Gordon Patterson

Secret History: The Pre-Stewardess Training Program

In the late 1960s Florida Tech developed a six-week Pre-Stewardess Training Program to attract female students to the university.

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Secret History: J. Robert Oppenheimer Comes to ‘Countdown College’

The "father of the atomic bomb" spoke about the "miserable things," his euphemism for the atomic and hydrogen bombs.

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Secret History: Radio Free Melbourne

WFIT's journey from the minds of Florida Tech's Ham Radio Club to a student-run organization to the thriving NPR affiliate it is today.

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Secret History: The Origins of Florida Tech’s Botanical Garden

The 15-acre Patterson Botanical Garden is one of the most unique campus botanical gardens of its kind in the continental United States.

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Secret History: The Cutting Edge: Presidential Searches at Florida Tech

A summary of the history of Florida Tech's presidential searches written from the perspective of historian and professor Gordon Patterson.

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Secret History: Requiem for a Tree

Florida Tech says goodbye to a nearly 100-year-old tree and beloved campus landmark.

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Secret History: Creating the World’s First 16-Bit Home Computer and First Interactive Video Game

Brothers Scott, Richard and Eric Adams sparked a digital revolution in the ’70s and ’80s with impacts lasting through today.

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Secret History: The First American Computer Science Undergraduate Degree

Florida Tech, then Brevard Engineering College, launched its first computer course in 1959—without a computer.

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Secret History: “Bombs Away”—The Great Pingpong Ball Shenanigan

Florida Tech held its first homecoming in January 1972. The four-day event proved to be a debacle.

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The Secret History of Florida Tech’s Michelangelo

Dateline: 1978 The knock on the door was unexpected. It was barely seven o’clock in the morning.  Three days earlier, Stanford (Stan) Zone, on June 9, 1978, had graduated from Mel High.  His mother woke her sleeping son and told him that there was a man from Florida Tech there to give him a ride to work.  Forty-two years later, Stan Zone is still…

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