 Linonia was founded in 1753 as Yale College's second literary and debating society.By the late eighteenth century, all incoming freshmen at Yale College became members either of Linonia or its rival society, Brothers in Unity, which was founded in 1768.Other debating societies arose throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, notably Crotonia in 1738 and Calliope in 1819, but were relatively short-lived.