The school broke off from the University of Deseret and became Brigham Young Academy, with classes commencing on January 3, 1876. Warren Dusenberry served as interim principal of the school for several months until April 1876 when Brigham Young's choice for principal arrived—a German immigrant named Karl Maeser. Under Maeser's direction the school educated many luminaries including future U.S. Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland and future U.S. Senator Reed Smoot among others. The school, however, did not become a university until the end of Benjamin Cluff, Jr's term at the helm of the institution. At that time, the school was also still privately supported by members of the community and was not absorbed and sponsored officially by the LDS Church until July 18, 1896. A series of odd managerial decisions by Cluff led to his demotion; however, in his last official act, he proposed to the Board that the Academy be named "Brigham Young University". The suggestion received a large amount of opposition, with many members of the Board saying that the school wasn't large enough to be a university, but the decision ultimately passed. One opponent to the decision, Anthon H. Lund, later said, "I hope their head will grow big enough for their hat."
What happened on January 3, 1867?