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8,300 | The detective novel "Gaudy Night" by Dorothy L. Sayers, herself one of the first women to gain an academic degree from Oxford, is largely set in the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Sayers' own Somerville College), and the issue of women's education is central to its plot. Social historian and Somerville... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,301 | The university is a "city university" in that it does not have a main campus; instead, colleges, departments, accommodation, and other facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. The Science Area, in which most science departments are located, is the area that bears closest resemblance to a campus. The ten-acr... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,302 | Iconic university buildings include the Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre used for music concerts, lectures, and university ceremonies, and the Examination Schools, where examinations and some lectures take place. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin was used for university ceremonies before the construct... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,303 | In 2012–2013, the university built the controversial one-hectare (400 m × 25 m) Castle Mill development of 4–5-storey blocks of student flats overlooking Cripley Meadow and the historic Port Meadow, blocking views of the spires in the city centre. The development has been likened to building a "skyscraper beside Stoneh... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,304 | The University Parks are a 70-acre (28 ha) parkland area in the northeast of the city, near Keble College, Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall. It is open to the public during daylight hours. As well as providing gardens and exotic plants, the Parks contains numerous sports fields, used for official and unofficia... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,305 | The Botanic Garden on the High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on . It is one of the most diverse yet compact major collections of plants in the world and includes representatives of over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a site six... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,306 | There are also various collegiate-owned open spaces open to the public, including Bagley Wood and most notably Christ Church Meadow. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,307 | As a collegiate university, Oxford is structured as a federation, comprising over forty self-governing colleges and halls, along with a central administration headed by the Vice-Chancellor. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,308 | Academic departments are located centrally within the structure of the federation; they are not affiliated with any particular college. Departments provide facilities for teaching and research, determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students, perform research, and deliver lectures and seminars. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,309 | Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates, and the members of an academic department are spread around many colleges. Though certain colleges do have subject alignments (e.g., Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), these are exceptions, and most colleges will have a broad mix of ac... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,310 | The university's formal head is the Chancellor, currently Lord Patten of Barnes, though as at most British universities, the Chancellor is a titular figure and is not involved with the day-to-day running of the university. The Chancellor is elected by the members of Convocation, a body comprising all graduates of the u... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,311 | The Vice-Chancellor, currently Louise Richardson, is the "de facto" head of the university. Five pro-vice-chancellors have specific responsibilities for education; research; planning and resources; development and external affairs; and personnel and equal opportunities. The University Council is the executive policy-fo... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,312 | Two university proctors, elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student discipline and complaints, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The university's pr... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,313 | The University of Oxford is a "public university" in the sense that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,314 | To be a member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are thirty-nine colleges of the University of Oxford and five permanent private halls (PPHs), each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Not all colleges of... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,315 | The permanent private halls were founded by different Christian denominations. One difference between a college and a PPH is that whereas colleges are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The five current PPHs are: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,316 | The PPHs and colleges join as the Conference of Colleges, which represents the common concerns of the several colleges of the university, to discuss matters of shared interest and to act collectively when necessary, such as in dealings with the central university. The Conference of Colleges was established as a recomme... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,317 | Teaching members of the colleges (i.e. fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons, although the term is rarely used by the university itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have respo... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,318 | In 2017–18, the university had an income of £2,237m; key sources were research grants (£579.1m) and academic fees (£332.5m). The colleges had a total income of £492.9m. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,319 | While the university has a larger annual income and operating budget, the colleges have a larger aggregate endowment: over £4.9bn compared to the university's £1.2bn. The central University's endowment, along with some of the colleges', is managed by the university's wholly-owned endowment management office, Oxford Uni... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,320 | The total assets of the colleges of £6.3 billion also exceed total university assets of £4.1 billion. The college figure does not reflect all the assets held by the colleges as their accounts do not include the cost or value of many of their main sites or heritage assets such as works of art or libraries. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,321 | The university was one of the first in the UK to raise money through a major public fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Oxford. The current campaign, its second, was launched in May 2008 and is entitled "Oxford Thinking – The Campaign for the University of Oxford". This is looking to support three areas: academic po... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,322 | The university has faced criticism for some of its sources of donations and funding, including All Souls College taking £10,000 from slave trader Christopher Codrington in 1710, Oriel College taking £100,000 from the will of the imperialist Cecil Rhodes in 1902, taking £20 million from Wafic Saïd who was involved in th... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,323 | The university has also faced criticism, as noted above, over its decision to accept donations from fossil fuel companies having received £21.8 million from the fossil fuel industry between 2010 and 2015 and £18.8 million between 2015 and 2020. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,324 | The university accepted £6 million from The Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust in 2021. Former racing driver Max Mosley claims to have set up the trust "to house the fortune he inherited" from his father, Oswald Mosley who was founder of two far right groups Union Movement and the British Union of Fascists. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,325 | Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the G5, the League of European Research Universities, and the International Alliance of Research Universities. It is also a core member of the Europaeum and forms part of the "golden triangle" of highly research intensive and elite English un... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,326 | In common with most British universities, prospective students apply through the UCAS application system, but prospective applicants for the University of Oxford, along with those for medicine, dentistry, and University of Cambridge applicants, must observe an earlier deadline of 15 October. The Sutton Trust maintains ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,327 | To allow a more personalised judgement of students, who might otherwise apply for both, undergraduate applicants are not permitted to apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year. The only exceptions are applicants for organ scholarships and those applying to read for a second undergraduate degree. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,328 | Most applicants choose to apply to one of the individual colleges, which work with each other to ensure that the best students gain a place somewhere at the university regardless of their college preferences. Shortlisting is based on achieved and predicted exam results, school references, and, in some subjects, written... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,329 | Offers are sent out in early January, with each offer usually being from a specific college. One in four successful candidates receives an offer from a college that they did not apply to. Some courses may make "open offers" to some candidates, who are not assigned to a particular college until A Level results day in Au... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,330 | The university has come under criticism for the number of students it accepts from private schools; for instance, Laura Spence's rejection from the university in 2000 led to widespread debate. In 2016, the University of Oxford gave 59% of offers to UK students to students from state schools, while about 93% of all UK p... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,331 | In 2018 the university's annual admissions report revealed that eight of Oxford's colleges had accepted fewer than three black applicants in the past three years. Labour MP David Lammy said, "This is social apartheid and it is utterly unrepresentative of life in modern Britain." In 2020, Oxford had increased its propor... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,332 | Undergraduate teaching is centred on the tutorial, where 1–4 students spend an hour with an academic discussing their week's work, usually an essay (humanities, most social sciences, some mathematical, physical, and life sciences) or problem sheet (most mathematical, physical, and life sciences, and some social science... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,333 | Research degrees at the master's and doctoral level are conferred in all subjects studied at graduate level at the university. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,334 | There are many opportunities for students at Oxford to receive financial help during their studies. The Oxford Opportunity Bursaries, introduced in 2006, are university-wide means-based bursaries available to any British undergraduate, with a total possible grant of £10,235 over a 3-year degree. In addition, individual... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,335 | Students successful in early examinations are rewarded by their colleges with scholarships and exhibitions, normally the result of a long-standing endowment, although since the introduction of tuition fees the amounts of money available are purely nominal. Scholars, and exhibitioners in some colleges, are entitled to w... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,336 | The university maintains the largest university library system in the UK, and, with over 11 million volumes housed on of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library. The Bodleian is a legal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of eve... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,337 | The buildings referred to as the university's main research library, The Bodleian, consist of the original Bodleian Library in the Old Schools Quadrangle, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602, the Radcliffe Camera, the Clarendon Building, and the Weston Library. A tunnel underneath Broad Street conne... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,338 | The Bodleian Libraries group was formed in 2000, bringing the Bodleian Library and some of the subject libraries together. It now comprises 28 libraries, a number of which have been created by bringing previously separate collections together, including the Sackler Library, Law Library, Social Science Library and Radcl... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,339 | A new book depository opened in South Marston, Swindon in October 2010, and recent building projects include the remodelling of the New Bodleian building, which was renamed the Weston Library when it reopened in 2015. The renovation is designed to better showcase the library's various treasures (which include a Shakesp... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,340 | The Bodleian engaged in a mass-digitisation project with Google in 2004. Notable electronic resources hosted by the Bodleian Group include the "Electronic Enlightenment Project", which was awarded the 2010 Digital Prize by the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,341 | Oxford maintains a number of museums and galleries, open for free to the public. The Ashmolean Museum, founded in 1683, is the oldest museum in the UK, and the oldest university museum in the world. It holds significant collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,342 | The University Museum of Natural History holds the university's zoological, entomological and geological specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road, in the university's Science Area. Among its collection are the skeletons of a "Tyrannosaurus rex" and "Triceratops", and the most complete remain... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,343 | Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum, founded in 1884, which displays the university's archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items. It recently built a new research annexe; its staff have been involved with the teaching of anthropology at Oxford sinc... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,344 | The Museum of the History of Science is housed on Broad Street in the world's oldest-surviving purpose-built museum building. It contains 15,000 artefacts, from antiquity to the 20th century, representing almost all aspects of the history of science. In the Faculty of Music on St Aldate's is the Bate Collection of Musi... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,345 | The Oxford University Press is the world's second oldest and currently the largest university press by the number of publications. More than 6,000 new books are published annually, including many reference, professional, and academic works (such as the "Oxford English Dictionary", the "Concise Oxford English Dictionary... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,346 | Oxford is regularly ranked within the top five universities in the world and is currently ranked first in the world in the "Times Higher Education World University Rankings", as well as the Forbes's World University Rankings. It held the number one position in the "Times Good University Guide" for eleven consecutive ye... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,347 | Oxford was ranked 13th in the world in 2022 by the Nature Index, which measures the largest contributors to papers published in 82 leading journals. It is ranked fifth best university worldwide and first in Britain for forming CEOs according to the , and first in the UK for the quality of its graduates as chosen by the... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,348 | In the 2018 Complete University Guide, all 38 subjects offered by Oxford rank within the top 10 nationally meaning Oxford was one of only two multi-faculty universities (along with Cambridge) in the UK to have 100% of their subjects in the top 10. Computer Science, Medicine, Philosophy, Politics and Psychology were ran... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,349 | According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject, the University of Oxford also ranks as number one in the world for four Humanities disciplines: English Language and Literature, Modern Languages, Geography, and History. It also ranks second globally for Anthropology, Archaeology, Law, Medicine, Politics & Inte... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,350 | Academic dress is required for examinations, matriculation, disciplinary hearings, and when visiting university officers. A referendum held among the Oxford student body in 2015 showed 76% against making it voluntary in examinations – 8,671 students voted, with the 40.2% turnout the highest ever for a UK student union ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,351 | Other traditions and customs vary by college. For example, some colleges have formal hall six times a week, but in others this only happens occasionally, or even not at all. At most colleges these formal meals require gowns to be worn, and a Latin grace is said. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,352 | "Balls" are major events held by colleges; the largest, held triennially in ninth week of Trinity Term, are called commemoration balls; the dress code is usually white tie. Many other colleges hold smaller events during the year that they call summer balls or parties. These are usually held on an annual or irregular ba... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,353 | There are several more or less quirky traditions peculiar to individual colleges, for example the All Souls Mallard song. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,354 | Sport is played between college teams, in tournaments known as cuppers (the term is also used for some non-sporting competitions). In addition to these there are higher standard . Significant focus is given to annual varsity matches played against Cambridge, the most famous of which is The Boat Race, watched by a TV au... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,355 | There are two weekly student newspapers: the independent "Cherwell" and OUSU's "The Oxford Student". Other publications include the "Isis" magazine, the satirical "Oxymoron", the graduate "Oxonian Review", the "Oxford Political Review", and the online only newspaper "The Oxford Blue". The student radio station is Oxide... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,356 | Most academic areas have student societies of some form which are open to students studying all courses, for example the Scientific Society. There are groups for almost all faiths, political parties, countries, and cultures. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,357 | The Oxford Union (not to be confused with the Oxford University Student Union) hosts weekly debates and high-profile speakers. There have historically been elite invitation-only societies such as the Bullingdon Club. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,358 | The Oxford University Student Union, formerly better known by its acronym OUSU and now rebranded as Oxford SU, exists to represent students in the university's decision-making, to act as the voice for students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body. Reflecting... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,359 | The importance of collegiate life is such that for many students their college JCR (Junior Common Room, for undergraduates) or MCR (Middle Common Room, for graduates) is seen as more important than OUSU. JCRs and MCRs each have a committee, with a president and other elected students representing their peers to college... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,360 | Throughout its history, a sizeable number of Oxford alumni, known as Oxonians, have become notable in many varied fields, both academic and otherwise. A total of 70 Nobel prize-winners have studied or taught at Oxford, with prizes won in all six categories. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,361 | More information on notable members of the university can be found in the individual college articles. An individual may be associated with two or more colleges, as an undergraduate, postgraduate and/or member of staff. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,362 | Thirty British prime ministers have attended Oxford, including William Gladstone, H. H. Asquith, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Of all the post-war prime ministers, only Gordon Brown was ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,363 | Over 100 Oxford alumni were elected to the House of Commons in 2010. This includes former Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, and numerous members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet. Additionally, over 140 Oxonians sit in the House of Lords. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,364 | At least 30 other international leaders have been educated at Oxford. This number includes Harald V of Norway, Abdullah II of Jordan, William II of the Netherlands, five Prime Ministers of Australia (John Gorton, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott, and Malcolm Turnbull), Six Prime Ministers of Pakistan (Liaquat Ali... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,365 | Oxford has produced a large number of distinguished jurists, judges and lawyers around the world. Lords Bingham and Denning, commonly recognised as two of the most influential English judges in the history of the common law, both studied at Oxford. Within the United Kingdom, three of the current justices of the Supreme... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,366 | In the United States, three of the nine incumbent Justices of the Supreme Court are Oxonians, namely Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch; retired Justices include John Marshall Harlan II, David Souter and Byron White. Internationally, Oxonians Sir Humphrey Waldock served in the International Court of Justice;... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,367 | The list of noted legal scholars includes H. L. A. Hart, Ronald Dworkin, Andrew Burrows, Sir Guenter Treitel, Jeremy Waldron, A. V. Dicey, William Blackstone, John Gardner, Robert A. Gorman, Timothy Endicott, Peter Birks, John Finnis, Andrew Ashworth, Joseph Raz, Paul Craig, Leslie Green, Tony Honoré, Neil MacCormick a... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,368 | Four Oxford mathematicians, Michael Atiyah, Daniel Quillen, Simon Donaldson and James Maynard, have won Fields Medals, often called the "Nobel Prize for mathematics". Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, was educated at Oxford and is currently the Regius Professor and Royal Society Research Professor in Math... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,369 | The university is associated with eleven winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, six in physics and sixteen in medicine. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,370 | Scientists who performed research in Oxford include chemist Dorothy Hodgkin who received her Nobel Prize for "determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances", Howard Florey who shared the 1945 Nobel prize "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infec... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,371 | Robert Boyle, a founder of modern chemistry, never formally studied or held a post within the university, but resided within the city to be part of the scientific community and was awarded an honorary degree. Notable scientists who spent brief periods at Oxford include Albert Einstein developer of general theory of rel... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,372 | Writers associated with Oxford include Vera Brittain, A.S. Byatt, Lewis Carroll, Penelope Fitzgerald, John Fowles, Theodor Geisel, Robert Graves, Graham Greene, Joseph Heller, Christopher Hitchens, Aldous Huxley, Samuel Johnson, Nicole Krauss, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Middleton, Iris Murdoch, V.S. Naipaul, Philip Pullman, D... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,373 | Composers Hubert Parry, George Butterworth, John Taverner, William Walton, James Whitbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber have all been involved with the university. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,374 | Actors Hugh Grant, Kate Beckinsale, Rosamund Pike, Felicity Jones, Gemma Chan, Dudley Moore, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Anna Popplewell and Rowan Atkinson were students at the university, as were filmmakers Ken Loach and Richard Curtis. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,375 | Oxford has also produced at least 12 saints, 19 English cardinals, and 20 Archbishops of Canterbury, the most recent Archbishop being Rowan Williams, who studied at Wadham College and was later a Canon Professor at Christ Church. Duns Scotus' teaching is commemorated with a monument in the University Church of St. Mary... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,376 | Oxford's philosophical tradition started in the medieval era, with Robert Grosseteste and William of Ockham, commonly known for Occam's razor, among those teaching at the university. Thomas Hobbes, Jeremy Bentham and the empiricist John Locke received degrees from Oxford. Though the latter's main works were written aft... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,377 | Oxford philosophers of the 20th century include Richard Swinburne, a leading philosopher in the tradition of substance dualism; Peter Hacker, philosopher of mind, language, anthropology, and he is also known for his critique of cognitive neuroscience; J.L. Austin, a leading proponent of ordinary-language philosophy; Gi... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,378 | Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, who had been at Exeter College and Merton College, ran the first sub-four-minute mile in Oxford. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,379 | Some 150 Olympic medal-winners have academic connections with the university, including Sir Matthew Pinsent, quadruple gold-medallist rower. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,380 | Rowers from Oxford who have won gold at the Olympics or World Championships include Michael Blomquist, Ed Coode, Chris Davidge, Hugh Edwards, Jason Flickinger, Tim Foster, Luka Grubor, Christopher Liwski, Matthew Pinsent, Pete Reed, Jonny Searle, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Jake Wetzel, Michael Wherley, and Barney Williams. M... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,381 | Oxford students have also excelled in other sports. Such alumni include American football player Myron Rolle (NFL player); Olympic gold medalists in athletics David Hemery and Jack Lovelock; basketball players Bill Bradley (US Senator, NBA player, and Olympic gold medalist) and Charles Thomas McMillen (US Congressman, ... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,382 | Three of the most well-known adventurers and explorers who attended Oxford are Walter Raleigh, one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era; T. E. Lawrence, whose life was the basis of the 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia"; and Thomas Coryat. The latter, the author of "Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Fi... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,383 | Other notable figures include Gertrude Bell, an explorer, archaeologist, mapper and spy who, along with T. E. Lawrence, helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan and Iraq and played a major role in establishing and administering the modern state of Iraq; Richard Francis Burton, who travelled in d... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,384 | Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer, in "Canterbury Tales", referred to a "Clerk [student] of Oxenford". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,385 | Famous literary works range from "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh, which in 1981 was adapted as a television serial, to the trilogy "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman, which features an alternate-reality version of the university and was adapted for film in 2007 and as a BBC television series in 2019. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,386 | The university is parodied in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series with "Unseen University" and "Brazeneck College" (in reference to Brasenose College). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31797 |
8,387 | The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2nd–1st century BC. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,388 | While the entries have varied over the centuries, the seven traditional wonders are the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Using modern-day countries, two o... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,389 | Alexander the Great's conquest of much of the western world in the 4th century BC gave Hellenistic travellers access to the civilizations of the Egyptians, Persians, and Babylonians. Impressed and captivated by the landmarks and marvels of the various lands, these travellers began to list what they saw to remember them... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,390 | Instead of "wonders", the ancient Greeks spoke of ""theamata"" (θεάματα), which means "sights", in other words "things to be seen" (Τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα τῆς οἰκουμένης [γῆς] ""). Later, the word for "wonder" (""thaumata"" θαύματα, "wonders") was used. Hence, the list was meant to be the Ancient World's counterpart of a trav... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,391 | The first reference to a list of seven such monuments was given by Diodorus Siculus. The epigrammist Antipater of Sidon, who lived around or before 100 BC, gave a list of seven "wonders", including six of the present list (substituting the walls of Babylon for the Lighthouse of Alexandria): | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,392 | Another ancient writer, who, perhaps dubiously, identified himself as Philo of Byzantium, wrote a short account entitled "The Seven Sights of the World". The surviving manuscript is incomplete, missing its last pages. Still, from the preamble text, we can conclude that the list of seven sights exactly matches Antipater... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,393 | Earlier and later lists by the historian Herodotus ( BC– BC) and the poet Callimachus of Cyrene (–240 BC), housed at the Museum of Alexandria, survive only as references. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,394 | The Colossus of Rhodes was the last of the seven to be completed after 280 BC and the first to be destroyed by an earthquake in 226/225 BC. As such, all seven wonders existed simultaneously for less than 60 years. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,395 | The list covered only the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, which then comprised the known world for the Greeks. The primary accounts from Hellenistic writers also heavily influenced the places included in the wonders list. Five of the seven entries are a celebration of Greek accomplishments in construction, wi... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,396 | The seven wonders on Antipater's list won praises for their notable features, ranging from superlatives of the highest or largest of their types, to the artistry with which they were executed. Their architectural and artistic features were imitated throughout the Hellenistic world and beyond. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,397 | The Greek influence in Roman culture, and the revival of Greco-Roman artistic styles during the Renaissance caught the imagination of European artists and travellers. Paintings and sculptures alluding to Antipater's list were made, while significant numbers of adventurers travelled to the actual sites to personally wit... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,398 | Of Antipater's wonders, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its brilliant white stone facing had survived intact until around 1300 AD, when local communities removed most of the stonework for building materials. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been proven, though... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
8,399 | The listing of seven of the most marvellous architectural and artistic human achievements continued beyond the Ancient Greek times to the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and to the modern age. The Roman poet Martial and the Christian bishop Gregory of Tours had their versions. Reflecting the rise of Chri... | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19342760 |
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