Complex sentence: The university's origins can be traced to 1896 with the opening of the Royal Technical Institute, Salford, a merger of Salford Working Men's College founded in 1858 and Pendleton Mechanics' Institute founded in 1850.
Split into simpler sentences: The University's origins can be traced to 1896 when it opened as the Royal Technical Institute, Salford. This itself resulted from a merger of the Salford Working Men's College, which was founded in 1858, and Pendleton Mechanics' Institute which was founded in 1850.