History of the University

The University of Liverpool was one of the first civic universities. Founded in 1881 with the establishment of University College Liverpool, the College opened in 1882 with 45 students on Brownlow Hill.

From the start, it recruited notable scholars and received generous financial support from the people of Liverpool. A high proportion of the original students came from Merseyside; for poor yet able students there were scholarships and fellowships. The University grew quickly, and the famous Victoria Building, the original 'redbrick' designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was opened in 1892.

The University attracted the pioneers of the day, including Professor Oliver Lodge, who made the world's first public radio transmission in 1894. Two years later, Lodge demonstrated the use of X-ray photography by taking an image of a bullet in a boy's wrist. It was the first time an X-ray had been used for surgical purposes in the UK.

1899 saw the foundation of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Future Nobel Prize winner Ronald Ross, who had just completed his renowned research into the origins of malaria, was appointed at the helm.

1673 staff, students and former students serve in the First World War. More than 200 die

1941 A parachute mine causes considerable damage to the University's quadrangle. The University's casualties in the Second World War are relatively few by comparison with the first.