Today marks the 163rd anniversary of Michigan State University's founders day of the institution.
On February 12, 1855, Michigan Governor Kinsley Bingham signed legislation establishing the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, now MSU.
Two years later, the school formerly opened on nearly 700 acres of woodlands east of Lansing with 5 faculty members and 63 students. The area is now known as East Lansing.
The first women were admitted in 1870.
And today, there are more than 5-thousand faculty members, more than 50-thousand students and more than a half million alumni living around the world.
Editor's Note: we corrected two errors. East Lansing wasn't established until in 1857 so we changed our story to say "east of Lansing." And women were admitted to MSU in 1870 not 1873. We apologize for the errors.