Villanova University is founded in Villanova, Pennsylvania…
1842 CE
The university traces its roots to old Saint Augustine's Church, Philadelphia, which the Augustinian friars founded in 1796, and to its parish school, Saint Augustine's Academy, which was established in 1811.
In October 1841, two Augustinian friars from Saint Augustine's Church in Philadelphia had purchased the two hundred-acre (eighty-one hectare) "Belle Air" estate in Radnor Township with the intention of starting a school.
The school, which is called the "Augustinian College of Villanova", opens in 1842.