MIT IHTFP THA FDC — HUH?!
According to the “MIT IHTFP Hack Gallery” official website, “the word ‘hack’ at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) usually refers to a clever, benign, and ‘ethical’ prank or practical joke, which is both challenging for the perpetrators and amusing to the MIT community.” According to most of the above-mentioned perpetrators of said hacks, the frequently used MIT hack acronym “IHTFP” stands for “I Hate This F*cking Place.” Note that most MIT hacks are hilarious and sometimes spectacular in their ingenuity.
MIT hacks began in 1980 with the formation of the Technology Hackers Association (or THA), occasionally affectionately billing itself as “MIT’s answer to Yale’s super-secret Skull and Bones Society.” However, also note that THA members always refuse to take credit for their hacks, which also makes them a super-secret society.
On founder Bryan A. Bentz’s official THA website, he credits the group’s 1980 origins as a response to MIT’s cruel longstanding tradition, Freshman Shower Night, where freshmen are tossed fully clothed into showers by upperclassmen on the day before their first physics exam. In THA’s first incarnation, Bentz organized a group of freshmen into what was then called the Freshman Defense Corps. They took their revenge on the upperclassman on that 1980 Shower Night by taking over Baker House dormitory, by “pennying” the upperclass ringleaders into their rooms for the entire night (Note: “pennying” is the act of wedging a door shut by jamming pennies between the door and the doorframes). After the smashing success of this stunt and several subsequent small pranks, the Freshmen Defense Corps evolved into the Technology Hackers Association and the larger crazier stunts began.
The First Harvard/Yale Football Game Hack
Technically, the very first Harvard/Yale football game hack by MIT students almost occurred in 1948. The night before the big game, the students snuck into the stadium and buried primer cord under the field. The plan: the MIT pranksters would sneak in remote control devices into the stadium during the game, and ignite the primer cords mid-game, burning the initials “M.I.T” into the middle of the field. Unfortunately, groundskeepers found the cords; thus, the hack was aborted.
In 1982, the first THA-engineered Harvard/Yale football game hack was more skillfully executed when a black weather balloon suddenly popped out of the playing field on the 45-yard line. As it inflated more, the stadium crowd saw that the initials “M.I.T” were printed on the balloon’s side. It kept inflating until it exploded, sending a spray of talcum powder all over. This was an act of pure vindication for the failed1948 hack.
Another notable hack at the Harvard/Yale game happened in 1990 when MIT students attending the game fired off a rocket that hung an MIT banner over one of the goal posts.
Great Dome Capers
The Great Dome is an almost completely inaccessible classic structure that tops MIT’s Building 10. Throughout the years, the Dome’s supposed inaccessibility has presented a logistics challenge to the THA engineer brainiacs. Naturally, many hacks have involved various augmentations to the Great Dome.
Many believe that the campus cop hack was the greatest Great Dome hack of all. In May 1994, hackers placed what looked like a campus police car complete with flashing lights, a dummy cop, and a box of donuts on top of the Great Dome. The car also had a license plate that said “IHTFP” and yellow diamond-shaped sign in the back window that said “I break for donuts.” The car, which was actually a tricked-out car chassis, is currently on display at MIT’s Museum.
Another notable Great Dome hack occurred on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. The hackers placed a 25-foot long fire engine on top of the Dome. The side of the truck read “M.I.T. Fire Dept.”
Miscellaneous Notable Hacks
In 1990, new M.I.T. President Charles Vest arrived for his first day of work only to discover that he couldn’t find his office. Hackers had hid his office entrance behind a specially-constructed bulletin board.
In April 2006, Caltech’s Fleming Cannon was “kidnapped” by MIT hackers called “the Howe & Ser Moving Company”, transported across country, and placed in the center of McDermott Court on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus. Four days later, Caltech students boarded a plane to Massachusetts and stole back the cannon.
And there will be more outrageous hacks to follow.
SOURCES:
http://hacks.mit.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_hack
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V110/N52/hack.52n.html
“Top MIT Hacks”, Wired Magazine, URL: (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/play.html?pg=10)
“A Hackers Reunion”, Stephen Eschenbach, Technology Review, URL: (http://www.technologyreview.com/article/14846/)
http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bentz/tha/tha.html
