A momentous anniversary will be celebrated today during a ceremony at Penn State's Ag Progress Days.
 
University and government officials will mark the sesquicentennial of the Morrill Act. That legislation, signed in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln, paved the way for a network of land-grant universities designed to teach scientific agriculture, mechanical arts and the classics to the nation's working class. In 1863, the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania -- now Penn State -- was named the state's sole land-grant university.

Sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs ; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. Admission and parking are free.