In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, reports of Martians landing nearby distress the University community, Bruce Springsteen packs Jadwin Gym, and more.

October 29, 1955—A Princeton undergraduate is arrested for disturbing the peace when found kicking a pineapple juice can in front of G & L Restaurant in the wee hours of the morning. He will later be found guilty and fined $5 for the crime.

October 30, 1884—Princeton trounces Lafayette in football 140 to 0.

October 31, 1938—The Princeton campus and the rest of the nation are still reeling from Orson Welles’s radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’s War of the Worlds that began at 8:00 PM October 30. The broadcast made many people believe Martians had landed in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, a mere 4 miles from Nassau Hall. Later, the Princeton Radio Project, a group that analyzes the influence of radio upon listeners, will receive a grant of $3,000 from the General Education Board to study the panicked response.

November 1, 1978—Bruce Springsteen gives a concert in Jadwin gym. Tickets initially sold for $6.50-$8.50 are being scalped for $100.

For last week’s installment in this series, click here.

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