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Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and to induct outstanding students of arts and sciences at select American colleges and universities. Since its inception, its inducted members include 17 President of the United States, United States presidents, 42 Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court justices, and 136 Nobel Prize, Nobel laureates. History Origins The Phi Beta Kappa Society had its first meeting on December 5, 1776, at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia by five students, with John Heath as its first President. The society established the precedent for naming American college societies after the initial letters of a secret Greek motto. The group consisted of students who frequented the Raleigh Tavern as a common meeting ar ...
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College Of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world. William & Mary is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "''R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity''". One of the original nine Colonial colleges, colonial colleges, W&M remained a central institution in Southern elite culture and American political history. Its academic reputation, historic legacy, and role in American political development have established it as one of the most distinguished universities in the United States. By the 18th century, William & Mary had become a key intellectual center of colonial America. Its contributions to law, ...
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Raleigh Tavern
The Raleigh Tavern was a tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was one of the largest taverns in colonial Virginia. It gained some fame in the pre-American Revolutionary War Virginia Colony, Colony of Virginia as a gathering place for legislators after several Royal Governors officially dissolved the House of Burgesses, the elected legislative body, when their actions did not suit the Crown. It was also the site of the founding of the Phi Beta Kappa Society on December 5, 1776. Rebuilt in 1930–31, it was both the first building to be reconstructed and to be opened as part of Colonial Williamsburg. Unlike several other taverns in Williamsburg that operate as restaurants or inns, the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern building serves as a museum, showing visitors how the tavern would have appeared. It was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, an important figure in the English settlement of Virginia. A lead bust of Raleigh sat above the entrance door. History From 1699 to 1779, Williamsbu ...
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Union College
Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia University, Columbia College. In the 19th century, it became known as the "Mother of Fraternities", as Union Triad, three of Fraternities and sororities in North America, the earliest Greek letter fraternities were established there.Somers (2003), p. 304 Union began enrolling women in 1970, after 175 years as an all-male institution. The college offers a liberal arts curriculum across 21 academic departments, including ABET, ABET-accredited engineering degree programs. History Founding Chartered in 1795,Fortenbaugh (1978), p. 3 Union was the first non-denominational institution of higher education in the United States, and the second college established in the State of New York. Only Columbia University, ...
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Roman Times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (50927 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC476 AD) until the fall of the western empire. Ancient Rome began as an Italic settlement, traditionally dated to 753 BC, beside the River Tiber in the Italian peninsula. The settlement grew into the city and polity of Rome, and came to control its neighbours through a combination of treaties and military strength. It eventually controlled the Italian Peninsula, assimilating the Greek culture of southern Italy (Magna Graecia) and the Etruscan culture, and then became the dominant power in the Mediterranean region and parts of Europe. At its height it controlled the North African coast, Egypt, Southern Europe, and most of Western Europe, ...
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Greek Language
Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, Caucasus, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the list of languages by first written accounts, longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts ...
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Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Emerging into national prominence at the turn of the 20th century, Dartmouth has since been considered among the most prestigious undergraduate colleges in the United States. Although originally established to educate Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in Christian theology and the Anglo-American way of life, the university primarily trained Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized. While Dartmouth is now a research university rather than simply an undergraduate college, it continues to go by "Dartmouth College" to emphasize its focus on undergraduate education. Following a liberal arts curriculum, Dartmouth provides unde ...
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Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyman John Harvard (clergyman), John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvard was founded and authorized by the Massachusetts General Court, the governing legislature of Colonial history of the United States, colonial-era Massachusetts Bay Colony. While never formally affiliated with any Religious denomination, denomination, Harvard trained Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational clergy until its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Harvard emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston B ...
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Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Yale was established as the Collegiate School in 1701 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalist clergy of the Connecticut Colony. Originally restricted to instructing ministers in theology and sacred languages, the school's curriculum expanded, incorporating humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew rapidly after 1890 due to the expansion of the physical campus and its scientif ...
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Phi Beta Kappa DC
Phi ( ; uppercase Φ, lowercase φ or ϕ; ''pheî'' ; Modern Greek: ''fi'' ) is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet. In Archaic and Classical Greek (c. 9th to 4th century BC), it represented an aspirated voiceless bilabial plosive (), which was the origin of its usual romanization as . During the later part of Classical Antiquity, in Koine Greek (c. 4th century BC to 4th century AD), its pronunciation shifted to a voiceless bilabial fricative (), and by the Byzantine Greek period (c. 4th century AD to 15th century AD) it developed its modern pronunciation as a voiceless labiodental fricative (). The romanization of the Modern Greek phoneme is therefore usually . It may be that phi originated as the letter qoppa (Ϙ, ϙ), and initially represented the sound before shifting to Classical Greek . In traditional Greek numerals, phi has a value of 500 () or 500,000 (). The Cyrillic letter Ef (Ф, ф) descends from phi. Like other Greek letters, lowercase phi (enc ...
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John Heath (politician)
John Heath (May 8, 1758October 13, 1810) was an American lawyer and politician from Northumberland County, Virginia. He represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1793 to 1797. He was also one of the founders of Phi Beta Kappa and served as the fraternity's first president. Early life Heath was born in Wicomico Parish in Northumberland County, Virginia on May 8, 1758. His parents were Mary and John Heath Sr., a captain during the Indian War of 1755 and a member of the Virginia Colony's House of Burgesses.Heath, James E. "John Heath: The Founder and First President of Phi Beta Kappa." ''The Phi Beta Kappa Key'' 2, no. 7 (1915): 320–324. His early education was provided by tutors. When he was seventeen in 1775, he attended the College of William & Mary. He was proficient in ancient languages and was selected by the faculty to deliver the Latin Oration. Heath was one of the four founders of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity on December 6, 1776, and served ...
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Flat Hat Club
The Flat Hat Club is the common name for a collegiate secret society and honor society at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Originally called the F.H.C. Society, it was founded in 1750. Early in the 21st century, the education section of ''The New York Times'' profiled America's oldest university clubs and societies and included a letter, now housed in the archives at Swem Library, which Thomas Jefferson wrote to Thomas McAuley, mentioning Jefferson's membership in the F.H.C. History Original society The society was founded as the F.H.C. Society at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia on November 11, 1750. It was organized for "charity, friendship, and science". F.H.C. met regularly for discussion and fellowship, especially at the Raleigh Tavern. William & Mary alumnus and third American president Thomas Jefferson may be the most famous member of the F.H.C. Society. Late in life, Jefferson wrote that, " en I was a student of Wm. ...
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Sub Rosa
''Sub rosa'' (Neo-Latin for "under the rose") is a Latin phrase which denotes secrecy or confidentiality. The rose has an ancient history as a symbol of secrecy. History In Hellenistic and later Roman mythology, roses were associated with secrecy because Cupid gave a rose to Harpocrates (the Hellenistic god of silence) so that he would not reveal the secrets of Venus. Banquet rooms were decorated with rose carvings, reportedly as a reminder that discussions in the rooms should be kept in confidence. This was inherited in later Christian symbolism, where roses were carved on confessionals to signify that the conversations would remain secret. The phrase entered the German language (''unter der Rose'') and, later, the English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic people ...
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