Welcome to the IHTFP Gallery!

The IHTFP Gallery is dedicated to documenting the history of hacking at MIT.

The word hack at MIT 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 (and sometimes even the rest of the world!). Note that this has nothing to do with computer (or phone) hacking (which we call "cracking").

(More About the IHTFP Gallery and FAQ.)

Recent News...

2009.10.23 - Obama references hacking during MIT speech
During his speech at MIT on energy, President Barack Obama joked about MIT's hacking tradition, indicating that his departure was likely to be delayed due to his motorcade ending up on the Great Dome. A number of small hacks have also appeared around campus in response to his visit.

2009.05.18 - Two hacks in Killian Court today
There are currently two hacks visible in Killian Court today: an Apollo Lunar Module on the Great Dome and a large statue of the Greek goddess Athena.

2008.06.12 - New Hack Writeups Added
The hack gallery is now up to date as of June 2008. Check out the timeline. If anything is missing, let us know!

2007.12.29 - 26 New Hack Writeups Added
26 new hack writeups have been added to the gallery for hacks between 2000 and 2007 in the last several days. Check out the timeline.

2007.05.19 - Syndicated news feed added to the Gallery
There's now an

xml/atom syndication feed of recent gallery news and write-up additions. This is also available through the mit_hacks feed on LiveJournal.

2007.05.11 - Site updates in progress
This site is undergoing significant updates. Some hacks after 1997 are missing write-ups and photos, but we're working on improving this. The timeline from 1997-present should be up-to-date, so please let us know if we're missing anything from it.

[More News...]

Recent Hacks...

2009 Statue of the goddess Athena in Killian Court

Hackers placed a large statue of the Greek goddess Athena in Killian Court on the first day of final exams.

[2009.05.18]

2009 Apollo Lunar Module on the Great Dome

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of humans setting foot on the moon, hackers placed a 1/2 scale replica of the Apollo Lunar Module on the Great Dome.

[2009.05.17]

2009 Solar Powered Subway Car on the Great Dome

Hackers installed a solar-powered Boston MBTA-style subway car riding on the wall around MIT's Great Dome on 4/27/09

[2009.04.27]

2009 "Creative People with Words" items appear around campus

On the morning of April 16th, various signs and items each illustrating a play on words of the acronym "CPW" appeared around campus. The signs identified the perpetrators as "Creative People with Words".

[2009.04.16]

2009 Cylon Eye and Ship on W20 for Battlestar Galactica Finale

Hackers turned the entire Massachusetts Avenue-facing 4th-floor side of MIT's Stratton Student Center (Building W20) into a Cylon eye scanner from the TV series Battlestar Galactica in honor of the season finale airing Friday, March 20.

[2009.03.20]

2009 Banner for Charles Darwin's Birthday

To celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday, MIT hackers put a large red banner with a Che Guevara-style image of Charles Darwin and the words "Viva la Evolucion!" on the skybridge between buildings 18 and 56 on 2/11/09.

[2009.02.11]

2008 Bed with teddy bear appears in building 10 lounge

On the morning of December 17th, a full-size bed appeared in the lounge on the first floor of building 10, along with a sign that said "Save Point -- You may rest your party here -- no jumping." A teddy bear with eyepatch and pirate hat was asleep in the bed.

[2008.12.17]

2008 Epiphany Toilet on Building 37

Fully functional open air toilet installed on building 37.

[2008.10.05]

2008 NASA Logo on the Dot

Hackers put the NASA logo on the Dot for the 50th anniversary of NASA beginning operations.

[2008.10.01]

2008 Violation Notices on Hacks

To protest an what was viewed as an overly restrictive hacking policy, hackers placed black cloth and violation notices on the hack exhibit in the stata center

[2008.09.29]

[More Hacks...]

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