Princeton University . . . An academic and athletic “Tiger”!
Any list of the world’s great universities will include Princeton at or near the very top. As the fourth oldest university in America, its history is long and fascinating. At the time Princeton was founded in 1746, the United States did not exist and America was still a colony of England! At different times during the American Revolution, the university was occupied by General George Washington’s colonial troops and at other times by “redcoat” soldiers loyal to King George lll. The important Battle of Princeton was fought quite close to the current campus.
Princeton’s role in the birth of the new nation has an even more interesting but much less well known chapter. When unpaid colonial soldiers decided to take a stand against the fledgling government for the back pay they were due, they surrounded the building which housed the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Fearing for their safety, and refused assistance by the government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the members of the Continental Congress fled and relocated to a safer location in nearby Princeton. There, they convened at Princeton University’s Nassau Hall. This means that the Princeton campus was technically, at least for the summer of 1783, the “Capitol” of the United States. How about that, Washington, DC!
Today we think of Princeton as a center of intellectual excellence. After all, Princeton was the academic home of Albert Einstein and “A Beautiful Mind” subject John Nash. However, did you know that Princeton still holds the record for having the most college national football championships? As an Ivy League member, Princeton is no longer eligible to play post season football but “back in the day”, Princeton was America’s leading football powerhouse. In fact, it’s generally accepted that the very first game of football ever played was between Princeton and Rutgers back in 1869!
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