
A letter writer responded, "Let it be known that streakers have plagued the campus police at Notre Dame for the past decade", pointing out that a group of University of Notre Dame students sponsored a "Streakers' Olympics" in 1972. In December 1973, Time magazine called streaking "a growing Los Angeles-area fad" that was "catching on among college students and other groups". In June 1973, the press reported on a "streaking" trend at Michigan State University. Crump was suspended for the academic session, but later went on to become a U.S. The first recorded incident of streaking by a college student in the United States occurred in 1804 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) when senior George William Crump was arrested for running naked through Lexington, Virginia, where the university is located. Nevertheless, the chief law in force against streaking in England and Wales at that time remained the 16th-century vagrancy law, for which the punishment in 1550 had been whipping. The offences used for prosecution were typically minor, such as the violation of park regulations. įines of between £10 and £50 were imposed on streakers by British and Irish magistrates in the early 1970s. He confirmed that he had accepted a wager of 10 guineas (equal to £1,098 today) to run naked from Cornhill to Cheapside. At 7:00 PM on 5 July 1799, a man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter.

Historical forerunners of modern-day streakers include the neo- Adamites who travelled naked through towns and villages in medieval Europe, and the 17th-century Quaker Solomon Eccles, who went nude through the City of London with a burning brazier on his head. In December 1973, a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota wrote to Time magazine that the term "streaking" was coined because the nude students ran primarily during the winter months of January and February, and "unless one appeared as a streak against the landscape, the Minnesota winter was triumphant and streaker became statue." The school's newspaper, The Carletonian, used the term "streaking" as early as 1967, but initially in negative terms: "Examples of are the large number of departing female students, the rise of class spirit, low grades, streaking, destruction, drinking, and the popularity of rock dances." History A Dutch streaker in 1941 (protesting the Germans' clothing rations)
FEMALE STREAKER AT DODGERS ASTROS GAME FULL
Before that, to streak in English since 1768 meant "to go quickly, to rush, to run at full speed", and was a re-spelling of streek: "to go quickly" (c.1380) this in turn was originally a northern Middle English variant of stretch (c. The word has been used in its modern sense only since the 1960s. Streakers are often pursued by sporting officials or the police. Streaking is often associated with sporting events, but can occur in more secluded areas. Streaking is the act of running naked through a public area for publicity, as a prank, a dare, or a form of protest.


A streaker at the 2006 Harvard–Yale game in Cambridge, Massachusetts For other uses, see Streaking (microbiology), Streak (disambiguation), and Streaky Bay.
