• 1813

  College Chartered
• 
• 
• Sloop Hero and the Founding of the College

  1818
• 1821

  Gibbon Williams
• Name Changed to Waterville College

  1821
• 
• Jeremiah Chaplin, Colby’s First President

  1822
• 1822

  George Dana Boardman Colby’s First Graduate
• 
• 1828

  Colby Becomes Liberal Arts College
• 1833

  Colby students launch first college-based anti-slavery society
• 
• 1833

  Geology Department established
• 
• Rufus Babcock, Colby’s second president

  1833 - 1836
• 1836 - 1839

  Robert Everett Pattison, Colby’s third president
• 
• 
• Elijah Parish Lovejoy murdered

  1837
• 1841 - 1843

  Eliphaz Fay, Colby’s fourth president
• David N. Sheldon, Colby’s fifth president

  1843 - 1853
• 1846

  First Greek-letter fraternity established
• 
• 1847

  Colby Alumni Association established
• Robert Everett Pattison, Colby’s sixth president

  1854 - 1857
• 1857 - 1873

  James T. Champlin, Colby’s seventh president
• 
• 1860

  First intercollegiate athletic contest
• 
• Civil War

  1861 - 1865
• 1864

  Gardner Colby
• 
• 
• Baseball is first varsity sports team

  1867
• 1867

  Name changed to Colby University
• 
• Memorial Hall completed

  1869
• 1870

  Colby yearbook, Oracle, first published
• 
• Mary Low

  1871
• 1873 - 1882

  Henry E. Robbins, Colby’s eighth president
• 
• Enrollment reaches 100

  1876
• 1877

  Colby Echo begins publishing
• 
• 1877

  Louise Helen Coburn
• 
• 1879

  Track and field competitions begin
• 
• 1882 - 1889

  George D.B. Pepper, Colby’s ninth president
• 
• 1886

  Randall Judson Condon
• 
• Adam Simpson Green

  1887
• 1889 - 1892

  Albion W. Small, Colby’s 10th president
• 
• 1890

  Merton Miller
• 
• 1890

  Coordinate education declared
• Colby Alumnae Association established

  1891
• 
• Varsity football team established

  1892
• 1892 - 1895

  Beniah L. Whitman, Colby’s 11th president
• 
• 
• Nathaniel Butler Jr., Colby’s 12th president

  1896 - 1901
• 
• Mary A. Sawtelle

  1896
• 1898

  George Horace Lorimer
• 
• 1899

  Name changed to Colby College
• 
• Marion Osborne

  1900
• 1901 - 1908

  Charles L. White, Colby’s 13th president
• 
• 1905

  Biology Department established
• Harold W. Soule Colby’s first Rhodes Scholar

  1905
• 1906

  John “Colby Jack” Coombs
• 
• 1908 - 1927

  Arthur J. Roberts, Colby’s 14th president
• 
• World War I

  1914 - 1918
• 1920

  Ninetta Runnals
• 
• 1921

  Men’s ice hockey becomes varsity sport
• 
• White Mule becomes mascot

  1923
• 1923

  Florence Dunn
• 
• 1924

  Education Department established
• Powder and Wig started

  1925
• 1927

  Second Rhodes Scholar
• 
• Trustees vote to move campus

  1929
• 1929 - 1942

  Franklin W. Johnson, Colby’s 15th president
• 
• 1930

  Waterville gives Mayflower Hill land to Colby
• 
• 1930

  Faculty resident program begins
• 
• Women’s Athletic Association formed

  1936
• 1936

  Colby Outing Club formed
• Mayflower Hill campus groundbreaking

  1937
• 1941 - 1945

  World War II
• 
• Women move to Mayflower Hill campus

  1942
• 1942 - 1960

  Julius Seelye Bixler, Colby’s 16th president
• 
• 1942 - 1952

  Transition to the new campus
• 
• 1943

  Colby Community Symphony established
• Colby Eight formed

  1947
• 1948

  First Parents Weekend
• 
• Korean War

  1950 - 1953
• 1951

  Colbyettes formed
• 
• 1952

  Move to new campus completed
• 
• Lovejoy Award established

  1952
• 1953

  Mayflower Hill designated a State Wildlife Management Area
• Senior Scholars program begins

  1953
• 1959

  Colby College Museum of Art established
• 
• 1959

  Perkins Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary dedicated
• 
• Robert E.L. Strider, Colby’s 17th president

  1960 - 1979
• 1961 - 1975

  Vietnam War
• 
• Jacqueline Nunez ’61

  1961
• 1962

  Ford Foundation grant awarded to Colby
• 
• Jan Plan begins

  1962
• 1965

  Marjorie Bither
• 
• 1967

  Colby moves from coordinate to coeducational
• Frances Seaman becomes first dean of students

  1967
• 1968

  First women’s varsity team formed: basketball
• 
• 1970

  Chapel takeover
• 
• 1970

  First Colby junior-year-abroad program launched
• Black studies major introduced

  1971
• 1973

  Colby College Museum of Art is built
• 
• 1973

  First intercollegiate women’s ice hockey game
• COOT begins

  1974
• 1974

  The Bridge is formed
• Students receive a crash course in word processing

  1978
• 1979 - 2000

  William R. Cotter, Colby’s 18th president
• 
• 1981

  Women’s Studies Program begins
• Colby 2000 campaign begins

  1982
• 1983

  Colby first college to assign students e-mail address
• 1984

  Colby eliminates fraternities
• 
• 1985

  Students protest for Colby divestment in South Africa
• Colby-affiliated study-abroad programs begin

  1985
• 1986

  Colby Volunteer Center established
• Lakes watershed sustainability project begins

  1989
• 1991

  Campus-wide recycling begins
• 
• Colby-Hume Center opens

  1991
• 1992

  Athletic Center fire
• Asian-American Student Association forms

  1992
• 1995

  F.W. Olin Science Center groundbreaking
• 
• 1996

  Central steam plant opens
• 
• Colby Cares Day begins

  1997
• 1997

  Pugh Center opens
• The Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights and the Oak Human Rights Fellowship, established

  1998
• 
• William D. Adams, Colby’s 19th president

  2000
• 2000

  Environmental Advisory Group formed
• Davis United World College Scholars program

  2000
• 2001

  Colby Cares About Kids established
• 
• 2002

  Collaborative Research Networks
• Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement

  2003
• 
• First class of Posse Scholars

  2003
• 2003

  Switch to all-green electricity
• Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization

  2005
• 2007

  Lunder Collection gift
• 
• 2008

  Financial aid loans replaced with grants
• 
• Reaching the World Campaign breaks fundraising records

  2010
• 2010

  Strategic partnership with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science
• 
• 2010

  First class of CAPS scholars enrolls
• 
• Colby partners in Maine Lakes Resource Center

  2011
• 2012

  Biomass facility moves Colby closer to carbon neutrality