The United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis,
Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven
professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850,
the curriculum included mathematics and navigation,
gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural
philosophy, and French.

The Naval School officially became the U.S. Naval Academy
in 1850, and a new curriculum went into effect, requiring
midshipmen to study at the academy for four years and to
train aboard ships each summer—the basic format that
remains at the academy to this day.