History of Portsmouth city to new developments such as Paulsgrove and Leigh Park. On 4 July 1968, an estimated 250,000 people witnessed the return of Alec Rose, a greengrocer in Osborne Road, after he completed his single-handed circumnavigation in "Lively Lady"; he was immediately knighted and made a Freeman of the city. 400 motor-boats, yachts, catamarans and canoes welcomed him into harbour. The University of Portsmouth gained university status in 1992 In 2003 erection was started of a 552 feet high Spinnaker Tower sited at Portsmouth Harbour, and celebrating the city's maritime tradition. Completed in 2005, the tower has twin concrete legs meeting
University of the People Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), warned the public of a fraudulent university, University of the People. The university started its next semester with the President of the University of the People visiting Johannesburg , instead the government thought the university has setup to operate within South Africa, which they have not applied for the necessary accreditation. Few days later the South African government withdrew its comments due to the misunderstanding. In 2017 Olympian Simone Biles became a student and a spokeswoman for the school, and in 2018 she set up a scholarship fund to help financially struggling students.