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60-795: CDnow was founded in February 1994 by twin brothers Jason Olim and Matthew Olim in their parents' basement in Ambler, Pennsylvania . Initially launched as a Telnet service in August 1994, CDNow became a retail website in September 1994 using Valley Records Distributors as a drop-ship fulfillment center. With three employees, the company moved near the Penllyn train station in Lower Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and

120-487: A Telnet service in August 1994, CDNow became a retail site in September 1994 — far earlier than most of the dot-com retailers that gained notoriety after 2000. This article about a United States businessperson is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Brown University Brown University is a private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island , United States. It

180-589: A 20% discount for club-edition records; all other music was sold at standard Amazon prices. In 2011, the CDnow.com URL was redirected to a maintenance notice, and in 2013, it was permanently taken offline. The CDnow Story: Rags to Riches on the Internet by Jason Olim and Matthew Olim Jason Olim Jason Olim is the former CEO and co-founder of CDNow , Inc., one of the first e-commerce companies (founded in February, 1994). He has earned Entrepreneur of

240-810: A college in the Colony of Rhode-Island, under the chief direction of the Baptists; ... Mr. James Manning , who took his first degree in New-Jersey college in September, 1762, was esteemed a suitable leader in this important work. James Manning arrived at Newport in July 1763 and was introduced to Stiles, who agreed to write the charter for the college. Stiles' first draft was read to the General Assembly in August 1763, and rejected by Baptist members who worried that their denomination would be underrepresented in

300-589: A couple years later it moved to the Strawbridge & Clothier building in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania . In December 1994, CDNow claimed to be the first company that allowed people to buy albums online. At the time, it said it had over 140,000 different albums available for purchase on its web site. In 1995, an article in the Los Angeles Times said that CDNow had brought the web "one step closer to

360-724: A hospital for French troops from June 26, 1780, to May 27, 1782. A number of Brown's founders and alumni played roles in the American Revolution and subsequent founding of the United States. Brown's first chancellor, Stephen Hopkins, served as a delegate to the Colonial Congress in Albany in 1754, and to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. James Manning represented Rhode Island at

420-620: A public Building or Buildings for the boarding of the youth & the Residence of the Professors. The three petitioners were Ezra Stiles , pastor of Newport's Second Congregational Church and future president of Yale University ; William Ellery Jr. , future signer of the United States Declaration of Independence ; and Josias Lyndon , future governor of the colony. Stiles and Ellery later served as co-authors of

480-405: A steering committee to research Brown's eighteenth-century ties to slavery. In October 2006, the committee released a report documenting its findings. Titled "Slavery and Justice", the document detailed the ways in which the university benefited both directly and indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade and the labor of enslaved people. The report also included seven recommendations for how

540-505: Is home to the oldest applied mathematics program in the country and oldest engineering program in the Ivy League. It was one of the early doctoral-granting institutions in the U.S., adding masters and doctoral studies in 1887. In 1969, it adopted its Open Curriculum after student lobbying, which eliminated mandatory general education distribution requirements. In 1971, Brown's coordinate women's institution, Pembroke College ,

600-459: Is noted as the first African American president of an Ivy League institution. Other presidents of note include academic, Vartan Gregorian ; and philosopher and economist, Francis Wayland . In 1966, the first Group Independent Study Project (GISP) at Brown was formed, involving 80 students and 15 professors. The GISP was inspired by student-initiated experimental schools, especially San Francisco State College , and sought ways to "put students at

660-629: Is noted as the founder and commander of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment , widely regarded as the first Black battalion in U.S. military history. David Howell , who graduated with an A.M. in 1769, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1785. Nineteen individuals have served as presidents of the university since its founding in 1764. Since 2012, Christina Hull Paxson has served as president. Paxson had previously served as dean of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and chair of Princeton's economics department. Paxson's immediate predecessor, Ruth Simmons ,

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720-459: Is said to cancel the hex. The John Hay Library is the second oldest library on campus. Opened in 1910, the library is named for John Hay (class of 1858), private secretary to Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State under William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt . The construction of the building was funded in large part by Hay's friend, Andrew Carnegie , who contributed half of the $ 300,000 cost of construction. The John Hay Library serves as

780-650: Is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . One of nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution , it was the first US college to codify that admission and instruction of students was to be equal regardless of the religious affiliation of students. The university

840-453: Is to inspire creative and critical thinking about culture by fostering an interdisciplinary understanding of the material world. It provides opportunities for faculty and students to work with collections and the public, teaching through objects and programs in classrooms and exhibitions. The museum sponsors lectures and events in all areas of anthropology and also runs an extensive program of outreach to local schools. The Annmary Brown Memorial

900-614: The Congress of the Confederation , while concurrently serving as Brown's first president. Two of Brown's founders, William Ellery and Stephen Hopkins signed the Declaration of Independence . James Mitchell Varnum , who graduated from Brown with honors in 1769, served as one of General George Washington's Continental Army brigadier generals and later as major general in command of the entire Rhode Island militia . Varnum

960-760: The East Side neighborhood of College Hill. The university's central campus sits on a 15-acre (6.1-hectare) block bounded by Waterman, Prospect, George, and Thayer Streets ; newer buildings extend northward, eastward, and southward. Brown's core, historic campus, constructed primary between 1770 and 1926, is defined by three greens: the Front or Quiet Green, the Middle or College Green, and the Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle (historically known as Lincoln Field). A brick and wrought-iron fence punctuated by decorative gates and arches traces

1020-563: The Rhode Island School of Design , which offers undergraduate and graduate dual degree programs . Brown's main campus is in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence. The university is surrounded by a federally listed architectural district with a concentration of Colonial-era buildings. Benefit Street has one of America's richest concentrations of 17th- and 18th-century architecture. Undergraduate admissions are among

1080-629: The United States Congress , 58 Rhodes Scholars , 22 MacArthur Genius Fellows, and 38 Olympic medalists. In 1761, three residents of Newport, Rhode Island , drafted a petition to the colony's General Assembly : That your Petitioners propose to open a literary institution or School for instructing young Gentlemen in the Languages, Mathematics, Geography & History, & such other branches of Knowledge as shall be desired. That for this End... it will be necessary... to erect

1140-556: The Brown campus by 10 acres (40,000 m ) and 26 buildings. In 1971, Brown renamed the area East Campus. Today, the area is largely used for dormitories. Thayer Street runs through Brown's main campus. As a commercial corridor frequented by students, Thayer is comparable to Harvard Square or Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue . Wickenden Street , in the adjacent Fox Point neighborhood, is another commercial street similarly popular among students. Built in 1925, Brown Stadium —the home of

1200-757: The College Board of Fellows. A revised charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Rhode Island General Assembly on March 3, 1764, in East Greenwich . In September 1764, the inaugural meeting of the corporation—the college's governing body—was held in Newport's Old Colony House . Governor Stephen Hopkins was chosen chancellor, former and future governor Samuel Ward vice chancellor, John Tillinghast treasurer, and Thomas Eyres secretary. The charter stipulated that

1260-555: The College of Brown University, Pembroke's campus was absorbed into the larger Brown campus. The Pembroke campus is bordered by Meeting, Brown, Bowen, and Thayer Streets and sits three blocks north of Brown's central campus. The campus is dominated by brick architecture, largely of the Georgian and Victorian styles . The west side of the quadrangle comprises Pembroke Hall (1897), Smith-Buonanno Hall (1907), and Metcalf Hall (1919), while

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1320-744: The John Carter Brown Library is generally regarded as the world's leading collection of primary historical sources relating to the exploration and colonization of the Americas. While administered and funded separately from the university, the library has been owned by Brown and located on its campus since 1904. The library contains the best preserved of the eleven surviving copies of the Bay Psalm Book —the earliest extant book printed in British North America and

1380-623: The Lownes Collection of the History of Science (described as "one of the three most important private collections of books of science in America"), and the papers of H. P. Lovecraft . The Hay Library is home to one of the broadest collections of incunabula in the Americas, one of Brown's two Shakespeare First Folios , the manuscript of George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four , and three books bound in human skin . Founded in 1846,

1440-744: The Pembroke Campus at its northern end. The walk is bordered by departmental buildings as well as the Lindemann Performing Arts Center and Granoff Center for the Creative Arts The corridor is home to public art including sculptures by Maya Lin and Tom Friedman . The Women's College in Brown University , known as Pembroke College, was founded in October 1891. Upon its 1971 merger with

1500-528: The Pembroke Campus, which houses both dormitories and academic buildings. Facing the western edge of the central campus sit two of the Brown's seven libraries, the John Hay Library and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library . The university's campus is contiguous with that of the Rhode Island School of Design , which is located immediately to Brown's west, along the slope of College Hill. Built in 1901,

1560-484: The Public and Classical Instruction." The document additionally "recognized more broadly and fundamentally than any other [university charter] the principle of denominational cooperation." The oft-repeated statement that Brown's charter alone prohibited a religious test for College membership is inaccurate; other college charters were similarly liberal in that particular. The college was founded as Rhode Island College, at

1620-534: The Van Wickle Gates are a set of wrought iron gates that stand at the western edge of Brown's campus. The larger main gate is flanked by two smaller side gates. At Convocation the central gate opens inward to admit the procession of new students; at Commencement, the gate opens outward for the procession of graduates. A Brown superstition holds that students who walk through the central gate a second time prematurely will not graduate, although walking backward

1680-763: The Year awards from the Small Business Association, Arthur Andersen , the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (1997) and the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group (1999). Olim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science from Brown University . CDNow.com was among the first successful global online retailers. The company was founded in February 1994 by twin brothers Jason and Matthew Olim of Ambler, Pennsylvania . Initially launched as

1740-469: The block's perimeter. This section of campus is primarily Georgian and Richardsonian Romanesque in its architectural character. To the south of the central campus are academic buildings and residential quadrangles, including Wriston, Keeney, and Gregorian quadrangles. Immediately to the east of the campus core sit Sciences Park and Brown's School of Engineering . North of the central campus are performing and visual arts facilities, life sciences labs, and

1800-505: The board of trustees should be composed of 22 Baptists, five Quakers , five Episcopalians, and four Congregationalists. Of the 12 Fellows, eight should be Baptists—including the college president—"and the rest indifferently of any or all Denominations." At the time of its creation, Brown's charter was a uniquely progressive document. Other colleges had curricular strictures against opposing doctrines, while Brown's charter asserted, "Sectarian differences of opinions, shall not make any Part of

1860-598: The center of their education" and "teach students how to think rather than just teaching facts". Members of the GISP, Ira Magaziner and Elliot Maxwell published a paper of their findings titled, "Draft of a Working Paper for Education at Brown University." The paper made proposals for a new curriculum, including interdisciplinary freshman-year courses that would introduce "modes of thought," with instruction from faculty from different disciplines as well as for an end to letter grades. The following year Magaziner began organizing

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1920-736: The clouds atop a red and white torse . Brown is the largest institutional landowner in Providence, with properties on College Hill and in the Jewelry District . The university was built contemporaneously with the eighteenth and nineteenth-century precincts surrounding it, making Brown's campus tightly integrated into Providence's urban fabric. Among the noted architects who have shaped Brown's campus are McKim, Mead & White , Philip Johnson , Rafael Viñoly , Diller Scofidio + Renfro , and Robert A. M. Stern . Brown's main campus, comprises 235 buildings and 143 acres (0.58 km ) in

1980-542: The college moved from Warren to Providence. To establish a campus, John and Moses Brown purchased a four-acre lot on the crest of College Hill on behalf of the school. The majority of the property fell within the bounds of the original home lot of Chad Brown , an ancestor of the Browns and one of the original proprietors of Providence Plantations . After the college was relocated to the city, work began on constructing its first building. A building committee, organized by

2040-419: The college to Providence, constructing its first building, and securing its endowment. Joseph became a professor of natural philosophy at the college; John served as its treasurer from 1775 to 1796; and Nicholas Sr's son Nicholas Brown Jr. succeeded his uncle as treasurer from 1796 to 1825. On September 8, 1803, the corporation voted, "That the donation of $ 5,000, if made to this College within one Year from

2100-461: The college's charter two years later. The editor of Stiles's papers observes, "This draft of a petition connects itself with other evidence of Dr. Stiles's project for a Collegiate Institution in Rhode Island, before the charter of what became Brown University." The Philadelphia Association of Baptist Churches was also interested in establishing a college in Rhode Island, which was home of

2160-461: The company closed its Japanese website and laid off 200 employees. In November 2002, Bertelsmann announced it would close CDnow's Fort Washington facility and lay off the company's remaining 33 employees. Later that month, they signed a deal to outsource CDnow website operations to Amazon. The new deal retained a revised version of the BMG Direct model called the "Preferred Buyers Club", offering

2220-508: The company, intending to combine it with its BMG Direct record club as a new venture called BeMusic, and eventually add Napster to the service. Bertelsmann paid just $ 117   million (~$ 204 million in 2023), a price that was down over 90% from the valuation of the company at its peak in April 1998. The founding Olim brothers received a total of $ 17   million. In April 2001, the company cut 40 employees, 10% of its staff. In August 2001,

2280-545: The corporation on the same day voted, "That this College be called and known in all future time by the Name of Brown University." Over the years, the benefactions of Nicholas Brown Jr., totaled nearly $ 160,000 and included funds for building Hope College (1821–22) and Manning Hall (1834–35). In 1904, the John Carter Brown Library was established as an independently funded research library on Brown's campus;

2340-580: The corporation, developed plans for the college's first purpose-built edifice, finalizing a design on February 9, 1770. The subsequent structure, referred to as "The College Edifice" and later as University Hall , may have been modeled on Nassau Hall , built 14 years prior at the College of New Jersey . President Manning, an active member of the building process, was educated at Princeton and might have suggested that Brown's first building resemble that of his alma mater . Nicholas Brown , John Brown , Joseph Brown , and Moses Brown were instrumental in moving

2400-421: The day when artists will market directly to consumers, cutting out distributors such as record labels." In 1997, the company had revenues of $ 18   million and in February 1998, with 100 employees, the company became a public company via an initial public offering . CDNow then embarked on a large Internet advertising campaign, and was an innovator in preference-based retail recommendations, online video ,

2460-403: The east side comprises Alumnae Hall (1927) and Miller Hall (1910). The quadrangle culminates on the north with Andrews Hall (1947). East Campus, centered on Hope and Charlesfield streets, originally served as the campus of Bryant University . In 1969, as Bryant was preparing to relocate to Smithfield, Rhode Island , Brown purchased their Providence campus for $ 5 million. The transaction expanded

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2520-402: The late Commencement, shall entitle the donor to name the College." The following year, the appeal was answered by College Treasurer Nicholas Brown Jr. In a letter dated September 6, 1804, Brown committed "a donation of Five Thousand Dollars to Rhode Island College, to remain in perpetuity as a fund for the establishment of a Professorship of Oratory and Belles Letters." In recognition of the gift,

2580-421: The library's collection was founded on that of John Carter Brown , son of Nicholas Brown Jr. The Brown family was involved in various business ventures in Rhode Island, and accrued wealth both directly and indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade . The family was divided on the issue of slavery. John Brown had defended slavery, while Moses and Nicholas Brown Jr. were fervent abolitionists . In 2003, under

2640-672: The most expensive printed book in the world. Other holdings include a Shakespeare First Folio and the world's largest collection of 16th-century Mexican texts. The exhibition galleries of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown's teaching museum, are located in Manning Hall on the campus's main green. Its one million artifacts, available for research and educational purposes, are located at its Collections Research Center in Bristol, Rhode Island . The museum's goal

2700-438: The most selective in the country, with an acceptance rate of 5% for the class of 2026. As of March 2022 , 11 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with Brown as alumni , faculty, or researchers , one Fields Medalist , seven National Humanities Medalists , and 11 National Medal of Science laureates. Alumni include 27 Pulitzer Prize winners, 21 billionaires, four U.S. Secretaries of State , over 100 members of

2760-723: The mother church of their denomination . At the time, the Baptists were unrepresented among the colonial colleges; the Congregationalists had Harvard University and Yale University, the Presbyterians had the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University , and the Episcopalians had the College of William & Mary and King's College, which later became Columbia University . The local University of Pennsylvania in their native Philadelphia

2820-572: The repository of the university's archives, rare books and manuscripts, and special collections. Noteworthy among the latter are the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection (described as "the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering"), the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays (described as "the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in any research library"),

2880-772: The site of the First Baptist Church in Warren, Rhode Island . Manning was sworn in as the college's first president in 1765 and remained in the role until 1791. In 1766, the college authorized the Reverend Morgan Edwards to travel to Europe to "solicit Benefactions for this Institution". During his year-and-a-half stay in the British Isles , Edwards secured funding from benefactors including Thomas Penn and Benjamin Franklin . In 1770,

2940-552: The student body to press for the reforms, organizing discussions and protests. In 1968, university president Ray Heffner established a Special Committee on Curricular Philosophy. Composed of administrators, the committee was tasked with developing specific reforms and producing recommendations. A report, produced by the committee, was presented to the faculty, which voted the New Curriculum into existence on May 7, 1969. Its key features included: The Modes of Thought course

3000-401: The tenure of President Ruth Simmons , the university established a steering committee to investigate these ties of the university to slavery and recommend a strategy to address them. With British vessels patrolling Narragansett Bay in the fall of 1776, the college library was moved out of Providence for safekeeping. During the subsequent American Revolutionary War , Brown's University Hall

3060-578: The university should address this legacy. Brown has since completed a number of these recommendations including the establishment of its Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, the construction of its Slavery Memorial , and the funding of a $ 10 million permanent endowment for Providence Public Schools . The Slavery and Justice report marked the first major effort by an American university to address its ties to slavery and prompted other institutions to undertake similar processes. Brown's coat of arms

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3120-481: The use of editorial content as a means to promote interest internet affiliate marketing programs, and email marketing . On March 17, 1999, CDNow acquired its largest competitor, another Philadelphia area company, N2K , whose online properties included Music Boulevard and Jazz Central Station. In July 1999, the company announced a deal to merge with Columbia House , establishing a new public company jointly held by CDNow's shareholders, Time Warner and Sony . CDNow

3180-505: Was among the first of the Internet companies to show signs of struggle with the dot-com business model. On March 20, 2000, as the dot-com bubble burst, Barron's published a cover article called "Burning Up", which noted that the company was running out of cash. In March 2000, the Columbia House merger was called off. In June 2000, the company closed its London office to cut costs. In July 2000, Bertelsmann Music Group acquired

3240-638: Was constructed from 1903 to 1907 by the politician, Civil War veteran, and book collector General Rush Hawkins , as a mausoleum for his wife, Annmary Brown, a member of the Brown family. In addition to its crypt—the final repository for Brown and Hawkins—the Memorial includes works of art from Hawkins's private collection, including paintings by Angelica Kauffman , Peter Paul Rubens , Gilbert Stuart , Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , Benjamin West , and Eastman Johnson , among others. His collection of over 450 incunabula

3300-422: Was created in 1834. The prior year, president Francis Wayland had commissioned a committee to update the school's original seal to match the name the university had adopted in 1804. Central in the coat of arms is a white escutcheon divided into four sectors by a red cross. Within each sector of the coat of arms lies an open book. Above the shield is a crest consisting of the upper half of a sun in splendor among

3360-567: Was discontinued early on, but the other elements remain in place. In 2006, the reintroduction of plus/minus grading was proposed in response to concerns regarding grade inflation. The idea was rejected by the College Curriculum Council after canvassing alumni, faculty, and students, including the original authors of the Magaziner-Maxwell Report. In 2003, then-university president Ruth Simmons launched

3420-480: Was founded by Benjamin Franklin without direct association with any particular denomination. Isaac Backus, a historian of the New England Baptists and an inaugural trustee of Brown, wrote of the October 1762 resolution taken at Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Association obtained such an acquaintance with our affairs, as to bring them to an apprehension that it was practicable and expedient to erect

3480-731: Was fully merged into the university. The university comprises the College , the Graduate School , Alpert Medical School , the School of Engineering , the School of Public Health and the School of Professional Studies. Its international programs are organized through the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs , and it is academically affiliated with the Marine Biological Laboratory and

3540-409: Was relocated to the John Hay Library in 1990. Today the Memorial is home to Brown's Medieval Studies and Renaissance Studies programs. The Walk, a landscaped pedestrian corridor, connects the Pembroke Campus to the main campus. It runs parallel to Thayer Street and serves as a primary axis of campus, extending from Ruth Simmons Quadrangle at its southern terminus to the Meeting Street entrance to

3600-424: Was used to house French and other revolutionary troops led by General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau as they waited to commence the march of 1781 that led to the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake . This has been celebrated as marking the defeat of the British and the end of the war. The building functioned as barracks and hospital from December 10, 1776, to April 20, 1780, and as

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