An ancestor of mine...Amos xxxxx played John Purdue in a poker game. The winner would name the university after themselves and the loser would get a building.
xxxxx Hall at Purdue University
Here's the official story:
The story of xxxxx Hall is one of my favorites -- In the fall of 1892, a wealthy Frankfort, Indiana, bachelor named Amos xxxxx donated $35,000 to the university to build a new engineering laboratory which included within its walls a real Schenectady Engine. Dedicated on January 19, 1894, this new facility was the pride of the University as well as the state ... however ... four days later, a gas explosion in the new laboratory's boiler room enveloped almost the entire building. Unfortunately, the horse-drawn fire engine could not pull the heavy equipment up State Street hill and the building was destroyed. University President Smart, undaunted, immediately began clean up the next day and by December 4, 1895 a brand new building, nearly an exact replica of the one lost, was formally opened. The difference ... the new tower was nine rows of bricks taller and the clock with chimes was added to the tower (the original tower had three openings across the top while center opening in the new tower held the clock, as seen in the picture). Though students today probably don't realize it, the current "Tower" is a remembrance of xxxxx Hall ... both of them.
