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This Purdue trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the university and its Boilermakers from John Purdue's 1869 gift to Zach Edey's Final Four: the land-grant founding in West Lafayette, the first university-owned airport, Amelia Earhart on the faculty, the 27 astronauts including Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the newspaper insult that became the Boilermakers name, old gold and black, the Boilermaker Special and Purdue Pete, the Old Oaken Bucket, the 1967 and 2001 Rose Bowls, Bob Griese, Len Dawson and Drew Brees, Piggy Lambert, John Wooden, Rick Mount, Gene Keady and Matt Painter, the Big Ten title record and the Fairleigh Dickinson upset — plus Nobel laureates, Orville Redenbacher and other famous alumni. Early questions suit anyone who has heard 'Boiler Up'; later ones reward people who know which coach passed Jack Mollenkopf's win total and where John Purdue is buried. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Indiana city is Purdue University's flagship campus?
West Lafayette
Purdue's main campus is in West Lafayette, on the west bank of the Wabash River, across from the larger city of Lafayette.
Q 02Who was John Purdue?
A Lafayette businessman who donated land and money
A Lafayette businessman who donated land and money, John Purdue gave $150,000 and 100 acres for the new college and is buried on campus opposite University Hall.
Q 03In which year was Purdue founded?
1869
Purdue was founded in 1869, when the Indiana General Assembly accepted John Purdue's gift and named the school for him; the first classes were not held until September 1874.
Q 04Under which 1862 federal law did Indiana establish Purdue?
The Morrill Act
The Morrill Act of 1862 gave states federal land to fund colleges teaching agriculture and mechanic arts; Purdue became Indiana's land-grant university under it.
Q 05What aviation milestone does Purdue claim?
The nation's earliest university-owned airport
Purdue University Airport, which opened in 1930 beside the campus, is billed as the nation's earliest university-owned airport.
Q 06Which famous aviator joined the Purdue faculty in 1935?
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart joined Purdue in 1935 as a visiting counselor on women's careers and adviser in aeronautics; Purdue Libraries hold a major collection of her papers.
Q 07What is the name of Purdue's independent student newspaper?
The Exponent
The Exponent, founded in 1889, is Purdue's independent student newspaper, run by a student publishing foundation rather than by the university.
Q 08Which two Purdue alumni were the first and last people to walk on the Moon?
Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan
Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, both Purdue graduates, took the first Moon steps on Apollo 11 in 1969 and the last on Apollo 17 in 1972.
Q 09How did Purdue's teams come to be called the Boilermakers?
A Crawfordsville newspaper coined it after an 1891 rout of Wabash
A Crawfordsville newspaper coined it after an 1891 rout of Wabash, 44-0, describing the visitors as 'burly boiler makers'; Purdue adopted the name.
Q 10What is the Boilermaker Special?
A locomotive-shaped truck that serves as official mascot
A locomotive-shaped truck that serves as official mascot, the Boilermaker Special is maintained and driven by the student Purdue Reamer Club and appears at home games.
Q 11What does athletic mascot Purdue Pete carry?
A hammer
Purdue Pete, the costumed athletic mascot in a hard hat, carries a hammer, a nod to the boilermakers who gave the teams their name.
Q 12Purdue's colours of old gold and black were chosen in 1887 to resemble which school's?
Princeton
Princeton's orange and black team was successful at the time.
Q 13What is the name of Purdue's marching band?
The All-American Marching Band
The All-American Marching Band of Purdue is best known for its giant bass drum, built in 1921 and billed as the world's largest.
Q 21Which Purdue centre was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft?
Joe Barry Carroll
Joe Barry Carroll, Purdue's 7-foot-1 centre, went first overall to Golden State in the 1980 NBA draft after leading the Boilermakers to that year's Final Four.
Q 22Which legendary coach played at Purdue and beat his old school in the 1969 NCAA final?
John Wooden
John Wooden, a three-time consensus All-American guard at Purdue from 1930 to 1932, coached UCLA past his alma mater 92-72 in the 1969 NCAA final.
Q 23Which All-American led Purdue to the 1969 NCAA final?
Rick Mount
Rick Mount, who averaged 33 points a game in 1968-69, led Purdue to the 1969 NCAA final and the school's first Big Ten title in 29 years.
Q 14What trophy do Purdue and Indiana play for in football?
The Old Oaken Bucket
The Old Oaken Bucket, found on a southern Indiana farm, has been the Purdue-Indiana football trophy since 1925; the winner adds a bronze 'P' or 'I' link to its chain.
Q 15What was the result of the first game for the Purdue-Indiana bucket trophy in 1925?
A 0-0 tie
The first game for the bucket, in 1925, ended in a 0-0 tie, so the first link on the trophy's chain reads 'IP' rather than a single letter.
Q 16Whom did Purdue beat 14-13 in its first Rose Bowl on January 2, 1967?
USC
Purdue beat USC 14-13 in the 1967 Rose Bowl, its first, when the Trojans' late two-point conversion pass was intercepted; Jack Mollenkopf was the Boilermakers' coach.
Q 17Which coach passed Jack Mollenkopf in 2008 to become Purdue's winningest football coach?
Joe Tiller
Joe Tiller coached Purdue from 1997 to 2008, reaching ten bowls in 12 seasons including the 2001 Rose Bowl, and finished with 87 wins, three more than Jack Mollenkopf.
Q 18Which three Purdue quarterbacks have won Super Bowls?
Drew Brees, Bob Griese and Len Dawson
Drew Brees, Bob Griese and Len Dawson each started and won a Super Bowl: Dawson with Kansas City in 1970, Griese with Miami in 1973 and 1974, Brees with New Orleans in 2010.
Q 19Which Purdue running back is the school's all-time leading rusher?
Mike Alstott
Mike Alstott ran for 3,635 yards at Purdue from 1992 to 1995, the school's all-time leading rusher, then made six Pro Bowls as a fullback with Tampa Bay.
Q 20In which season did Purdue win its first Big Ten West title before losing the title game to Michigan?
2022
Purdue won the Big Ten West in 2022 and lost the championship game 43-22 to Michigan, after which coach Jeff Brohm left for his alma mater, Louisville.
Q 24Which coach won six Big Ten titles at Purdue and has Mackey Arena's court named after him?
Gene Keady
Gene Keady coached Purdue from 1980 to 2005, won six Big Ten titles and made 17 NCAA trips without a Final Four; Mackey Arena's floor is named Keady Court.
Q 25Which Purdue star recruited in 1991 became known as 'Big Dog' and won National Player of the Year?
Glenn Robinson
Glenn Robinson, nicknamed 'Big Dog', averaged 30.3 points in 1993-94, swept the major National Player of the Year awards and went first overall in the 1994 NBA draft.
Q 26To which 16-seed did top-seeded Purdue lose in the 2023 NCAA Tournament?
Fairleigh Dickinson
Fairleigh Dickinson, a 16-seed, beat top-seeded Purdue 63-58 in the 2023 first round, only the second 16-over-1 upset in men's tournament history.
Q 27Which Purdue centre won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024?
Zach Edey
Zach Edey, Purdue's 7-foot-4 centre, won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024, the first repeat winner since Ralph Sampson in 1982-83.
Q 28Whom did Purdue face in the 2024 NCAA championship game?
UConn
UConn beat Purdue 75-60 in the 2024 NCAA championship game in Glendale, Arizona, becoming the first repeat men's champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
Q 29Which coach led Purdue to the 1980 Final Four?
Lee Rose
Lee Rose coached Purdue for just two seasons, 1978-80, and took the Boilermakers to the 1980 Final Four, where they lost to UCLA 67-62.
Q 30In which year did Purdue's women's basketball team win the NCAA championship?
1999
Purdue's women won the 1999 NCAA championship, beating Duke 62-45 under coach Carolyn Peck; they were runners-up to Notre Dame in 2001.