Historical eventAugust 81695

Wren Building

The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia.

Everything on August 8Original source

In context

When
Monday, August 8 1695331 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
17th century · 1690s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

The Gregorian calendar was in use in Catholic Europe from 1582, but Britain and its colonies kept the Julian calendar until 14 September 1752 — sources from those places may date this event 10–11 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1695.

What happened

The Wren Building is a building in the College Yard on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. First constructed between 1695 and 1700 to host students and courses for William & Mary, it is the oldest college building in the United States. Its original design, often attributed to the English Renaissance architect Sir Christopher Wren, was the largest yet constructed in the Chesapeake Colonies and marked a departure from medieval forms previously found in Colonial Virginia.

August 8 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1695Wren Building
  2. 20102010 Gansu mudslide
  3. 20102010 China floods
  4. 2013August 2013 Quetta bombing
  5. 2014World Health Organization
  6. 20152015 Harris County shooting
  7. 2016August 2016 Quetta attacks
  8. 2019Nyonoksa radiation accident
  9. 2022Federal Bureau of Investigation
  10. 20232023 Hawaii wildfires
  11. 2024Muhammad Yunus

Also in 1695

  • May 181695 Linfen earthquakeAn earthquake measuring .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}Ms 7.8 struck Shanxi Province in northern…
  • March 10Nine Years' WarNine Years' War: At the Battle of Sant Esteve d'en Bas, Catalan miquelets attacked a column of French regular infantry and caused them to…

Everything we record for 1695 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Wren Building”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/wren-building-1695-august-8, accessed October 28, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Wren Building happen?

August 8 1695 — 331 years ago, on a Monday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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