Seven Amazing Facts About

Yale UniversityYale University is a prestigious Ivy League school in New

Haven, Connecticut . If all you’ve heard about Yale is the football rivalry with Harvard, this is the slide show for you.

Where did the name “Yale” come from? When did the school first accept women as students? And beside Skull and Bones, what other secret societies can its students join?

Just remember to sing “Boola Boo (Rah! Rah! Rah!)” as you view the pictures ahead.

Photos by Lauren Takores and Lawrence Takores

Yale was founded in 1701 and renamed in 1718

after Elihu Yale, a merchant donated money along with 417 books and

a portrait of King George I.

There have been 17 bulldogs named Handsome Dan who served as Yale’s mascot since 1889.

In addition to the infamous Skull and Bones (building in this photo), Yale's secret societies include

Scroll and Key, Wolf's Head, Manuscript, Mace and Chain and senior societies Book and Snake, Elihu, Berzelius,

and St. Elmo.

Connecticut boasts plenty of “firsts.” Yale adds to that list;

in 1729, the first medical diploma was granted by Yale

and in 1861, Yale awarded the first PhD degree in Philosophy.

Yale accepted its first female graduate students in 1869, but did not accept female undergrads until 1969.