1891
Class books, the predecessors of the yearbook, first appear at Kansas State Agricultural College. The class books were given various names such as The Sledge, Sunrise, The Bell Clapper and The Banner.
1896
K-State celebrates the inaugural edition of the campus newspaper, originally named The Student Herald.
1909
The name “Royal Purple” appears on the cover of the college annual.
1910
K-State adds curriculum in industrial journalism, the only four-year course in printing offered by any college or university in the United States.
1915
The first Royal Purple Popularity Contest is conducted. This contest grew into traditions that would last until 1970 – the Royal Purple beauties, Royal Purple Ball and Royal Purple queen. Judges would range from Cary Grant to Samuel Goldwyn.
1925
One of the first attempts at using a “theme,” the Royal Purple staff uses an Egyptian motif throughout.
1939
An embossed design on the division page, a trend of the 1980s, is first used on the Royal Purple.
1941
The Royal Purple staff produces the first full-color lithograph cover in the nation.
1944
During World War II, the paper was reduced from a broadsheet to a tabloid and was published once a week on the campus press. Staff members had to put each letter into a slide by hand in the production department.
1946
After being printed on campus for more than a year, the paper returned to its former size and was published on the presses of the Mercury-Chronicle.
1949
A Cox-O Type press was installed in the basement of Kedzie Hall, and the Collegian went from a semi-weekly broadsheet to a daily tabloid-sized publication. The press was capable of printing 3,5000 copies per hour.
1966
A $50,000 Cottrell web offset press was installed and was designed to produce 15,000 eight-page newspapers an hour. It was also capable of producing 24-page papers and printing color. The first Collegian to use a four-color picture was the 176-page University Edition, a tabloid edition mailed to incoming freshmen and transfer students.
Royal Purple is not covered by the student activity fee for the first time. Students paid $3 for the Royal Purple and $1 for the directory.
1972
Bill Brown, the director of Student Publications, convinced the board to purchase the Collegian’s first computers — two Hendrix editing display terminals. This was the first computerized editing equipment in a Kansas newsroom and among the first four in a U.S. university.
1981
Paper-punch typesetting equipment was installed — a Compugraphic Trendsetter, capable of setting eight different fonts at sizes 6 to 72.
1983
Another Trendsetter was installed to speed up production, and the Collegian changed to broadsheet format. Also, a fourth printing unit was added to the press so that 16-page papers could be printed.
1987
Laser typesetting became a reality when an Apple LaserWriter Plus and Linotronic 100 replaced the Trendsetters. These machines, with 32 resident fonts and several downloadable fonts are able to produce graphics as well as type.
1992
Under the direction of adviser Ron Johnson, the paper started down the road to full pagination in January, when Student Senate funded a half-million dollar purchase of Macintosh computer equipment.
1994
Kelly Campbell and Ryan Korte, the Collegian network administrators, were among he original creators of the online version of the Collegian. The first eCollegian edition appeared in the summer, becoming only the third college newspaper to publish daily on the Web.
The Royal Purple uses the very first UV lamination in a yearbook.
1995
The privilege fee continuation resulted in an upgrade of computers to PowerMacs, and printing services purchased a machine that allowed the pages to print straight to film, improving color and reproduction quality. The Electronic Collegian also won first place in content in the Associate Collegiate Press’ Best of the Net competition in Washington, D.C.
1997
The Royal Purple adds a CD-ROM to its coverage. In 2003, the multimedia supplement changed to a DVD.
1999
The Collegian accepted the bid of the Salina Journal to print the Collegian on its presses, allowing the Collegian to go four-color, five days a week, for the first time.
2003
The historic press in the basement of Kedzie is dismantled and removed.