The Internet was born here
In 1966, the University of Michigan's Computing Center formed
the Merit Network to interconnect three universities —
the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and
Wayne State University — and this was the beginning
of the Internet. From 1987–1995, Merit managed the NSFNET
backbone, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF),
which in the 1990s became known as the "Internet."
Among U.S. colleges and universities, U-M has the largest Spanish language presence on the Internet
The U-M web Portal En Español offers more than 600 pages of Spanish language content focused on student information, public affairs, news announcements, Health System research efforts, podcasts and more.
"Safe, potent, effective" polio vaccine announced
The first successful polio vaccine was announced on the U-M campus in 1955 by U-M School of Public Health faculty
member Dr. Thomas Francis. Francis made the announcement following two years of national field trials of the vaccine developed by his former student, Jonas Salk.
The Cube has siblings in New York, Ohio, Illinois and Miami
Designed by U-M alumnus and sculptor Bernard "Tony" Rosenthal ('36), the eight-foot square, 2400-pound Cube was installed on Regents' Plaza in 1968. While seemingly massive, the Cube will rotate on its axis, given a gentle push. The piece's dimensions were determined by the size of the truck available to transport the sculpture to Ann Arbor. Rosenthal created another cube, entitled "Alamo," and had plans to install it in Ann Arbor, but students from Cooper Union, near his New York display site petitioned successfully to keep it there. Rosenthal preferred the U-M cube to the New York one because he was able to refine the design for the U-M campus installation.
In addition to the Cube, there are over 101 outdoor sculptures and achitectural features on the Ann Arbor campuses
And they're catalogued with images and descriptions in an on-line database that you can see here.
Royal Shakespeare Company makes
history here
The Royal Shakespeare Company began an unprecedented five-year
relationship with the University and the University Musical
Society with its residency on campus in 2001. When the RSC
returned in Winter 2003, hundreds of students from many disciplines
were able to participate with the company in seminars, and
the community enjoyed another world-class theater experience.
Humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg studied here
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish humanitarian who worked at great personal risk to save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust. He later disappeared following his arrest and incarceration in a Soviet prison. Wallenberg received a bachelor's in architecture from U-M in 1935. In 1885, the Wallenberg Endowment was established which sponsors an annual lecture and award to perpetuate the memory of Wallenberg’s heroism and nobility of spirit.
A Wallenberg memorial stands at the west front entrance of the Art and Architecture building on North Campus.
Laser eye
surgery was developed here
Research in the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science at the
College of Engineering led directly to the development of laser eye surgery.
First educational towing tank
is housed here
The first towing tank owned and operated by an education institution
in the United States is the main
model basin in the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory at
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University
of Michigan Engineering College. Built in 1905 (remodeled
1962, 1980, 1990). The basin is equipped for a full range
of experimental procedures.
Intramural Sports Building the
first in the country
Dr. Elmer B. Mitchell, creator of the IMSB, wanted a place
on campus where a thousand students at once could come to
exercise and socialize. When the IMSB was built in 1928, it
was a novelty and a curiosity. It became the forerunner of
all campus recreation centers, and also incorporated many
innovations that were ahead of its time.
FluMist was created here
A new way to deliver flu vaccine, FluMist is a nasal spray vaccine developed by Hunein "John" Maassab, professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health. FluMist was approved by the FDA and commercially licensed in 2003.
Creation of the Peace Corps was
announced here
The goal of establishing the Peace Corps to promote volunteer service to aid people in developing nations was announced by President
John Kennedy in a late-night speech in front of the Michigan
Union on October 14, 1960, and there is a plaque
to commemorate it on the steps there. Since the formal establishment of the Peace Corps in 1961, U-M has consistently been among the top senders of volunteers. Visit the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary website.
Robert Frost
was a poet-in-residence here
Robert Frost was the first
recorded poet-in-residence at
U-M. He was on campus for
10 months in 1921–1922.
