# Timeline of the University of Santo Tomas

This is a timeline of the history of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, comprising important events of the history of the university and of the development of Philippine higher education in general. To read about the background to these events, see History of the University of Santo Tomas. See also the history of the Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas, and the Santo Tomas Internment Camp

## 16th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1581 | March | Arrival of the first Dominicans in the Philippines |
| 1587 | 21 July | Arrival of Miguel de Benavides with the second batch of Dominicans in the Philippines, and the establishment of the Province of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines |
| 1593 | | Dominicans pioneer printing in the Philippines by producing through the old technique of xylography |

## 17th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1602 | | Fray Blancas de San Jose, O.P. together with Tomas Pinpin succeeds in making typographic printing through movable type |
| 1605 | 24 July | Archbishop Miguel de Benavides bequeaths his library and a total amount of ₱1,500 for the establishment of a seminary college |
| 1609 | | The Dominicans granted permission to open a seminary-college by Philip III of Spain |
| 1609 | | Philip III issues a royal cedula requesting from Governor Juan de Silva and the Real Audiencia a report on the projected college |
| 1611 | | Philip III's permission arrives in Manila |
| 1611 | 28 April | Act of Foundation for the establishment of a seminary-college signed |
| 1612 | | Fr. Domingo Gonzalez, O.P. appointed to work on the completion of the organization of the college |
| 1612 | | The seminary-college opens as the Colegio de Nuestra Senora del Rosario |
| 1619 | 29 June | The Colegio given authorization to confer academic degrees in Theology and Philosophy by the Holy See |
| 1619 | | Governor Alonso Fajardo de Entenza recognizes the Dominican Colegio |
| 1617 | | The college renamed as the Colegio de Santo Tomas |
| 1624 | | The Faculties of Philosophy and Theology implemented by the royal order of Philip IV of Spain |
| 1625 | | Tomas Pinpin's printing press settles at the Colegio |
| 1645 | 20 November | Pope Innocent X raises the college into the status of a university upon petition of King Philip IV of Spain |
| 1645 | | The Master General of the Dominican Order assumes the power of appointing the Rector Magnificus of Santo Tomas by virtue of the permission granted by Pope Innocent X |
| 1680 | 12 May | King Charles II of Spain extends royal patronage to the university |

## 18th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1734 | 2 September | The Faculties of Civil Law and Canon Law established by virtue of a royal cedula of Charles II of Spain |
| 1762 | | Rector Fr. Domingo Collantes organizes four companies of university students to help in the defense of the city against the British Invasion of Manila |
| 1768 | 17 May | Royal decree banishing the Society of Jesus from Spain and the Spanish dominions reaches Manila |
| 1769 | | The closure of the Jesuit Universidad de San Ignacio leaves the university as the only institution of higher learning in the colony |
| 1773 | 21 July | Clement XIV suppresses the Society of Jesus in his papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor |
| 1781 | | Charles III of Spain authorizes the university to prepare its own statutes, independent of those of the University of Mexico |
| 1785 | 7 March | Charles III grants the university the title of Very Loyal |
| 1785 | 20 May | The university granted the officially granted the title Royal by Charles III |

## 19th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1865 | | Isabel II of Spain declares the University of Santo Tomas as the center for public education throughout the Philippines |
| 1870 | | The University of Santo Tomas taken over by the Colonial Government and renamed as Universidad de Filipinas by virtue of an edict issued by Segismundo Moret |
| 1871 | May | Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy established as the first schools of medicine and pharmacy in the Philippines |
| 1874 | | The School of Notaries established by royal order of Alfonso XII |
| 1875 | 29 October | The Hospicio de San Juan de Dios becomes the clinical training institution for medical students of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the university by virtue of royal order of King Alfonso XII |
| 1879 | | School of Midwifery opened |
| 1878 | December | Rector Fr. Joaquin Fonseca, O.P. conceives the idea of erecting a monument in honor of university founder Archbishop Miguel de Benavides |
| 1887 | 23 March | Prof. Mariano Marti, M.D. establishes residency and Externship programs at the Hospicio de San Juan de Dios |
| 1895 | | The defunct Jesuit Universidad de San Ignacio incorporated into the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the university |
| 1898 | | The university closes its doors due to the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish–American War |
| 1899 | | The university resumes its classes |

## 20th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1902 | 17 September | Pope Leo XIII bestows upon the university the title of Pontifical |
| 1907 | 18 May | Faculty of Engineering established as the first engineering school in the Philippines |
| 1911 | 16 December | Tricentennial celebration of the university |
| 1911 | 20 December | The laying of the cornerstone of a new building of the university in Sampaloc |
| 1924 | | The Faculty of Pharmacy opened to women enrollees |
| 1925 | | English replaces Spanish as medium of instruction |
| 1925 | June | The College of Education established at the Intramuros Campus |
| 1926 | January | The College of Science of the university officially established |
| 1926 | | Faculty of Philosophy and Letters becomes co-educational |
| 1927 | 5 July | First Classes held at the University Sampaloc Campus |
| 1928 | 16 January | The Varsitarian, the official student publication of the university, officially organized |
| 1932 | | College of Commerce and the Faculty of Medicine also becomes co-educational |
| 1932 | 28 August | The University Gymnasium officially inaugurated by Governor Theodore Roosevelt Jr. |
| 1933 | 7 March | UST Swimming Pool, the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the country, opened to the students by Senate President Manuel Quezon |
| 1941 | 8 December | Start of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines |
| 1941 | 26 December | Manila declared an open city |
| 1942 | 2 January | Japanese Forces occupy Manila |
| 1942 | 4 January | Japanese forces converts the university campus at Sampaloc into an internment camp |
| 1944 | 8 February | Arson was created to the original campus at Intramuros by the Japanese forces |
| 1945 | 3 February | American Liberation of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp |
| 1946 | | The university reopens at the Sampaloc Campus |
| 1946 | 7 March | UST Hospital formally opened |
| 1946 | 13 November | The Benavides Monument re-erected at the university campus in Sampaloc |
| 1947 | 30 April | Pope Pius XII bestows to the university the title The Catholic University of the Philippines |
| 1949 | 20 December | The university lot in Intramuros sold to the Philippine American Life Insurance Co. |
| 1953 | July | Completion of the installation of Francesco Monti's statues atop the Main Building |
| 1956 | 16 December | The university radio station DZST begins operation |
| 1961 | | Semiseptcentennial celebration of the university |
| 1961 | 18 July | The Spanish Government grants the Blue Ribbon of The Civil Order of Alfonso X el Sabio to the university |
| 1966 | 6 March | Formal inauguration of the University Hospital Clinical Division |
| 1970 | 28 November | Pope Paul VI visits the university |
| 1971 | October 9 | Leonardo Legaspi, O.P., elected as the first Filipino Rector Magnificus of the university |
| 1977 | January | Mother Teresa of Calcutta visits the university |
| 1977 | January | The Pautakan Contest officially organized by The Varsitarian |
| 1981 | 18 February | Pope John Paul II visits the university |
| 1981 | 12 June | The Student's Democratic Party established as the first student political party in the Philippines |
| 1991 | 19 December | First Paskuhan Celebration |
| 1992 | 1 February | The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Singers officially organized |
| 1993 | | UST Press renamed as UST Publishing House |
| 1995 | 13 January | Second Papal visit of Pope John Paul II to the university |

## 21st century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 2002 | 14 June | First Thomasian Welcome Walk held |
| 2004 | 10 November | The Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy formally established |
| 2006 | 26 April | The Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management officially separated from the College of Education |
| 2009 | 18 December | Quadricentennial countdown to 2011 launched during the Paskuhan Celebration |
| 2010 | January | Simbahayan 400, the Quadricentennial's "centerpiece project", officially launched |
| 2010 | 25 January | The University Main Building, Central Seminary, Arch of the Centuries, and Grandstand with Open Spaces officially declared as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum of the Philippines |
| 2010 | 24 May | The University of Santo Tomas campus officially declared as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines |
| 2010 | 17 June | The Lumina Pandit exhibit launched |
| 2011 | 21 January | Commemorative 200-peso bills with the UST Quadricentennial logo issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas |
| 2011 | 24 January | Opening of the Jubilee Door |
| 2011 | 27 January | Unveiling of the Quattromondial and the formal opening of the Quadricentennial celebrations |
| 2011 | 21 September | Quadricentennial exhibit at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Headquarters in Paris officially launched |
| 2012 | 27 January | Neo-Centennial Celebrations officially launched |
| 2012 | 11 June | Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian Prime Minister, conferred with the title Honorary Professor. |
| 2012 | 6 July | Queen Sofía of Spain visits the university |
| 2012 | 26 November | Lech Walesa, former Prime Minister of Poland and Nobel Laureate, conferred with the title Honorary Professor |
| 2015 | 18 January | Pope Francis visits the university |