Short answers, pulled from the story.
Purdue University was established by the Indiana General Assembly on the 6th of May 1869, after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated $150,000, Tippecanoe County contributed $50,000, and 100 acres of land were provided. The first classes were held on the 16th of September 1874, with six instructors and 39 students.
Twenty-seven Purdue graduates have become astronauts. They include Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the Moon, and Gus Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. Over one-third of all NASA crewed space missions have included at least one Purdue graduate.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab, known as the OWL, was launched in 1994 by Purdue's English department. It serves as an academic writing reference for colleges and universities nationwide, covering word usage, punctuation, grammar, and style.
Amelia Earhart joined the Purdue faculty in 1935 as a consultant for flight training courses and as a counselor on women's careers. In 1936, the Purdue Research Foundation funded the Lockheed Electra 10-E that she flew on her attempted round-the-world flight. Purdue's libraries now hold the Amelia Earhart Collection of her notes, letters, and records related to her disappearance.
Purdue has produced three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks: Drew Brees, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson. A total of 19 Purdue alumni have been on a Super Bowl-winning team.
Purdue established the first computer science degree-granting department in the United States in the late 1950s to early 1960s. The department is housed in Felix Haas Hall, a building originally constructed in 1909 as a gymnasium and renovated in 1985 to serve the department. In 1975, Purdue also joined ARPANET, the early network that became the foundation for the modern internet.