A short T ride across the river from Boston proper, Harvard University was established in 1636, making it the oldest institution of higher education in the country. http://www.cheapermichaelkorsoutlet.us.com/ Named after John Harvard, one of the school TMs first benefactors, the school has played an important role in America TMs history since its early years. During the Revolutionary War, Harvard TMs buildings housed soldiers; classes were relocated to Concord, Cheap Michael Kors Outlet Mass. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. And just a few months ago, Harvard Yard was closed to the public after Occupy Boston protesters tried to set up camp inside its gates.

But rich history isn TMt the only thing Harvard has to offer. Here are some other things you might not know about Cambridge TMs Ivy institution.

Harvard = Hogwarts? During spring semester, freshmen are sorted into one of 12 houses, just like in Harry Potter, though sans the talking wizard hat. Each Harvard house has its own residence hall, gym, dining hall, and common areas. Students can choose to be sorted with up to eight of their friends, alleviating the possibility that they TMll end up in a house with total strangers.

It TMs a really cool way to get a small college feel in a large university, said Billy Gorman, a junior studying government with a secondary in English and a member of Kirkland House (the same as Mark Zuckerberg). It TMs the biggest event of freshman year.

But even before sorting, life is pretty Potter like. Freshmen eat in the giant gothic structure that is Annenberg Hall, which looks like the Great Hall from Harry Potter, Gorman said.

Students scream stark naked. At the end of every semester, as the clock strikes midnight on the first day of finals, Harvard students strip down to their birthday suits and run laps around Harvard Yard, screaming as loud as they can to relieve that pre exam tension (or just because it TMs a funny and ridiculous thing to do).

People who are really hardcore do it in the winter, Gorman said. I don TMt know how anyone does it sober. I would say most don TMt.

Known as Primal Scream, the event is rumored to have begun with students simply opening their windows and screaming at midnight; now, it TMs a rite of passage for every Crimson.

[University administrators] haven TMt stopped it yet, said sophomore social studies major Patrick Leonard. It TMs kind of just turn the other cheek. TM

Harvard and Yale fought before it was cool.

Regardless of what our record is, if we beat Yale, the year is considered worth it, Gorman said. That football game is the closest we TMll ever get to a BC like TM football experience.

In 2004, Yale students disguised as the Harvard Pep Squad handed out signs to the Crimson fans and told them that when raised, the cards would spell out Go Harvard. In www.cheapermichaelkorsoutlet.us.com fact, they spelled out We Suck. Harvard has yet to pull off a truly successful retaliation.

Trying to dig your way to China? Start in Widener Library.

It TMs really pretty on the inside, said junior Patricia Mathelier of the building that TMs named after Harry Elkins Widener, a 1907 graduate who died aboard the Titanic. Widener TMs mother, Eleanor Elkins donated $3.5 million to the university to have a library constructed in her son TMs name. The buzz around campus is that when Elkins donated the money, she did so with the stipulation that the library could never be altered which is why the builders had to go underground.

Widener can TMt be expanded, Mathelier said. They actually had to start building down.

Another legend among the Crimson is that, in an effort to prevent deaths similar to that of her son, Elkins wanted all Harvard students to pass a swim test in order to graduate. That rule is no longer in effect.

Visitors worship a statue of Michael Kors Cheap lies. If you ever find yourself near Harvard, make sure to give its namesake Cheap Michael Kors TMs statue TMs foot, which stands in Harvard Yard, a little rub for good luck. A lot of Harvard hopefuls believe touching the statue will give them a better chance at getting into the competitive school, Mathelier said. But she also cautioned that the spot tourists place their hands on day after day is the same spot that students tend to pee on in a drunken stupor at night.

People have put their babies on it, she said. I feel really bad.

Even worse? The statue isn TMt even John Harvard! It TMs supposed to be, but no pictures of the benefactor exist, so the statue TMs creator, Daniel Chester French, used a friend as his model for cheapermichaelkorsoutlet.us.com the 1884 masterpiece.

Harvard students, what do you think is the coolest thing about your school?

Interested in more 'School Secrets'? Find out what's weird and wacky about life at Northeastern, BU, and BC, and check Michael Kors Outlet back for fun facts about the rest of Boston's institutions of higher education.

Photos by Frederick Questier (top) and Chaval Brasil (bottom; Flickr)

About Melissa I'm a journalism student at Northeastern University, originally from New Jersey. I love hiking, kayaking, and cereal, and I am a vegetarian. I'm afraid of nothing, except butterflies. I love Disney movies, and I hope to one day meet Betty White.