By April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment in our recurring series, dueling students seem to reach a truce, an alum confesses to 1890s pranks, and more.

February 17, 1851—The local post office is “thronged with missives” for Valentine’s Day.

February 18, 1871—A group of frosh deceive two others who planned to duel by loading their pistols with blanks. Though one attempts to shoot the other in the head at 20 paces, both survive. They then shake hands and head off to target practice together. A student will later paste a clipping from a news report about this in his scrapbook.

February 20, 1936—Robert R. Boyce, Class of 1898, confesses that in the 1890s, it was common for Princeton University’s students to steal underclothes from the nearby Evelyn College clothes line on Monday nights. “Kids’ tricks, but then we were kids,” he writes.

February 21, 1982—Peter Pressman *81 receives a telegram notifying him that he has won 1.5 million yen in a Japanese design contest.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

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