In honor of the first week of school, here is a list of some interesting facts that freshmen can relay to their folks back home.

1. The Ghost of Old Main

There are many ghost stories about the UA, but this one occurred when Old Main was first being built back in 1888. Carlos Maldenado was in the business of construction management, and he wanted to construct the university’s first building. He would sleep in the unfinished building at night with no doors or windows because he was afraid that the citizens would burn the place down because they were upset about the capital being moved to Phoenix. One morning, employees arrived at Old Main and found Maldenado with a knife in his throat. A likely culprit would have been a disgruntled citizen. The continuous renovations to Old Main have been said to make Maldenado’s ghost happy since he was never able to see the building completed.

2. Million Dollar Books

The Special Collections building (located right next to the library) is home to some pretty interesting documents and books. One book in particular is one of the first copies of Nicolaus Copernicus’ “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres,” which marked the beginning of the scientific revolution. It was published in 1543, and it is now worth over one million dollars. There are many other interesting books within Special Collections, including a scrapbook made by a UA student from the early 1900s.

3. Telescopes and Football

While fans are enjoying our Wildcats dominate in football, there are giant mirrors being made for special telescopes on the east side of the stadium. These mirrors are used in many telescopes around the world due to the amazing new technologies that the mirror lab technicians have developed over the years.

4. The Community Garden

Do you have a green thumb? There is a plot of land on Mountain Avenue and Mabel Street that is available for anyone to rent so they can grow their own fruits and vegetables. It is only $40 to rent a plot for an entire year of gardening.

5. Keep the Cows Out

Have you noticed the black lava rock towards the Main Gate entrance of the university? It was built originally to keep cows off campus! And you thought bikers were bad.

Follow Lindsey Stegemoller @lstegs