Episode 3 of 3

First Classes

When: 1874-09-16
Where: West Lafayette, Indiana
Part of: Founding of Purdue University

Purdue University held its first classes on September 16, 1874, marking the beginning of its educational operations.

Despite being founded in 1869, the university did not begin instruction until 1874. This five-year gap reflects the time required to develop the campus and infrastructure necessary for the college of science, technology, and agriculture to function.

Sources

Purdue University Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.