Short answers, pulled from the story.
The University of Saskatchewan was founded on the 19th of March 1907, when the University Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. The first classes began on the 28th of September 1909, with seventy students.
The University of Saskatchewan built the first betatron facility in Canada in 1948, and three years later constructed the world's first non-commercial cobalt-60 cancer therapy unit. Other discoveries include sulfate-resistant cement and the first imaging of the Aurora using SCR-270 radar in 1949. The Canadian Light Source synchrotron, which opened on the 22nd of October, 2004, is also located on campus.
Notable alumni include Gerhard Herzberg and Henry Taube, who each won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1970 and 1983 respectively. John Diefenbaker, the 13th prime minister of Canada, is also an alumnus, as is Ray Hnatyshyn, the 24th governor general of Canada, and Emmett Matthew Hall, a founder of Canada's Medicare system.
Saskatoon was chosen in a politically influenced vote by the board of governors on the 7th of April 1909. Five cities competed for the university, including Battleford, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, and Regina. The university's first president, Walter Murray, had preferred Regina, the provincial capital.
The Canadian Light Source is Canada's national facility for synchrotron light research, located on the University of Saskatchewan campus. It opened on the 22nd of October, 2004, and is the size of a football field. It was selected for USask based on the university's decades of research experience and global scientific collaboration.
The University of Saskatchewan has produced 78 Rhodes Scholars. Among them are Wilbur Jackett, who received the scholarship in 1933, and Mark Abley, who received it in 1975. Russell Hopkins, who wrote the university's fight song in 1939, also won the Rhodes Scholarship in 1932.