On July 2, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law, offering public lands to any state that would establish and maintain a college for the purpose of teaching agriculture and mechanics. In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly took advantage of this offer, and began plans to establish such an institution. The state of Indiana received a gift of $150,000 from John Purdue, a Lafayette business leader and philanthropist (buried at Purdue), along with $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 150 acres (0.6 km²) of land from Lafayette residents in support of the project. In 1869, it was decided that the college would be founded near the city of Lafayette and established as Purdue University, in the name of the institution’s principal benefactor.

Classes first began at Purdue on September 16, 1874 with three buildings, six instructors, and 39 students. Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, in 1875. The first female students were admitted to the university in the fall of the same year. By 1883 enrollment had increased beyond 350, and by the turn of the 20th century Purdue had begun a period of active expansion: scholarship standards were raised, courses were expanded, and equipment was improved.

One of the most interesting and unique things Purdue has to offer is its diverse majors in aerospace. Although the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was not formally established until 1945, Purdue and the greater Lafayette community have a long history in the field of aviation. Since the earliest days of the University, students, faculty, and staff have played major, and often instrumental, roles in the history of aerospace. Purdue takes pride in the fact that it was the first school in the country to offer majors in aviation, something that countless schools offer today.
In 1910, Dr. Cicero Veal, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, organized the Purdue Aero Club. In the summer of 1911 the club hosted Aviation Day, the Lafayette community's first aircraft demonstration. The event, sponsored by Purdue alumni, attracted an estimated 17,000 onlookers and enthusiasts, and was the first of many such exhibitions at Purdue.

J. Clifford Turpin, from the class of 1908, was the first Purdue graduate to become an aviator, and received flight instruction from Orville Wright himself. In 1919 George W. Haskins became the first alumnus to land an aircraft on campus. He arrived from Dayton, Ohio with a proposal to establish a School of Aviation Engineering at Purdue. Although it would be several years before a separate school would be established, Purdue did begin offering technical electives in aeronautical engineering within the School of Mechanical Engineering in 1921.


In 1930 Purdue became the first university in the country to offer college credit for flight training, and later became the first to open its own airport. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart came to Purdue in 1935 and served as a "Counselor on Careers for Women," a staff position she held until her disappearance in 1937. Purdue also played a central role in Earhart's ill-fated "Flying Laboratory" project, providing funds for the Lockheed L-10 Electra aircraft she intended to fly around the world. Earhart began her fateful transoceanic flight from the Purdue University Airport. Purdue libraries maintain an extensive Earhart collection, which is still studied by those seeking to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

As a result of the expansion in technical education prompted by World War II, the aeronautical engineering electives in mechanical engineering were expanded to create a full four-year degree program in 1941 within the newly-rechristened School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. Later, other training programs for the war were introduced that eventually lead to the formation of an independent School of Aeronautics in 1945. The school initially offered undergraduate degrees in both aeronautical engineering and the new field of air transportation, and issued its first graduate degrees in 1947. The programs were popular among returning veterans in the years following World War II, bringing total undergraduate enrollment to 736 students. The school adopted its present name in 1973.

Purdue is also one out of fourteen secondary-level education institutions in the United States that participates in the Federal Aviation Administration's CTI (Collegiate Training Initiative) program. Graduates of Purdue's CTI program are recommended to join the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic controller workforce.

Over the past ten years, Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has awarded more aerospace engineering degrees than any other institution in the country, issuing 6% of all undergraduate degrees and 7% of all Ph.D. degrees.

In the more than 130 years since the founding of the university, several mascots have emerged in support of the Boilermaker athletic teams, including: The Boilermaker Special, Purdue Pete, and more recently, Rowdy.

The Boilermaker Special has been the official mascot of Purdue athletics since 1940. The latest generation of the mascot, the Boilermaker Special V, was assembled by Wabash National, a local trailer company, and was dedicated during the halftime show of the 1993 football game versus Notre Dame at Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium.

Though not the official mascot, Purdue Pete is one of the most recognized symbols of Purdue University. Pete was originally developed in 1940 as an advertising logo for the University Bookstore. Eventually, the popularity of the image grew among the Purdue community, and the advertisement evolved into a full character, complete with costume and mallet. By 1956 Purdue Pete was at the center of activity at Boilermaker athletic events, as entertainer and energizer. As a matter of tradition, the modern mallet-wielding Boilermaker character always appears in a

1 jersey. Purdue's newest symbol, Rowdy, was introduced in 1997 during the first home football game of the season. The inflatable mascot, made of parachute material, stands nearly 10 feet (3 meters) tall, and represents a young boy who hopes to become a Purdue Boilermaker.

The official fight song of Purdue University, "Hail Purdue!," was composed in 1912 by alumni Edward Wotawa (music) and James Morrison (lyrics) as the "Purdue War Song." "Hail Purdue" was copyrighted in 1913 and dedicated to the Varsity Glee Club. The lyrics of the refrain are:

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

All hail to our old gold and black!

Hail, hail to old Purdue!

Our friendship may she never lack,

Ever grateful ever true,

Thus we raise our song anew,

Of the days we've spent with you,

All hail our own Purdue.

Close by the Wabash in famed Hoosier land

Stands old Purdue, serene and grand.

Cherished in memory by all

Her sons and daughters true,

Fair alma mater,

All hail Purdue! Fairest in all the land,

Our own Purdue!

Fairest in all the land, our own Purdue!

Like many institutions with long and rich histories, Purdue University is steeped in legend. Many of these legends are so outlandish, it is difficult to believe they are still in circulation. Below is a selection of the most popular legends.

A legend connected with benefactor John Purdue asserts that he owned the local brickyard, and that his donation carried the stipulation that all permanent university buildings must be built of red brick or his entire gift reverts to Purdue's heirs. This claim cannot be substantiated, and it is apparently contradicted by two university buildings: Krannert and Rawls halls, made of limestone. But this does not the deter the story tellers, who claim that there is one solitary brick lying somewhere inside the buildings in keeping with the "red brick" tradition. It is of interest to note that these buildings are considered "off-campus" by many of the students, due to their location in an area which is surrounded primarily by local business.

One of the more bizarre, yet most commonly heard, legends on campus concerns the integrity of the Purdue Bell Tower. The legend claims that when construction of the tower was completed in 1995 it was discovered that the tower was structurally flawed, and as a result the bells could not ring without risking collapse. Project leaders supposedly had a speaker system installed to imitate the sound of ringing bells. However, inside the modern Bell Tower are a computerized carillon, and an electronic clock. In fact, the new tower includes bells from the original Bell Tower, which was demolished in 1956. Also of note in regards to the bell tower is that the clock face on all four sides bears the roman numeral for the number four as IIII, which, although common on clockfaces, is not as well known as IV.

At one point 23rd US President Benjamin Harrison had been on a board of advisors. Somewhere there exists a picture of him leaning against University Hall.

There are also a number of legends that periodically circulate on campus that involve benefactor John Purdue’s grave, which is located on campus per his final requests. The legends range from silly to macabre and many involve students from rival Indiana University participating in grave robbing and other acts of desecration.

In the 1980s, and perhaps at other times as well, a legend circulated that John Purdue won the naming rights in a bet with Amos Heavilon, and as a result the university was named after Purdue and its main building after Heavilon. This story is a myth and is contradicted by the fact that Amos Heavilon's gift was made in 1892, long after the university's establishment in 1869.

According to some stories there is a nuclear reactor underground, which powers the entire campus. The reactor is supposedly cooled by the Engineering fountain. In fact, there is a nuclear reactor, but it is in Duncan Annex to the Electrical Engineering building. It generates a small amount of energy, comparable to the amount of energy to run a hair dryer or toaster. Were it to be left on at maximum capacity, within 24 hours the water that it is surrounded by would raise its temperature by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.5 °C). A particle accelerator is several stories below ground in the physics building, and does extend under the walkway between the Physics and Materials Science and Electrical Engineering Buildings.

Another legend was of John Purdue's finger. A series of smokestacks on top of a building were arranged in such a way that it looked like an upraised finger was being shown in the general direction of Indiana University Bloomington. In recent years due to renovation, this has been removed.

Another legend purports to offer an explanation of the Boilermaker moniker. The legend tells of two Purdue football coaches that would not accept the scrawny volunteers that came out for the team. According to the legend, the coaches gathered a number of boilermakers from the nearby Monon Railroad Shops, enrolled them in one class each, and added them to the team. This story is chronologically impossible, however, as the Monon Shops were not yet established in Lafayette at the time the "Boilermaker" nickname originated. For a factual account of the nickname origins, see Purdue Boilermakers.

The Hall of Music was allegedly named after President Elliott because he was an unlikable person known for his dislike of music.

John Purdue stipulated that no building built on campus may rise higher than University Hall, the first building on campus. According to this story, architects have to sidestep this rule by employing creative tactics, such as elevating the Mathematical Sciences Building on concrete "stilts" so that the inhabitable part of the building is not taller than University Hall, and allocating the upper floors of Beering Hall of Liberal Arts a different ZIP Code from the rest of the building.

Another version of the preceding legend says that John Purdue required that no building was allowed to be taller than the top of the (former) Purdue Smokestack. This version of the legend went on to claim that the official, on paper name of the Mathematical Sciences Building was, by virtue of its manner of construction, the Mathematical Sciences Arch (or, more often, simply the Math Arch), thereby making it 'not officially a building.'

In a somewhat joking urban legend shared with similar ones at many other universities, especially many older ones, the lion fountain found by Stanley Coulter Hall facing the John Purdue Memorial Mall is said to roar when a virgin walks past.

The Engineering Mall is the main, central quad area of Purdue University.

The three most prominent features of the Engineering Mall are the Purdue Bell Tower, the Engineering Fountain, and the Frederick L. Hovde Hall of Administration.

The Purdue Bell Tower was constructed in 1995, at Purdue University, through a gift from the class of 1948. It is considered an icon of the university and can be found on many Purdue logos and those of the cities of West Lafayette, Indiana and Lafayette, Indiana.

The current Bell Tower's inspiration comes from the bell tower that was part of the old Heavilon Hall, demolished in 1956. The new tower stands 160 feet tall, and like the original, has a clock on each of four faces. The bells from the original tower hang at the top of the current tower, and a computerized carillon now marks every half hour and also plays Purdue's fight songs and the alma mater. There is also a time capsule located at the base of the tower that is to be opened in 2095.

The Engineering Fountain is centrally located in the Engineering Mall at Purdue University. Designed by Robert Youngman, the fountain was a gift from the class of 1939. The fountain was dedicated in 1989.

The fountain stands 38 feet tall and is made of 228 tons of concrete. It jets 588 gallons of water per minute into the air. Coloroed lights illuminate the water during the evening.

Originally built with an open jet shooting straight up into the air, students soon made the tradition of running through the fountain on warm days. Due to potential injuries, the University placed a mirrored cylinder around the jet.

First known as Cary Hall, Cary Quadrangle opened in 1928 as a men's dormitory, a function it has maintained ever since. The facility was funded with donations by Franklin Masten Cary, a local philanthropist, and named in honor of his son, Franklin Levering Cary, who died in 1912 at the age of 19.

As the University grew, so did the need for housing. Cary Quadrangle now has five buildings (south, east, west, northeast, and northwest), surrounding an open courtyard. In addition, the south building contains the Cary Knight Spot Gril, which opened the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year.

Considered the "flagship" of Purdue University residences, Cary Quadrangle is still one of the largest all-male housing units in the country. In 2000, Cary Quadrangle began a $43.5 Million renovation plan.

Cary Quad was the location of the annual Nude Olympics before the tradition died down.

Mackey Arena is a 14,123-seat multi-purpose arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. The arena opened in 1967. It is home to the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team. It is named after Purdue alumnus and long time athletic director Guy "Red" Mackey.

WBAA is a radio station owned by Purdue University. The station operates on the AM frequency of 920 kHz and FM frequency of 101.3 MHz. Its studios are in the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music on the Purdue campus, and the transmitters are located in Lafayette, Indiana. WBAA is the longest continuously-operating radio station in Indiana, having been licensed on April 4, 1922.

WBAA airs NPR and local news/talk programming during the day. Overnight, the AM station airs jazz while the FM station airs classical music.