboard.
*Penn played the first commercially-televised football game.
*The first African-American to win an Olympic gold medal was Penn graduate John Taylor.
*The Palestra has hosted more basketball games, more visiting teams and more NCAA Tournament games than any other athletic facility in the country.
*Penn alumnus Charles Diven, Class of 1936, is credited with inventing the jump shot.
*The two most prestigious collegiate athletic awards -- the Heisman and Outland trophies -- are named for former Penn athletes John Heisman and John Outland.
Penn firsts:
*First university in the country
*First medical school in the US
*First undergraduate business school in the country
*First computer -- ENIAC
*First student union
*First psychology clinic
*Judith Rodin was the first female president of an Ivy League institution
Famous Penn alumni:
*William Henry Harrison, U.S. President, 1791
*Ezra Pound, poet, 1903
*William Brennan, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1928
*Walter Annenberg, newspaper magnate and former U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, 1931
*Harold Prince, Broadway Producer, 1948
*Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, 1949-1950
*Maury Povich, talk show host, 1962
*Candice Bergen, actress, early 1960s
*Donald Trump, entrepreneur, 1968
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