The University of Toronto was established in 1827, and 188 years later, it's safe to say we have a load of fun facts to unleash when we need to brag about our school every once in a while. With all the history and stories behind U of T, you might find it impossible to know everything about the school. Maybe you're a new student, maybe you're looking to attend, or maybe you just want to soak up as much info about your school as you can.
That's why we've got this list to help. You're welcome.
1. Canada's first electric computer was installed at U of T
2. U of T is Canada's largest school, in both size and population
3. According to MTV, U of T is haunted
4. President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Hart House in 1957, for males only, later claiming:“It’s a pleasure to be in a country where women cannot mix in everywhere."
5. The creator of Gossip Girl, Stephanie Savage, attended U of T
6. So did the creator Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels
7. AND Donald Sutherland, who happened to perform at Hart House Theatre
8. Queen Elizabeth visited U of T when she reviewed World War Two troops on the back campus
9.There were World War Two aircrafts that were trained on Front Campus
10. The University of Toronto is ranked as the best school in Canada, and 19th globally
11. Fredrick Banting, a U of T graduate, discovered insulin in 1921 - which is considered one of the most significant events of medical history
12.Hart House, the student centre and theatre, was donated to U of T by the Massey Family, of Massey Hall
13. Hart House was named after Hart Massey, Vincent Massey's grandfather
14. There are around 68,000 undergraduate students
15. ... and about 16,000 graduate students
16. Cornell University has a building based on Hart House
17. Much of U of T's architecture was inspired by structures at both Oxford and Cambridge
17. The first documented football match was a practice game at the school in 1861
18. U of T's library system is the third best in North America, after Harvard and Yale
19. International students make up about 20 percent of the school's population
20. These students come from 161 countries, around 7000 of them from China
21. The Beatles performed at U of T's Varsity Stadium, but John Lennon split with them only days later
22. Later, John Lennon and Yoko Ono came by U of T to meet with a professor and do a live show
23. U of T is considering building a fourth campus, in Brampton
24. There's a hair salon at Hart House
25. U of T is home to the first collegiate frat in Canada
26. U of T was originally controlled by the church of England
27. There's a U of T frosh parade that runs through downtown Toronto every year
28. Many buildings on campus date back to the early 1800's
29. More than 10,000 U of T men and women enlisted in World War Two
30. Soldiers Tower, near front campus, is dedicated to them
31. U of T stands in for ivy leagues in lots of American films, like Harvard in Good Will Hunting
32. The university is ranked higher in the world than NYU, Brown, and Penn State
33. U of T has the oldest engineering society in Canada
34. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space, and the world's first neurologist in space attended U of T for her doctorate
35. Victoria College has the oldest literary journal in Canada
36. The school has 6 newspapers in total
37. U of T began admitting women in 1884
38. Five women graduated the following year
39. Convocation Hall has it's own Wikipedia page
40.There's a chapel at Knox College
41. U of T was given Queen Victoria's burial flag, hanging in Victoria College
42. A fire broke out at University College on Valentines day in 1890
43. The sky dome was almost built on U of T's campus
44. In 1853, a U of T prof could earn around 700 dollars a year
45. Today, they earn around 136,000 dollars annually, the highest salary in the country among Canadian university professors
45. The school was originally named King College
46.Women were only allowed to be members of Hart House starting in 1972
47.The Varsity, U of T's leading student newspaper, is one of Canada's oldest student run papers
48.William Lyon Mackenzie King, the prime minister during WW2, attended U of T and wrote for The Varsity
49. Emma Watson was spotted on U of T's Mississauga campus last year
50. Uof T made an appearance in Mean Girls
