This week in Cornell history


 

March 30, 2006 Cornell astronomers discover evidence of moonlets in Saturn's rings and possibly millions more. It was the first evidence of bodies bridging the gap in size between the larger ring moons Pan and Daphnis (several miles each in diameter) and the much smaller ice particles that comprise the bulk of the rings. The discovery could lead to better understanding the origin and formation of Saturn's rings and the solar system as a whole.

March 31, 1922 The annual "Junior Smoker" is smokeless for the first time due to a faculty decision to prohibit smoking in Bailey Hall. The smoker was a traditional gathering of Cornell students that included tributes to faculty, speeches by notable alumni, and athletic and musical entertainment. After the smokeless smoker, students moved the event to Barton Hall in 1923 where smoking was allowed.

April 5, 1899 The first issue of Cornell Alumni News is published. Known as Cornell Magazine from 1993 to 2001 and since 2001 as Cornell Alumni Magazine, it is owned and published by Cornell Alumni Association and is editorially independent of the university. Its mission has remained the same: keeping graduates "informed fully and accurately as possible" and increasing "the enthusiasm and loyalty of every Cornellian for the college on the Hill." It covers everything from faculty research and student life to campus controversies and, of course, alumni news.