Do you want to learn more about the USA?

Let’s start with Harvard and the Statue of Three Lies …

John Harvard (1607-1638) was a graduate of Emmaniel College, Cambridge who emigrated to America in 1637. On his dearh, he left his library and half his estate to "colledge at Newtowne," which had been established by Massachusetts Legislature in 1636. In appreciation of John Harvard's generosity, the "colledge" was renamed Harvard College in 1638, when the first students enrolled.

In 1884 Samuel J. Bridge presented the Harvard University with a bronze statue of John Harvard. Some visitors rub or touch John Harvard’s shoe for good luck. I did it, too.

The statue is nicknamed : “The Statue of Three Lies.” Do you know why?

* Since there are no known portraits of John Harvard. It is said that Daniel Chester French, an American sculptor (whose best-known work is the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.) used a student as a model.

* Harvard College was not founded by John Harvard, but named after him. John Harvard was an early financial contributor.

* The College was founded in 1636, not 1638, by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.