History
- 1862
President Abraham Lincoln signs the Morrill Land Grant Act,which turned public lands over to any state that agreed to use the land sale proceeds to maintain a college teaching agriculture and the "mechanic arts."
- 1869
The IGS chooses the Lafayette area for the new institution and accepts a $150,000 gift from John Purdue,as well as $50,000 from Tippecanoe County and 100 acres from local residents