In 1933, when James Conant became the president of Harvard, the Yard looked decidedly mono-cultural. There weren’t many students from the Midwest and the South or from middle and lower-income households.

Conant wanted to shake things up and bring in kids from different backgrounds, but he knew he would be recruiting kids who didn’t normally apply to places like Harvard.

So he turned to another American institution for the answer – the military.

Psychologist Carl Brigham, who worked with the military back in the 20’s, knew just the thing to help bring in these students. What important invention came about?