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INDUSTRIES: Business History of Publishing: From 1900
business biographies  

Publishing: To 1900

Publishing: A-L

Publishing: M - Z

 

1900 - Caleb Hammond launched Hammond World Atlas Corporation.

1900 - Walter Smith Maney founded Maney Publishing as specialist typesetting, printing company in Leeds, UK; printed catalogues, society magazines; 1945 - evolved into publisher of academic books, journals (Publications of the English Goethe Society - oldest client); one of few remaining independent publishers of quality literary, scientific material.

1900 - Moses Annenberg became subscription solicitor for Chicago Evening American newspaper (recently purchased by William Randolph Hearst); 1904 - appointed circulation manager of new morning newspaper, Examiner; 1918 - moved to New York, became circulation manager for all Hearst's New York papers, magazines; 1922 - acquired Daily [horse] Racing Form (founded 1894); centerpiece of Cecelia Investment Company, holding company; 1924 - named president, publisher of newest Hearst paper, New York Mirror; 1926 - resigned Hearst position; concentrated on horse-race business; 1927 - became involved in racing wire services; 1930 - virtual monopoly in wire-service business; transmitted information via AT&T wires from twenty-nine tracks to fifteen thousand betting establishments around country; July 31, 1936 - acquired Philadelphia Inquirer; 1940 -convicted of tax evasion; served 36 months in federal prison, paid $9,500,000 in back taxes, interest, penalties; Walter Annenberg (son), took over, reorganized business, renamed company Triangle Publications, Inc.; 1944 - launched Seventeen Magazine; 1953 - formed TV Guide; 1988 - acquired by News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch) for $3.2 billion.

Moses Annenberg (l), Walter Annenberg - Triangle Publications (http://citypaper.net/articles/2002-10-10/cb2-1.jpg

February 16, 1900 - First Chinese daily newspaper in U.S. published (Chung Sai Yat Po-SF).

May 22, 1900 - Regional Associated Press associations merged; modern AP (founded May 1848) incorporated as not-for-profit cooperative in New York City; Melville E. Stone as first general manager.

December 12, 1900 - Hibbert and Gaither establishd Chinook Observer; 1923 - acquired from Hibbert by John and Margaret Durkee; 1937 - James O’Neil became co-owner with Bill Clancey; August 1963 - Wayne O'Neil (son) Frances O'Neil (daughter-in-law) took over paper; July 1, 1984 - acquired by Craig and Geri Dennis; February 16, 1988 - acquired by East Oregonian Publishing Co.; circulation of about 6,700, one of Washington’s larger weekly newspapers.

June 1901 - Wilson Eyre, Jr., two other Philadelphia architects founded House and Garden magazine; 1911 - acquired by Conde Nast; July 1993 - closed; September 1996 - republished; December 2007 - closed (single-copy sales of 50,909 in 2006, down from 84,558 in 2002.

Wilson Eyre, Jr. - House and Garden (http://www.findagrave.com/photos/2006/274/15975435_115984978696.jpg)

June 1901 - Giovanni De Agostini founded Istituto Geografico De Agostini S.p.A. in Rome; published Atlante scolastico moderno (Modern School Atlas); 1919 - acquired by Marco Adolfo Boroli, Cesare Angelo Rossi for ITL 180,000 lire; formed new jointly-owned company; strengthened cartography activities with support of Luigi Visintin, head of the scientific unit.; 1946 - complete control acquired by Boroli family; 1997 - Marco Drago assumed management; 2002 - acquired Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese (UTET); January 2005 - reorganized to integrate books and cartography products. 

1902 - Edwin Thomas Meredith founded Meredith Corporation; acquired controlling interest in his grandfather's newspaper, Farmer's Tribune, with fistful of $20 gold pieces; October 1902 - sold first issue of Successful Farming magazine to 500 subscribers; 1914 - circulation over the half-million.

Edwin Thomas (E.T.) Meredith - Meredith Corp. (http://cmsimg. desmoinesregister.com/ apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date= 99999999&Category= FAMOUSIOWANS&ArtNo= 501160331&Ref=AR&maxw=   175&border=1)

1902 - James Clarence Hyde founded ARTnews; oldest and most widely circulated art magazine in the world; readership of 200,000 in 123 countries collectors, dealers, historians, artists, museum directors, curators, connoisseurs, enthusiasts.

January 17, 1902 - (London) Times Literary Supplement appeared for first time.

March, 1902 - Clarence W. Barron purchased Dow Jones & Company for reported $130,000; 1921 - founded Barron's financial weekly; Clarence Barron as first editor.

Clarence W. Barron - Dow Jones & Co. (http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-AN746_Kilgor_20070801004113.jpg)

May 28, 1902 - Macmillan Press published Owen Wister's The Virginian, story of cowhand who is simply called "the Virginian,"; first "serious" Western; one of most influential in genre; almost single-handedly turned American cowboy into legendary hero; established many of basic elements of cowboy myth; became sensation almost overnight; 1938 - sold more than 1.5 million copies, inspired four movies, Broadway play.

1903 - Charles Landon Knight purchased Akron Beacon Journal; 1933 - John S. Knight inherited  Beacon Journal from his father; founded Knight Newspapers; 1974 - merged with Ridder Publications; formed Knight-Ridder Inc.; December 3, 2007 - acquired by McClatchy Company for $4.5 billion.

March 29, 1903 - Regular news service began between New York and London on Marconi's wireless; March 30, 1903 - The Times in London became first newspaper to establish ongoing arrangement with Marconi Telegraph Company for regular transmission of news between United States,  UK.

August 17, 1903 - First Pulitzer Prize awarded; Joseph Pulitzer made million-dollar donation to Columbia University.

November 2, 1903 - Alfred Harmsworth published London's "Daily Mirror" newspaper as 'paper for gentlewomen'; 1904 - Hamilton Fyfe took over as editor; put more emphasis on photo-journalism; 1915 - Sunday Pictorial launched as major photo-journal (1963 - renamed the Sunday Mirror); 1953 - sold 7 million copies on Coronation Day; 1964 - circulation of 5 million, highest in Europe; 1968 - acquired by International Printing Corporation;  1970 - acquired by Reed International; 1984 -acquired by Pergamon Holdings Limited (wholly owned by Robert Maxwell); September 1999 - acquired by Trinity Mirror Group for 1.24 billion pounds.

November 6, 1903 - First issue of South China Morning Post.

1904 - William Martin Murphy founded Independent Newspapers in Dublin, Ireland as morning paper; 1973 - principal shareholding acquired by Sir Anthony O'Reilly from Murphy family (still controlling shareholders); 2006 - Independent News & Media PLC spanned four continents, 21 individual countries; market leading newspaper publisher in Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa; market-leading regional newspaper publisher in Australia, India; owned largest newspaper group in Northern Ireland; published over 175 newspaper, magazine titles with weekly circulation of over 31 million copies;  operated over 70 on-line editorial, classified sites; largest radio, outdoor advertiser in Australasia (128 stations, audience exceeding 5 million people); managed gross assets of €4.0 billion, sales over €1.8 billion, over 10,400 employees  worldwide.

William Martin Murphy - Independent Newspapers (http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/aug2006/1015.jpg)

May 5, 1905 - Robert S. Abbott published first issue of "Chicago Defender" (voice of African-American Community in Chicago, across United States).

October 1905 - Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean (43), trade magazine publisher, purchased advertising agency's in-house business journal (5,000 subscribers); launched The Business Magazine, pocket-sized digest of articles gathered from Canadian, U.S., British periodicals (sold 6,000 copies); December 1905 - title changed to The Busy Man's Magazine, March 1911 -  name changed to Maclean's; 1919 - print run of 70,000.

November 1905 - Whitney Darrow founded Princeton University Press above Marsh's drugstore on Nassau Street in Princeton, NJ; initial investment of $1,000 from Charles Scribner, Princeton graduate; has published close to 8,000 scholarly books.

December 16, 1905 - Sime Silverman, former vaudeville critic for New York Morning Telegraph, published first issue of Variety Magazine; 1987 - acquired by Cahners Publishing Co., division of Reed International, for about $60 million.

Sime Silverman - Variety (http://simesite.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/simelge.jpg)

February 15, 1906 - Joseph Malaby Dent, London bookbinder turned publisher (founded J.M. Dent and Company publishing company in 1888) founded Everyman's Library; promised to publish new, beautiful editions of world’s classics, at one shilling a volume, to make available literature that would appeal "to every kind of reader"; published fifty titles, Boswell's Life of Johnson first title published; 1956 - published 1,000th volume (Dent's original goal) - Aristotle's Metaphysics; sold more than 50 million books; 1975 - 994 titles published in 1,239 volumes; 1970s - ceased publication of new titles; September 1991 - relaunched by Knopf (US), Random House (UK); more than 500 titles.

January 1907 - Yachting magazine founded; Lawrence Perry, first editor; covered waterfront; inaugural issue of 62 pages.

July 15, 1907 - Newspaper published E. W. Scripps combined 3 regional news services, began United Press Associations; no restrictions on who could buy news from news service; direct threat to monopolistic,  exclusionary alliances of major U.S., European wire services; 1958 - merged with International News Service (founded in 1909 by William Randolph Hearst; renamed UPI.

1908 - George Parmly Day founded Yale University Press in cubbyhole-size office in Manhattan to acquire, publish important works of scholarship; 1909 - issued first book, "The Beginnings of Gospel Story", by Benjamin W. Bacon; 1918 to 1929 - presented all of Shakespeare’s plays small, low-priced hardcover editions; 1919 - launched Yale Series of Younger Poets (annual contest, award, publication of first book of poetry by poet under 40); 1956 - published, posthumously, Eugene O’Neill’s 'Long Day’s Journey into Night' (fastest-selling title in YUP’s history, among Press’s most perennially successful books); 1959 - Chester Kerr named director; took on decades-long multivolume projects; 1961 - formally became department of Yale (financially, operationally autonomous); 1960s and 1970s - number of titles published annually tripled (30 to 90); 1981 - John G. Ryden named director (more than 4,000 books); diversified, included books with broader appeal (commercially viable important books to subsidize more highly specialized monographs); published textbooks, developed strength in art history; 2001 - partnered with Harvard University Press, MIT Press; created TriLiteral LLC, limited liability partnership to manage distribution of all three presses’ publications; January 2003 - John Donatich named director; established partnerships with leading museums to publish, distribute major exhibition catalogues, other works; largest books-only, U.S.-based university press (more than 8,000 books, upwards of 300 new books per year).

1908 - Gerald Mills, Charles Boon launched Mills & Boon publishing company,  as general fiction publisher, with modest £1,000; first book - 'Arrows From The Dark', by Sophie Cole (1,394 women had bought book by 1914); 1909 - 123 contracts signed; introduced 'June 15' series (new title published each year on that date by major new author); 1912 - 1,000 new manuscripts received (75% from women, 95% from unknown authors; published no more then six); post WW I - discovered growing appetite for escapism through romance, concentrated on hardback romances; 1930s - golden age for company; set new sales records; 6,000 - 8,000 copies of each story printed; 1939 - reputation as ‘library house’; supplied wholesome romantic fiction to circulating libraries; 1957 - Harlequin Books published first Mills & Boon title; 1958 - Harlequin published 16 titles (all Doctor-Nurse romances); 1959 - 34 of 54 Harlequin books  were Mills & Boon titles; 1966 - paperbacks represented 50% of Mills & Boon's sales; 1968 - 130 hardback, 72 paperback romances/year; book length restricted to 188-192 pages; glamorous heroines became central element of covers; 1971 - merged with Harlequin; October 1975 - controlling interest in Harlequin Enterprises acquired by Torstar Corporation; mid 1980s - Harlequin Mills & Boon sold about 250 million books worldwide; 2000 - Mills & Boon maintained title of world's leading publisher of romance fiction; published 50 new titles (manuscripts from 200 UK authors, 1,300 worldwide); book sold every 5 seconds within UK.

December 1908 - Mary Baker Eddy founded Christian Science Monitor.

1909 - Conde Montrose Nast, successful advertising executive for Collier's, acquired Vogue (founded 1892, circulation of 14,000, advertising revenues of $100,000); 1913 - acquired House and Garden; 1914 - introduced Vanity Fair; introduced concept of "class publications", targeted groups of readers by income level or common interest (vs. focus on circulation numbers); July 1932 - became one of first magazines to publish cover with color photograph; 1959 - controlling interest acquired by S.I. Newhouse; made part of holding company Advance Publications; 1974 - first cover featured African-American model.

Conde Montrose Nast - Vogue (http://www.brittonbritton.com/images/2206.jpg)

1909 - Angelo Rizzoli founded A. Rizzoli & Compagnia printing and publishing house in Milan, Italy; 1927 - entered publishing; acquired four Italian magazines: Novella, Il Secolo Illustrato, La Donna, Commedia; 1929 - entered book publishing; began publication of Italy's most monumental editorial project, Treccani Encyclopaedia; 1949 - launched Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli (BUR); 1951 - founded Istituto Grafico Rizzoli for teaching graphic arts; 1974 - acquired Corriere della Sera; October 1984 - controlling interest acquired by Generale Mobiliare Interessenze Azionarie (Gemina), investment group; 1987 - acquired Sansoni publishing house; 1990 - acquired Fabbri Bompiani Sonzogno Etas publishing group; 1997 -- spun off as centrepiece of Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali (controlling interest owned by Agnelli family); 2003 - restructured; RCS MediaGroup established.

  Angelo Rizzoli - A. Rizzoli & Compagnia (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/thumb/9/92/Angelo_Rizzoli.jpg/200px-Angelo_Rizzoli.jpg)

1910 - Joyce C. Hall (18) began selling picture postcards in Kansas City, MO; Rollie Hall (brother) joined; business named Hall Brothers; January 11, 1915 - fire destroyed office, inventory; $17,000 in debt; shifted to high-quality valentines, Christmas cards mailed in envelopes (public's desire for more privacy); begin producing greeting cards; 1917 - "invented" modern gift wrap (fancy decorated French envelope linings); sold out so quickly brothers decided to begin printing gift wrap); 1928 - used Hallmark name on back of every card to market brand; 1932 - signed licensing agreement Walt Disney; January 5, 1937 - Joyce C. Hall, of Kansas City, MO, received a patent for a "Rack" ("device of the character whereby cards or the like arranged in vertical rows in the rack may be similarly viewed from the same elevation regardless of vertical position of the cards in the rack"); "Eye-Vision" display made cards easier to shop for; August 27, 1940 - Hallmark Cards Incorporated registered "Hallmark" trademark first used January 25, 1925 (greeting cards); 1954 - company renamed Hallmark Cards, Inc.; 1966 - J. C. Hall (son) became president and CEO; 1982 - Don Hall (grandson) became Chairman.

1911 - Judge Hyman Lazarus assigned task of turning around money-losing Bayonne Times to Samuel Irving Newhouse (17, born Solomon Neuhaus); 1912- completed turnaround; 1922 - acquired Staten Island Advance;  made it profitable; acquired small New York, New Jersey newspapers; 1950 - Portland Oregonian; later added St. Louis Globe-Democrat, New Orleans Times Picayune, Cleveland Plain Dealer; 1959 - acquired Conde Nast; went into magazines, radio, television stations, cable television channels; 1979 - third largest U.S. media chain.

January 25, 1911 - London Daily Herald launched as 'The World' (first newspaper to sell 2 million copies a day); April 15, 1912 - paper renamed;  1964 - renamed The Sun; eventually sold to News Corp.

May 7, 1912 - Columbia University approved plans for awarding Pulitzer Prize in several categories (seat of administration of prizes as specified in Joseph Pulitzer's 1904 will as incentive to journalism excellence); September 30, 1912 - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism opened.

October 1912 - Edgar Rice Burroughs's story that launched Tarzan industry appeared in The All-Story, pulp magazine (15 cents); cover illustration by Clinton Pettee; first story to appear under Burroughs's name.

1913 - NYU Law Professor Charles W. Gerstenberg, student Richard P. Ettinger formed Prentice-Hall (their mothers' maiden names) to publish Gerstenberg'a book, "Materials of Corporation Finance"; 1915 - published first book on taxation in loose-leaf format to respond to colleagues' needs for completely up-to-date information on rapidly changing laws; 1950 - formed first Educational Book Division; 1984 - acquired by Simon & Schuster (Gulf & Western).

Richard P. Ettinger - Prentice-Hall (http://www.theefa.org/assets/images/pg_history_pic.jpg)

January 13, 1913 - Harvard Corporation established Harvard University Press; C.C. Lane first Director (university's publishing agent); January 1, 1920 - Harold Murdock, Boston banker, succeeded Lane; 1949 - bequest from Waldron Phoenix Belknap, Jr. established Belknap Press imprint (modeled on Clarendon Press imprint at Oxford University Press).

July 19, 1913 - Billboard published earliest known "Last Week's 10 Best Sellers among Popular Songs"; Malinda's Wedding Day #1.

December 21, 1913 - New York World published first crossword puzzle;  compiled by Arthur Wynne.

1914 - George H. Scott, Carl S. Fetzer founded Scott & Fetzer Machine Company in barn; produced tools, dies; manufactured flare pistols during WW I; 1925 - produced Vacuette Electric removable handle and nozzle attachment (Jim Kirby vacuum system); 1976 - reorganized (31 to 20 divisions), became marketers rather than manufacturers; sold brand name goods for consumer markets, home improvement market; 1978 - acquired World Book (market leader in direct sales) from Field Enterprises for $50 million; 1984 - World Book had more than 30,000 sales representatives; 1986 - acquired by Berkshire Hathaway for about $320 million (sales of about $700 million).

Carl S. Fetzer - Scott & Fetzer (http://thm-a01.yimg.com/image/dfd02f6b9fd2fa02)

November 7, 1914 - Heiress Dorothy Payne Whitney, her husband, banker and diplomat Williard Straight launched first issue of The New Republic magazine to provide weekly intelligent, opinionated examination of politics, foreign affairs, culture (had recruited Herbert Croly, author of influential 1909 book, 'The Promise of American Life', Walter Lippmann); first issue sold only 875 copies; 1915 - circulation reached 15,000; wartime high sales of 43,000 (operated at loss); 1920 - Lippmann left; 1930 - Croly replaced as editor; 2006 - subscription rate between 45,000 and 60,000.

1915 - Alfred A. Knopf (23) founded publishing business, with nearly $5,000 investment, in one-room office on West 42nd St. in New York; adopted symbol of borzoi as alliterative trademark; first book published - 'FOUR PLAYS' (Emile Augier); 1916 - published 29 books; 1918 - officially incorporated; 1954 - acquired Vintage Books, paperback imprint; April 1960 - acquired by Random House.

1916 - Charles and Albert Boni (Washington Square Bookshop), advertising men Maxwell Sackheim, Harry Scherman founded Little Leather Library Corporation of New York (series of miniature editions of classics for which publisher did not pay any copyright royalties); one of first attempts to mass-market inexpensive books in United States; offered set of 30 imitation leather-bound books at price of $2.98 by mail (headline of ad said "SEND NO MONEY!"); 1920 - marketed over 25 million volumes, many by mail; 1922 - Robert Haas joined original Little Leather Library Corporation; 1926 - Sackheim, Scherman, Haas formed Book-of-the-Month Club to sell books on subscription basis; April 16, 1926 - chose "Lolly Willowes" or "The Loving Huntsman" by Sylvia Townsend as first selection.

February 1916 -- Gustavus D. Crain, Jr. (31) started Crain Communications in Louisville, KY; staff of three people; published 'Class' (renamed 'BtoB'), 'Hospital Management' (for hospital administrators); January 1930 - launched Advertising Age, international newspaper of marketing; June 1971 - acquired Automotive News; 1971 - Pensions & Investment Age launched.

Gustavus D. (G. D.) Crain, Jr. - Crain Communications (http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com/images/abm/images/crain.GIF)

1917 - Hanson-Roach-Fowler Company (J. H. Hanson and John Bellows, former publishers of The New Practical Reference Library) published World Book Encyclopedia  - Organized Knowledge in Story and Pictures (8 volumes, 6,300 pages); Editor in Chief Michael Vincent O'Shea; 1919 - acquired by accountant, W.F. Quarrie & Company; 1929 - first major revision (13 volumes); 1945 - acquired by Field Enterprises, Inc. ; 1947 - second major revision (19 volumes); 1960 - third major revision (20 volumes); 1978 - acquired by Scott Fetzer for $50 million; 1986 - Scott Fetzer acquired by Berkshire Hathaway for about $320 million; 1988 - fourth major revision (new typeface, page design, some 10,000 new editorial features); world’s largest-selling print encyclopedia; 1990 - produced version of encyclopedia on CD-ROM.

1917 - California State Automobile Association created California Motorist magazine to communicate with members; 1918 - extended into Nevada, name changed to Motor Land; offered monthly coverage of cars, attractions plus poster-quality covers that reflected times, club’s work to improve motoring; developed into car-and-travel publication; 1930 - launched popular upcoming events listing; 1950s - switched to bimonthly publication, with color photography; coverage expanded to focus on variety of locations; 1990s - name changed to VIA magazine.

June 4, 1917 - First Pulitzer Prizes awarded for: 1) biography - to Laura E. Richards and Maude Howe Elliott ("Julia Ward Howe"); 2) reporting - to Herbert Bayard Swope of New York World; 3) history - to His Excellency J.J. Jusserand, Ambassador of France to the United States for "With Americans of Past and Present Days."

September 1917 - Bertie Charles Forbes (37), reporter for New York American, Leslie's Weekly, issued 52 page magazine to tell stories of those who ran successful companies, to capture human side of business and finance, magazine about doers, doings; 15 cents per issue, annual subscription of $3; 1964 - Malcolm W. Forbes (son) assumed control.

June 26, 1919 - Joseph Medill Patterson published first edition of New York Daily News, "New York's Picture Newspaper"; 1925 - circulation of 1,000,000.

July 1919 - Alfred Harcourt, Donald Brace founded Harcourt Brace.

1920 - M.R. "Robbie" Robinson founded Scholastic Publishing Company in Pittsburgh, PA; October 22, 1920 - Western Pennsylvania Scholastic debuted, company's first publication; covered high school sports; 1922 - launched The Scholastic, national magazine with literature, social commentary for high school English and history classes; 1923 - launched Scholastic Writing Awards program for high school students (past winners include: Richard Avedon, Frances Farmer, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford); 1948 - launched T.A.B., Teen Age Book Club™ in response to new availability of paperbacks; 1974 - "Dick" Robinson (son) became President of Scholastic Inc.; 1997 - Arthur Levine, Scholastic editor, discovered Harry Potter at Bologna Book Fair (international book fair in Bologna, Italy) at Bloomsbury exhibit (UK publisher) ; September 1998 - bid $105,000 bid for U. S. rights; published Joanne K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone", first book in seven-volume series; world's largest publisher, distributor of children's books.

Dick Robinson - Scholastic (http://www.aepweb.org/images/Photos/HOFRobinson.jpg)

March 26, 1920 - Scribner published "This Side of Paradise" by 23-year-old F. Scott Fitzgerald (named for his ancestor Francis Scott Key); youngest author ever published by Scribner.

1921 - George T. Delacorte founded Dell Publishing.

February 5, 1922 - DeWitt and Lila Wallace published first issue of Reader's Digest; initial run of 1,500 copies; 1929 - circulation of 200,000 and growing; 1933 - began publishing original articles; 1934 - began to condense books; end of 20th century - more than 17 million readers in dozens of countries,  some 20 languages (largest circulation of any publication in world).

March 28, 1922 - Bradley A. Fiske, of Washington, DC, received patent for a "Reading Machine"; microfilm reading device.

July 1922 - Meredith Corporation published "Fruit, Garden and Home" magazine (dime on newsstand, one-year subscription cost 35 cents); 1924 - renamed "Better Homes and Gardens"; 1986 - acquired Ladies' Home Journal magazine.

September 1922 - Council on Foreign Relations, non-profit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to improving understanding of U.S. foreign policy, international affairs through free exchange of ideas, published first issue of quarterly magazine, Foreign Affairs; America's most influential publication on international affairs, foreign policy; original editors: Professor Archibald Cary Coolidge of Harvard (part-time); Hamilton Fish Armstrong; responsible for distinctive format of magazine, choice of special light blue paper cover, logo of man on horse (designed by his sister), lettering (another sister); hands-on operation, no outside referees; 1927 -circulation rose from initial 1500 to 11,000 copies.

October 1, 1922 - Harvard Business School first published Harvard Business Review; editorial project of faculty and students.copies.  

1923 - William Warder Norton, Mary D. Herter Norton (wife) began publishing lectures delivered at People's Institute, adult education division of New York City's Cooper Union; expanded program beyond Institute; acquired manuscripts by celebrated academics from America and abroad.

William Warder Norton, Mary D. Herter Norton  - W.W. Norton (http://media.wwnorton.com/cms/misc/images/the-nortons.jpg)

March 3, 1923 - Henry Robinson Luce, Briton Hadden published first issue of Time The Weekly Newsmagazine; first cover featured Joseph G. Cannon, retired Speaker of United States House of Representatives; September 18, 1928 - Time Inc. registered "TIME" trademark (The Weekly Newsmagazine).

November 19, 1923 - Hearst Corp. published 'American' (New York pape)r; hired Louella Parsons as movie editor (had worked for five years as gossip columnist for The New York Morning Post); engaged in famous decades-long rivalry with fellow gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.  

1924 - Richard Simon, M. Lincoln (Max) Schuster formed  publishing partnership, Simon & Schuster; April 18, 1924 -  published first crossword puzzle book; first printing of 3,600 copies, retail price of $1.35 each (including an attached pencil); phenomenal success; 1925 - first publisher to offer booksellers privilege of returning unsold archetyp market url copies for credit-- practice that revolutionizes book business; 1939 - launched Pocket Books, pocket-sized paperback reprints of classics, bestsellers for $.25; 1944 - Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books acquired by Marshall Field for an estimated $3 million); 1957 - Simon & Schuster acquired by Schuster and Leon Shimkin (equal partner); Pocket Books acquired by Simon & Schuster, Shimkin and James M. Jacobson; 1966 - Max Schuster's shares acquired by Shimkin;  merged Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books; renamed Simon & Schuster, Inc.; 1993 to 1997 - revenues rose from $200 million to more than $2 billion; 1994 - acquired Macmillan Publishing Company; 1998 - Simon & Schuster educational businesses (Education, International, Professional,  Reference Groups) sold to Pearson plc; 2002 - Simon & Schuster is integrated with the Paramount motion picture and television studios as part of Viacom Entertainment Group.

M. Lincoln (Max) Schuster , Richard L. (Dick) Simon - Simon & Schuster (http://simon.worldarcstudio.com/cms/ckfinder/userfiles/images/3150/simonschuster.jpg)

April 15, 1924 - Rand McNally released first comprehensive road atlas, "Auto Chum"; first edition of what becaqme best-selling Rand McNally Road Atlas.

August 5, 1924 - Comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie'' (Harold Gray) made  debut in special pink edition of New York Daily News.

1925 - Bennett Cerf and Donald S. Klopfer, close friend, bought Modern Library imprint, reprints of classic works of literature, from publisher Horace Liveright (Boni and Liveright); 1927 - renamed Random House; 1928 - imprint debut with bound edition of Candide by Voltaire; April 1960 - acquired Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; 1961 - acquired Pantheon Books;  1965 - acquired by Radio Corporation of America; 1973 - acquired Ballantine Books, mass market paperback publisher; 1980 - acquired by Advance Publications, Inc. (Newhouse family); 1982 - acquired Fawcett Books, paperback publisher; 1984 - acquired Times Books from The New York Times Company; 1986 - acquired Fodor's Travel Guides; 1987 - acquired British publishing group (Chatto, Virago, Bodley Head & Jonathan Cape, Ltd.); 1988 - acquired Crown Publishing Group; 1998 - acquired by Bertelsmann AG, German conglomerate.

Bennett Cerf - Random House (http://www.c250.columbia.edu/images/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/ 240x240_bio_cerf.jpg)

February 21, 1925 - Harold Ross partnered with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischman, heir to Fleishmann & Co (New York City), Original Manufacturers, Introducers & Distributors of Compressed Yeast; established F-R Publishing Company; Fleischman as publisher; Ross (editor) and Jane Grant (wife), New York Times reporter, published first issue of The New Yorker magazine; Rea Irvin drew first cover (dandy, named Eustace Tilley, peered at butterfly through monocle; character created for Corey Ford); designed typeface for magazine's nameplate, headlines, masthead above 'The Talk of the Town' section.

Harold Ross - New Yorker (http://graphics.nytimes.com/books/00/01/16/daily/ross.jpg)

April 10, 1925 - ''The Great Gatsby,'' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published.

October 20, 1925 - Clifton Chisholm of Cleveland, OH, received a patent for an "Embossing Machine" ("method of and apparatus for printing embossed printing strips"); assigned to the American Multi-Graph Company.

1926 - William Morrow founded William Morrow and Company; 1931 - control acquired by Francis Thayer Hobson, vice president of Morrow; 1981 - acquired by Hearst Corporation; 1999 - acquired, with Avon Books, by News Corporation (imprints of subsidiary HarperCollins).

January 1926 - Eyre and Spottiswoode published first issue of The Banker; founding editor Brendan Bracken (chairman of Financial Times from 1945-1958).

October 14, 1926 - Children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, first published.

1927 - William B. Ziff , Sr., Bernard G. Davis founded Popular Aviation Company in Chicago; name changed later to Ziff-Davis, Inc.; 1953 -William B. Ziff, Jr (24) took over; 1956 - bought out Davis; developed special interest magazines;  1969 - formed Ziff Communications Company (Ziff-Davis became division); 1984 - consumer magazines generated estimated annual revenues of $140 million; 1982 - acquired PC Magazine; November 20, 1984 - consumer group acquired by CBS Inc. for $362.5 million; November 21, 1984 - business group acquired by Rupert Murdoch for $350 million; 1994 - 95% interest in Ziff-Davis Publishing acquired by Forstmann Little & Co. for $1.4 billion.

William B. Ziff, Sr. - Ziff-Davis (http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2008/04/hall-of-distinguishe-20080422/Ziff%20William.JPG/image_thumb)

1929 - Stuart Chase, F.J. Schlink established Consumer's Research, as monthly magazine; published comparative test results on brand-name products; publicized deceptive advertising claims; September 1935 - 40 employees struck, demanded reinstatement of fired workers, minimum wage of $16 a week; February 1936 - Arthur Kallet, engineer, director of Consumers' Research, Colston Warne, Amherst College economics professor, founded Consumers Union; State of New York granted charter; May 1936 - published first issue of Consumers Union Reports (articles on Grade A, Grade B milk, breakfast cereals, soap, stockings); three-tiered Ratings system (Best Buy, Also Acceptable, Not Acceptable); circulation of 4000; 1942 - magazine name changed to Consumer Reports (served all consumers, not just union members); 1946 - circulation of 100,000; 1950 - circulation nearly 400,000; 1954 - tested first color TV sets (Westinghouse models cost $1,295); 1992 - 5 million paid circulation; 2002 - 1 million paid subscribers; May 2002 - over 800,000 online subscriptions.

Arthur Kallet - Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/images/aboutus/history/ printable/cr16anv09.jpg)

Colston Warne - Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/images/aboutus/history/ printable/colston.jpg)

January 17, 1929 - U.S. cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar created "Popeye"; added character to existing comic strip: 'The Thimble Theatre'; published in New York Journal; became so popular that strip renamed: "Thimble Theater, Starring Popeye".

January 1929 - John R. Fletcher published 'The Official Aviation Guide Of The Airways' in U.S.; listed 35 airlines offering total of 300 flights; 1949 - name shortened to Official Airline Guide; August 14, 1951 - American Aviation Publications, Inc. registered 'Official Airline Guide' trademark first used August 30, 1948 (periodical published once a month); 1962 - acquired by Dun & Bradstreet; December1988 - acquired by Maxwell Communications Corporation for about $750 million; September 1993 - acquired by Reed Elsevier for $417 million (made part of Reed Travel Group); August 1996 - re-launched OAG brand; March 1998 - restructured OAG Worldwide as stand-alone business focused on airline information; July 2001 - OAG acquired by private investors; December 2006 - acquired by Commonwealth Business Media, wholly-owned subsidiary of United Business Media plc.

September 7, 1929 - McGraw-Hill Publishing produced first issue of The Business Week magazine.

1930 - Jerome Irving (J. I.) Rodale moved electrical business from New York City to Emmaus, PA; established Rodale Press, publishing business; 1942 - published 'Organic Farming and Gardening'; 1950 - launched 'Prevention'; 1999 - renamed Rodale Inc.; 2003 - The South Beach Diet became company's first New York Times No. 1 Bestseller; 5 million copies in print by year's end.

J. I. Rodale - Rodale Press (http://c202646.r46.cf1.rackcdn.com/people/robert-rodale/orig_RODALEmed.jpg)

October 1930 - Leslie Boosey, Ralph Hawkes merged Boosey & Company and Hawkes & Son, two well-established English family businesses; named Boosey & Hawkes; 1950 - leading music publisher, major musical instrument manufacturer; 2001 - accounting irregularities discovered, company put up for sale; February 11, 2003 - instrument division acquired by The Music Group; December 2003 - company acquired by HgCapital for £75 million; controlled rights to world-famous composers (Sergei Rachmaninoff,   Benjamin Britten), owned more than 116,000 works of music and dance; April 2008 - acquired by The Imagem Music Group (music publishing fund of Netherlands-based All Pensions Group, CP Masters BV, one of Europe's leading independent music publishers) for approximately £126 million. 

January 13, 1930 - Mickey Mouse cartoon first appeared in newspapers throughout U.S.

February 1930 - First issue of Fortune magazine:184 pages for $1, annual subscription = $10.

1931 - Pat and Bernie Zondervan founded Zondervan as bookselling company in Grandville, MI (had left uncle's business, Eerdmans-Sevensma Bookstore and Publishing Company); 1933 - published first book, 'Women of the Old Testament'; 1941 - added print and audio music to product list; 1988 - became division of HarperCollinsPublishers.

Pat and Bernie Zondervan (http://bks2.books.google.com/books?id=VIJqUM8xBd0C&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk= AFLRE72dnRQDzx56JMz-b8eAE9j7XGL9oR-UwmbjdH6m4oKVUIQuZghyFb1yEzJCjRjydZu5PkmSXr6F539_9niKENM4F0hIDQabqNIq_ cE0oZ5H6inug9uGFueRr1eYkr7KHOO2idNM)

October 4, 1931 - First Dick Tracy comic strip (Chester Gould), appeared in Detroit Mirror (New York Daily News Syndicate).

September 9, 1932 - Harry Evans, founder, first editor, published first issue of Family Circle magazine (backed by Charles E. Merrill, founded Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, founder of Safeway Stores); distributed first issue free in three chain stores; distributed first magazine exclusively through grocery stores; December 1933 - gave magazine away in stores in 31 states, Hawaii (circulation of 80,000); 1939 - circulation close to 1.5 million; 1946 - ceased to be free; April 30, 1971 - acquired by New York Times Company; 2006 - circulation of 5,770,000.

December 1, 1932 - Ukrainian-born U.S. journalist Gershon Agron (originally Agronsky) begandaily publication of English-language Palestine Post; represented Yishuv's cause to British authorities, English-speaking world;  offered news from abroad to population of Yishuv; 1950 - name changed to Jerusalem Post; 1949 to 1951 - Agron presided over Israel's official (government) Information Service; 1955 - Agron elected mayor of Jerusalem (in office until 1959).

Gershon Agron - Jerusalem Post (http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/english/muni/mayors/4.gif)

1933 - Eugene Meyer bought bankrupt Washington Post at auction from Edward McLean.

1933 - Virginia Kirkus, former head of children's book department of Harper & Bros., launched Kirkus book review service.

Virginia Kirkus (left) - Kirkus Reviews (http://ourherstory.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/virginia-kirkus-07dec.jpg?w=825)

February 17, 1933 - Thomas J.C. Martyn, former foreign news editor at Time magazine, published first issue of News-Week; 1937 - merged with Raymond Moley's Today magazine; Malcolm Muir, former president of McGraw-Hill Publishing, took over as president, editor-in-chief; changed name to Newsweek; 1961 - acquired by Washington Post Company; Muir named honorary chairman of the board.

March 31, 1933 - First newspaper in U.S. printed on pine-pulp paper in Soberton, GA; March 31, 1937 - Dallas News first U.S. newspaper printed in color on pine-pulp paper.

May 17, 1933 - David Lawrence produced first issue of United States News  weekly newspaper; 16-page paper devoted primarily to federal government activities in Washington; cost 5 cents; January 5, 1940 - changed format from newspaper to magazine; billed as "the Weekly Newsmagazine of National Affairs"; first issue contained 52 pages; May 23, 1946 - introduced World Report, new weekly magazine devoted entirely to international news; January 16, 1948 - United States News merged with World Report; formed  U.S.News & World Report; combined national, international news coverage; newsstand price 15 cents an issue; 1958 -circulation passed 1 million mark ; 1973 - circulation passed 2 million mark; November 28, 1983 - began annual rankings of American colleges, universities; October 12, 1984 - acquired by publisher, real estate developer Mortimer B. Zuckerman (employee-owned from 1962–1984)

October 1933 - Arnold Gingrich, David Smart (Chicago publisher) founded Esquire (magazine); first issue stories by Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Dashiell Hammett, Bobby Jones on golf, Gene Tunney on boxing.

December 6, 1933 -  Federal judge ruled that 'Ulysses', by James Joyce, was not obscene (had been banned immediately in United States, England when published in 1922 by Sylvia Beach, owner Shakespeare and Co. bookstore in Paris; U.S. Post Office had stopped book's  serialization in 1930); August 7, 1934 - U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against government's attemt to ban 'Ulysses'.

1934 - Roy Thomson bought first newspaper, The Timmons Press (Ontario); 1976 - owned more than 200 newspapers in Canada, United States; April 17, 2008 - acquired by Thomson Corp. for $16.6 billion; renamed Thomson Reuters Corp.

1934 - Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson formed National Allied Publications to publish comic books; February 1935 - published Fun: The Big Comic Magazine No. 1, first comic book with all-new, original material (36 pages, 10 by 15 inches, original adventure and humor strips with all new characters specially drawn; first comic to carry advertising); December 1935 - introduced New Comics, second magazine; became one of longest-running comic books (closed in 1983 after issue #503); 1937 - formed partnership with Harry Donenfeld, pulp magazine published, principal in Independent News (magazine distributorship); March 1937 - published first issue of Detective Comics, third magazine; formed Detective Comics, Inc.; National Allied Publications acquired, at auction, by Donenfeld, Jack S. Liebowitz (Donenfeld's accountant); June 1938 - published first issue of Action Comics (introduced Superman comic strip; first run of 200,000 copies priced at 10 cents; sold 500,000 copies monthly by issue #7); May 1939 - Detective Comics introduced Batman; became a sensation; July 1940 - National Allied Publications merged with Detective Comics, Inc., formed National Comics (used 'DC' for logo); 1944 - acquired All-American Publications (founded in 1938 by Max C. Gaines); later merged National Comics, Independent News, affiliated businesses, formed National Periodical Publications, Inc.; 1961 - went public; 1967 - America's largest comic book publisher; acquired by Kinney National Services (name changed to Warner Communications in 1968; 1976 - name changed from National Periodicals to DC Comics.

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson - DC Comics (http://majormalcolmwheelernicholson.com/LC-B2-56559-10.jpg)

August 13, 1934 - Comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' debuted (by Al Capp, youngest syndicated cartoonist in America); sold to United Features Syndicate; carried by only eight newspapers; 1937 - circulation exceeding 60,000,000; 1977 - strip discontinued.

1935 - Allen Lane founded Penguin; July 30, 1935 - published first Penguin paperback book; August 1935 - first paperbacks sold at sixpence per book (3 million within 12 months).

January 1, 1935 - Wirephoto(tm) by AP News(R) invented; enabled transmission of photographs by wire to member newspapers.

January 4, 1935 - Billboard magazine published first pop-music chart based on national sales figures; "Stop! Look! Listen!", by jazz violinist Joe Venuti, topped chart.

September 1935 - Robb Sagendorph published first issue of Yankee magazine; 613 subscribers (600 turned out to be bogus names provided by  shady subscription service; November 1935 - 5,000 subscribers.

January 1, 1936 - The Herald Tribune of New York began microfilming its current issues; first U.S. newspaper to make current record of its publication (New York Times had microfilmed back-issues for years 1914-27 in 1935).

March 14, 1936 - Federal Register published, under Federal Register Act of 1935; first magazine of U.S. government agencies.

June 1936 - Anne O'Hare McCormick joined editorial staff of The Times; first woman to serve as regular contributor to editorial page.

November 23, 1936 - Henry R. Luce published first issue of  Life magazine ( Margaret Bourke-White photo of Fort Peck Dam on cover); 1972 - ceased as weekly publication; 1978 - revived as monthly; 2000 - suspended publication; 2004 - revived as newspaper supplement; April 20, 2007 - ceased publication.

1936 - Dale Carnegie published "How to Win Friends and Influence People", career self-help manual to get ahead in business: instant hit; has sold over 15  million copies

March 25, 1937 - First perfumed ad appeared in Washington, DC "Daily News."

May 3, 1937 - Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone With the Wind, won Pulitzer Prize; one of best-selling novels of all time; sold 1 million copies within 6 months, more than 12 million copies during next three decades. 

October 17, 1937 - Huey, Dewey and Louie, Donald Duck's three almost identical nephews, first appeared in newspaper comic strip.

February 14, 1938 - Hedda Hopper's first gossip column appeared in Los Angeles Times.

March 1938 - Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster (creators of Superman in 1934) sold first Superman story for $10 per page, all rights to Superman character to DC Comics for $130 (had been rejected by United Features Syndicate, Esquire Features, Bell Syndicate); June 1938 - Superman comic strip premiered in Action Comics #1 (first run of 200,000 copies priced at 10 cents; sold  500,000 copies monthly by issue #7); January 1939 - McClure Syndicate began distributing Superman newspaper comic strip (until 1966); February 12, 1940 - radio series officially debuted.

Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster - Superman (http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:HMFBvjVihJLtjM:http://www.greatkrypton.com/superman/creators.gif)

1939 - Dorothy Schiff, George Backer acquired control of New York Post from J. David Stern; 1942 - became New York's first female newspaper publisher; April 1942 - paper shifted to tabloid, new emphasis on pictures; 1976 - acquired by Rupert Murdoch for reported $31 million.

January 28, 1939 - Elinor Josephine "Cissy" Patterson acquired Washington Herald, Washington Times from Hearst; merged them as Washington Times-Herald; first women to head major daily newspaper.

March 7, 1939 - Glamour magazine began publishing.

April 14, 1939 -  ''The Grapes of Wrath'' by John Steinbeck published.

May 1939 - Bob Kane created superhero Batman; first appeared in Detective Comics #27, comic book division of National Publications (later DC Comics); 1940 - Robin introduced in Detective Comics #38.

June 30, 1940 - Dale Messick's "Brenda Starr" appeared in  Sunday comics of Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate; first woman syndicated comic strip artist in United States.

July 20, 1940 - Billboard magazine published first "Music Popularity Chart" ("Top Ten Singles" record chart); "I'll Never Smile Again", by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (Frank Sinatra sang vocals), first #1 hit; published top sellers list once a week.

April 5, 1940 - Harry Guggenheim acquired assets of S. I. Newhouse's defunct Nassau Daily Journal (Long Island, NY) for about $50,000 (had commissioned study to determine whether second newspaper could compete on Long Island); September 3, 1940 - Alicia Patterson (Guggenheim's wife, daughter of NY Daily news Publisher, Joseph Medill Patterson) started publishing Newsday in makeshift plant in former auto dealership; 1953 - Nassau Review-Star ceased publication.

January 8, 1941 - William Randolph Hearst, owner of Hearst newspaper chain, forbade any of his newspapers from accepting ads for Orson Welles's movie, 'Citizen Kane' (generally interpreted as psychological study of Hearst, portrayed as fictional Charles Foster Kane); March 1941 - Welles threatened to sue Hearst for trying to suppress film, RKO if it failed to release film; May 1, 1941 - film premiered at RKO Palace in New York; became one of most highly regarded films of all time.

May 31, 1941 - Marshall Field III published first issue of "Parade", subtitled "The Weekly Picture Newspaper"; print run of 125,000 copies, sold on newsstands for a nickel; 1942 - PARADE carried by 16 newspapers; 1946 - hired Arthur H. (Red) Motley as president, publisher (held position for nearly 30 years); most widely read magazine in America (circulation of 34 million).

1942 - Melbourne Wesley Cummings, Lew Addison Cummings (no relation) incorporated Addison-Wesley Press (used their middle names to identify new company); 1946 - Mel bought Lew's shares; 1988 - merged with Pearson plc; 1995 - merged with Longman; formed Addison Wesley Longman.

1942 - German emigres Helen and Kurt Wolff, of Kurt Wolff Verlag, founded Pantheon Books in New York.

November 1, 1942 - John H. Johnson used his mother's furniture as collateral for $500 loan;  founded Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., published first issue of NEGRO DIGEST; world's largest African-American-owned and-operated publishing company.

1944 - Walter Annenberg published Seventeen magazine; 1991 - acquired by Primedia company; 2003 - acquired by The Hearst Corporation for $182.4 million.

December 19, 1944 - Hubert Beuve-Méry published first edition of Le Monde at request of General Charles de Gaulle (after German army driven from Paris during World War II); took over offices, plant, gothic masthead, staff members who had not collaborated with Germans, of Le Temps; considered French newspaper of record.

Hubert Beuve-Méry - Le Monde (http://www.freemedia.at/uploads/tx_templavoila/BeuvemeryH.JPG)

1945 - Financial Times merged with Financial News; formed today's modern FT.

March 24, 1945 - Billboard published its first pop-music chart for albums; first No. 1 album was Nat King Cole's King Cole Trio.

November 1945 - John H. Johnson published first issue of Ebony magazine; No. 1 African-American magazine in world.

November 1, 1945 - Official North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, first published under name Chongro.

1946 - Roger W. Straus, John C. Farrar founded Farrar, Straus; 1955- hired Robert Giroux; renamed Farrar, Straus & Giroux; November 1994 - acquired by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck.

Roger W. Straus - Farrar, Straus & Giroux (http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I62001-2004May27)

Robert Giroux - Farrar, Straus & Giroux (http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/giroux.jpg)

1947 - Chicago Sun-Times created by merger of Times and Sun (formed 1941).

January 1948 - Robert Petersen (21) started Hot Rod magazine (with $400 borrowed from friend's wife's boss); promoted custom-designed car show at Los Angeles Armory; sold magazine for 25 cents a copy on sidewalk in front of Armory; 1949 - launched Motor Trend magazine; June 11, 1994 - opened 300,000-square-foot Petersen Automotive Museum ($30 million endowment); 1996 - sold majority interest to in publishing business (three dozen titles, $275 million in annual revenue) to investor group for $450 million.

May 9, 1948 - Les Viahon, three ex-GI friends published first stapled issue of  "Television Forecast" from basement classroom of Abbot Hall on Northwestern University Campus in Chicago; mailed free to television set owners as "programming service"; August 8, 1948 - charged $3.00 per year, first issue distribution was 16,000 booklets; June 14-20, 1948 - Lee Wagner, former lawyer and circulation director for several movie magazines, published first issue of TeleVision Guide in New York; expanded to regional editions for New England, Baltimore-Washington area; November 7, 1948 - Irvin and Arthur Borowsky, commercial printers, published first edition of 8-page TV program guide, "The Local Televiser"; used as promotional piece to increase television sales; name later changed to "TV Digest". 1952 - three publications acquired by Triangle Publications for $1.5 million (TV Digest for $600 thousand; Wagner remained as editor until 1955; served as consultant to company until 1963); April 3, 1953 - first national issue of TV Guide; 1988 - acquired (with rest of Triangle Publications assets) by News Corporation for $3.2 billion.

1949 - Harry N. Abrams organized art book publishing business with $100,000, one employee (Milton Fox); fall 1950 - published first books.

1949 - Walter and Eva Neurath founded Thames & Hudson (rivers flowing through London, New York) publishers; revealed world of art to general public; created 'museum without walls’; made art accessible to broad, non-specialist reading public at prices it could afford.

1949 - Jack Palmer, head of Canadian operations for Curtis Circulating (distributor for Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal), Doug Weld of Bryant Press, Advocate Printers founded Harlequin Books in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as paperback reprinting company; first book: 'The Manatee' (by U.S. author Nancy Bruff) sold for 50 cents; acquired rights from other publishers, published a few original books; mid-1950s - Palmer's 25% interest allocated to Richard Bonnycastle at death; Weld  transferred his interest in unprofitable business (returns, taxes) to Bonnycastle; 1953 - began to publish medical romances; 1957 - acquired North American distribution rights to category romance novels published by Mills and Boon in Commonwealth Nations; 1964 - exclusively published Mills and Boon novels; 1967 - over 78% of sales in Canada, sell-through rate of approximately 85%; 1969 - went public; moved to Toronto, ON; 1970 - contracted with Pocket Books, Simon and Schuster to distribute Mills and Boon novels in United States (terminated in 1976); October 1, 1971 - acquired Mills and Boon; October 1975 - 70% of sales came from United States; 70% interest acquired by Torstar Corporation (owned Canada's largest daily newspaper, Toronto Star); 1980 - Simon and Schuster formed Silhouette Books; Harlequin launched line of America-focused romances (longer, featured American settings, American characters); Dell launched Candlelight Ecstasy (first line to waive requirement that heroines be virginal) - $30 million in sales by 1983; May, 1981 - remaining 30% interest acquired by Torstar Corporation; 1984 - market saturated, Harlequin return rate swelled to 60% (from 25% in 1978); acquired Silhouette; 1992 - 85% share of North American category romance market; 1998 - Germany represented 40% of Harlequin's total European business. global leader in series romance, one of world's leading publishers of women's fiction; 2005 - sold 131 million books (half overseas,  96% outside Canada).

1949 -Ausstellungs- und Messe GmbH des Börsenvereins des Deutschen Buchhandels (AuM subsidiary of German Publishers & Booksellers Association) organized first Frankfurt Book Fair; became biggest, most important fair worldwide for international book, media industry.

May 18, 1949 - Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc. of America incorporated.

June 1, 1949 - Microfilm copies of "Newsweek" magazine first offered to subscribers.

March 16, 1950 - First annual National Book Awards.

June 6, 1950 - Cartoon, "Pepper ...and Salt", made debut in Wall Street Journal (had been proposed by Charles Preston, rejected by editor William Henry Grimes, accepted by Barney Kilgore, managing editor).

September 11, 1950 - U.S.-made typesetter first put on display; no longer based on making metal type (Intertype Fotosetter Photographic Line Composing Machine manufactured by the Intertype Corp. of Brooklyn, NY;  first installation had been made at plant of Stecher-Traung Lithograph Corporation in 1949).

October 2, 1950 - ''Peanuts'', comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, first published in nine newspapers.

March 12, 1951 - ''Dennis the Menace'', by cartoonist Hank Ketcham (about his 4-year-old son), syndicated in 16 newspapers.

April 23, 1951 - Associated Press started using new "teletypesetting" service in Charlotte, NC; used perforated, paper tape to transmit news articles.

1952 - Macmillan (London) formed St. Martin's Press as distributor of Macmillan books; grew rapidly as publisher in its own right; one of seven largest publishers in America; 2000 - St. Martin's Press Scholarly and Reference (US) merged world-wide publishing operations with Macmillan Press (UK); formed Palgrave (relationship dates to Francis Turner Palgrave in 1861); January 2002- reacquired rights to Macmillan name internationally; renamed Palgrave Macmillan.

October-November 1952 - Publisher Bill Gaines, editor Harvey Kurtzman introduced Mad, the comic book; December 1954 - face of Alfred E. Neuman, fictional mascot of EC Publications, debuted on cover of Ballantine's The Mad Reader, collection of reprints from early issues; July 1955 - converted to magazine with issue 24; December 1956 - Neuman became cornerstone character; September 1956 - Al Feldstein took over as editor (Don Martin debuted); early 1960s - acquired by Kinney National Company (subsequently acquired by Warner Bros.); 1974 - circulation grew from 325,000 to high of 2.1 million; 2001 - first accepted advertising.

October 1, 1953 - Hugh Hefner incorporated HMH Publishing Co., Inc.; October 1953 - Rabbit Head logo designed by Arthur Paul. December 1, 1953 - first issue of Playboy magazine (Marilyn Monroe as centerfold); financed with $600 borrowed plus about $8000 from private placement of stock in new company among almost 40 acquaintances.  

1954 - Rupert Murdoch (22) inherited, rescued afternoon newspaper Adelaide News (had learned secrets of building circulation from UK press baron Lord Beaverbrook); 1956 - acquired, built Perth Sunday Times; 1960 - bought network of 24 suburban newspapers in New South Wales, 'Sydney Daily Mirror' (for $4 million), 'Truth' in Melbourne and Brisbane; 1962 - bought major shareholding in Nine Network TV stations; July 14, 1964 - launched national newspaper, The Australian; January 1969 - acquired News of the World (biggest selling English newspaper in world) and The Sun; 1973 - entered US market; acquired San Antonio Express and News from Harte-Hanks; 1976 - acquired New York Post from Dorothy Schiff for $30 million (sold in 1988); acquired Village Voice, New York Magazine for $26 million; 1980 - established News Corporation as global holding company; 1981 - acquired The Times, The Sunday Times from Thomson Group; 1983 - acquired Chicago Sun-Times for $90 million (sold in 1986 for $145 million); 1985 - acquired 20th Century Fox; 1986 - introduced electronic production processes to newspapers in Australia, Britain, United States (reduced number or employees, stifled print unions); 1987 - acquired South China Morning Post, Harper & Row publishers; 1988 - acquired Triangle Publications (TV Guide) from Walter Annenberg for $3 billion; 1989 - launched Sky Television; 1993 - acquired Star Television (satellite service covered southern Asia from Middle East to Japan); October 7, 1996 - launched Fox News Channel; 2005 acquired Myspace.com (lifestyle and social-networking site) for $580 million; December 13, 2007 - completed $5.16 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Company.

1954 - Houstonian Frankie Randolph (heir to Carter lumber estate) bought State Observer (Texas) to cover issues ignored by state’s daily newspapers (race, class, lives of working people); brought in Franklin Jones (owned East Texas Democrat); hired Ronnie Dugger as editor of new Texas Observer; 1994 - transferred ownership to Texas Democracy Foundation, nonprofit organization to publish, promote the Observer.

February 26, 1954 - First typesetting machine (photo engraving) used in  Quincy MA.

March 20, 1954 - First newspaper vending machine used (Columbia PA).

August 16, 1954 - Time Inc. published first issue of Sports Illustrated.

December 1954 - James Parton, Oliver Jensen, Joseph J. Thorndike (all formerly of Life magazine) founded American Heritage magazine; circulation-driven, accepted no advertisements (incompatibility between history and advertising); annual subscription $10 (payable in installments, if need be); published in cloth-bound, hardback volumes, full-color paintings on front; mid-1960s - 400 employees; 1986 - acquired by Forbes; June/July - 2007 - publication suspended.

1955 - Sid Yudain, former press secretary for Congressman Al Morano (CT), founded Roll Call to deliver superior coverage of people, politics, process of Congress (Capitol Hill's newspaper); 1988 - acquired by The Economist Group.

July 1955 - Fortune Magazine published first "Fortune 500".

August 27, 1955 - Norris and Ross McWhirter bound first edition of Guinness Book of Superlatives (sponsored by Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director, Arthur Guinness, Son & Cop., Ltd. to settle arguments throughout 84,000 pubs in Britain and Ireland); 1956 - David A. Boehm obtained publishing rights, Americanized the information, established "The Guinness Book of World Records"; 1989 - re-acquired by Guinness Brewery for $8 million.

Norris, Ross McWhirter - Guinness Book of World Records (http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/lifeandhealth/gallery/2007/nov/08/1/ PD4707050@Mandatory-Credit-Phot-8306.jpg)

October 26, 1955 - "Village Voice" first published.

November 19, 1955 - William F. Buckley, Jr. published first issue of National Review; neoconservative bi-weekly magazine with views, analysis on world's current events.

1956 - Lawrence Hill, Arthur Wang, colleagues at A. A. Wyn, small New York book publisher (Wang as editor, Hill as sales manager), formed Hill & Wang, publishing partnership; took chance on early work of Elie Wiesel, Roland Barthes; December 1971 - acquired by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

1956 - Kathryn G. Messner, ran Julian Messner, independent publishing house in New York, published "Peyton Place" by Grace Metalious, New Hampshire housewife (originally titled "The Tree and the Blossom"); chronicled dark, sexual underside of picture-postcard New England town; sold more than 10 million copies; spawned several movies, television series; title became catchphrase for suburban dysfunction.

October 1957 - Frank Thompson (Thompson Publications, Chicago) published first issue of Research & Engineering ("The Magazine of Datamation"); repositioned Research & Engineering, newly acquired publication, into magazine for fledgling field called information processing (had been proposed by Donald Prell, VP of Application Engineering at Benson-Lehner, Los Angeles computer input-output company; only place to advertise products was Scientific American or Business Week); Charles R. Kluge as editor (left soon thereafter); moved editorial headquarters to Los Angeles; 1958 - created new logo, editorial layout; Sandy Lanzarotta as magazine's first real editor; 1961 - monthly (from semimonthly); 1995 - launched Datamation.com (in partnership with Bolt Beranek and Newman); one of first online publications; February 1998 - final print edition; 2001 - acquired by Internet.com (WebMediaBrands); 2009 - acquired by Quinstreet, Inc.

Timeline 1957-78 (IT industry events left, publication launches right):

(http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/images/res39b.jpg)

May 24, 1958 - United Press International formed through merger of United Press, International News Service.

August 1958 - Cliff Hillegass launched CliffsNotes in Lincoln, NE; line of 16 Shakespeare titles (prompted by Jack Cole, owner of Canada's Coles Notes); sold 18,500 units; 1965 - sold 2 million units; December 1998 - acquired by Hungry Minds, Inc. (formerly IDG Books, Inc.); September 2001 - Hungry Minds, Inc. acquired by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cliff Hillegass - CliffsNotes (http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2001/0105/cliff0507.jpg)

August 4, 1958 - Billboard magazine introduced "Hot 100" chart, list of 100 best-selling pop singles in country; replaced multiple charts previously published (including Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played in Juke Boxes); first song to top Hot 100 list was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson.

1959 - Simon M. Bessie, Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Hiram Hayden (editor At Bobbs-Merrill) founded Atheneum with $1 million from four investors; three No. 1 best-sellers on first three lists published; 1978 - merged with Charles Scribner's Sons.

November 2, 1960 - Penguin Books acquitted of obscenity charge for publishing full text version of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence (book had been published in limited English-language edition in Florence in 1928; expurgated version had been published in England in 1932; full text had been published in New York in 1959).

February 1, 1963 - Jason and Barbara Epstein, Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell, published first edition of New York Review of Books (during New York publishing strike).

1964 - London Daily Herald renamed, re-launched as The Sun.

January 20, 1964 - Time Inc. published first "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue (created by editor Andre Laguerre).

September 1966 - Reed Business Information published first issue of Computer Weekly (Chris Hipwell, publishing director); 7500 readers (15,000 in first year); world's first weekly computer publication; Getting Wired - world's longest running Internet column; Puzzler - Guinness Book of Records as   longest-running magazine puzzle in world; number one online destination for senior IT decision-making professionals.

November 1, 1967 - Jann Wenner, of Straight Arrow Publishers (San Francisco), published first issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine.

February 8, 1969 - Last issue of "Saturday Evening Post" published; started in 1821.

April 7, 1969 - Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

January 1972 - Gloria Steinem founded Ms. Magazine; July 1, 1972 - began publishing monthly.

February 11, 1972 - McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Life magazine canceled plans to publish what turned out to be fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

1974 -15th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica published (first published in 1771); cost more than $32 million, 30 volumes, 43 million words (14th edition published in 1929 - 6 volumes, 6 million words).

1974 - Knight Newspapers merged with Ridder Publications; formed Knight Ridder.

February 27, 1974 - "People" magazine went on sale with March 4, 1974 first issue date.

August 1, 1975 - E.L. Doctorow received $1.85 million for paperback rights to 'Ragtime'; publishing record.

September 1, 1976 - First issue of Wall Street Journal Europe.

February/March 1982 - David Bunnell, editorial director of microcomputer books at Osborne division of McGraw Hill publishing, and Cheryl Woodard, director of marketing and sales, published first issue of PC, magazine, monthly for IBM PC users, from Bunnell's house (backed by software executive Tony Gold, founder of Lifeboat Associates); 96 pages plus cover, 36 ad pages; sold more ad pages in first three issues than budgeted for entire year; fourth issue - print run over 150,000; November 1982 - acquired by Ziff-Davis; became biweekly publication; January 1986 - "Magazine" added to logo; December 6, 1988 - Ziff Communications Company registered "PC Magazine" trademark first used January 5, 1987 (magazines relating to personal computers); 1991 - circulation of more than 800,000, more than $160 million in advertising revenue, tenth-largest U.S. magazine.

September 15, 1982 - Al Neuharth, former chairman and chief executive officer of Gannett Co., founded USA Today with goal of providing colorful alternative to relatively wordy, gray metropolitan papers; widest circulation of any newspaper in United States (average 2.25 million copies every weekday); second world-wide among English-language broadsheets (behind 2.7 million daily paid copies of The Times of India).

Al Neuharth - USA Today (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LLRF0cz7T0U/SVfcHqDi_CI/AAAAAAAAHGU/Y0COQ09vCsc/ s200/AlNeuharthNew.jpg)

1983 - Editor Robert C. Maynard bought Oakland Tribune from Gannett Company in $22 million management-led leveraged buyout; first in U.S. newspaper history; became first major metropolitan newspaper owned by African American.

January 1983 - David Bunnell, Cheryl Woodard (founded PC magazine) published first issue (324-pages) of PC World (announced at COMDEX trade show in November 1982); backed with $2 million in funding from International Data Group (had left PC over ownership dispute with Ziff-Davis); all but 4 of original 52 PC Magazine staffers joined new magazine; covered technology, how people used PCs, campaigned for less repressive software copy protection, launched companion publication, Macworld, to bring same coverage to Apple machines; 1991 - created PC World Test Center to produce monthly rankings of most important products; 2006 - readership of over 4.8 million.

March 21, 1983 - Only known typo on Time Magazine cover (control=contol); all recalled.

March 8, 1985 - Advance Publications acquired 60-year-old New Yorker magazine from Fleischmann family for $168 million.

January 11, 1986 - James Clavell broke records; commanded highest price to date for book rights; William Morrow & Co., Avon Books bid $5 million for hardback, paperback rights to Clavell's novel 'Whirlwind'.

March 5, 1986 - "Today" tabloid launched (Britain's first national color newspaper).

1989 - Second edition of Oxford English Dictionary published.

January 31, 1990 - "National" began publishing; first ever all-sports daily; Frank Deford (formerly of Sports Illustrated) as editor; June 13, 1991 - ceased publication.

July 27, 1991 - TV Guide published 2000th edition.

July 2, 1992 - Theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawkings, broke British publishing records; 'A Brief History of Time' on nonfiction bestseller list for 3 1/2 years; sold more than 3 million copies in 22 languages; explained latest theories on origins of universe in language accessible to educated lay people.

August 17, 1993 - Random House gave Colin Powell largest autobiography advance to date ($6 million); immediate bestseller, fastest-selling book in Random House history; boosted initial print run from 500,000 to 1.25 million.

March 7, 1994 - Supreme Court ruled that parodies that poke fun at  original work can be considered "fair use" that doesn't require permission from copyright holder.

August 1, 1994 - Alfred A. Knopf reported to have paid Pope John Paul II record-breaking $8.75 million advance for new book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope"; collection of essays addressed moral and theological questions; one of fastest selling books in 1995 (previous record set when Random House paid Army General Colin Powell some $6 million for autobiography, "My American Journey"). 

February 19, 1997 - Detroit News and Detroit Free Press accepted offer from six unions to end 19-month strike (had begun on July 13, 1995 when failed contract talks prompted about 2,000 union newspaper workers to walk out, picket); announced plan to return former strikers to work.

June 11, 1998 - News Corp., parent company of TV Guide, signed $2 billion deal to merge magazine with Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), owner of Prevue Channel, program guide for cable television; intended to become cross-platform force in rapidly converging communications industry.

October 12, 1998 - U.S. Congress passed Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

January 3, 2000 - Last daily 'Peanuts' comic strip published in 2,600 newspapers (Charles Schulz retired; strip had first appeared in October May 1950).

2004 - Market share of UK national newspapers:

1 - Associated Newspapers - Mail (4.3m)

2 - Express Newspapers (2.6m)

3 - Financial Times (102,795)

4 - Guardian newspapers (676,027)

5 - Independent Newspapers (331,946)

6 - News International - Times/Sun (8m)

7 - Scotsman Publications (136,431)

8 - Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail (1.04m)

9 - Sport Newspapers (153,418)

10 - Telegraph Group (823,626)

11 - Trinity Mirror (4.2m) 

*Source: ABC average total circulation, 3-30 May 2004

July 16, 2005 - Sixth title in Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", set new world record for first printing; 10.8 million copies hit stores.

March 7, 2006 - Alan Greenspan, former chairman of Federal Reserve Board, sold memoirs to Penguin Press (an imprint of Pearson PLC) for reported $8.5 million; second-largest advance ever for nonfiction writer (former President Bill Clinton had received estimated advance of $10 million from Alfred A. Knopf in 2001 for 2004 memoir "My Life"; Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had  received an estimated $8 million advance from Simon & Shuster for her 2003 memoir "Living History; Pope John Paul II had received an estimated advance between $6 - $7 million in 1994 for his book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope").

March 12, 2006 - Knight Ridder (second largest newspaper company in U.S., $3 billion in sales, 16.4% operating profit margin, publisher of 32 daily newspapers) agreed to be acquired for about $4.5 billion by the McClatchy Company ($1.2 billion in revenue, 22.8 % operating profit margin, publisher of 12 dailies; Times Mirror Co. had acquired Tribune company for $8 billion in 2000.

May 2006 - 1,000th issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

August 4, 2006 - More than 40% of Forbes Media LLC (Forbes magazine, Forbes.com) acquired by Elevation Partners ($1.9 billion private equity group) for $200-300 million; first time Forbes family raised significant amount of capital from outside source.

November 16, 2006 - Reader's Digest Association Inc. announced it agreed to be purchased by Ripplewood Holdings LLC, other investors for about $2.4 billion.

November 17, 2006 - John Wiley agreed to pay £572m to acquire Oxford, UK-based Blackwell Publishing (825 journals, backlist of 6,000 books); created publisher of 1,250 scholarly journals (scientific, technical, medical, social sciences, humanities), extensive range of academic books.

December 22, 2006 - Houghton Mifflin acquired by Riverdeep Holdings, Limited for approximately about $3.5 billion from affiliates of private investment firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners, The Blackstone Group, management; name changed to Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group PLC (had been acquired in 2001 by Vivendi Universal, French media firm, for $1.66 billion; had been acquired in 2002 by Thomas H. Lee, Bain Capital, Blackstone for approximately $1.7 billion).

May 15, 2007 - Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters Group (16,000 employees in 94 countries) for about $17.2 billion; renamed Thomson-Reuters; 34% share of market for financial data.

July 21, 2007 - Bloomsbury PLC, British publisher of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy series, announced that seventh, final volume sold record 2.65 million copies in United Kingdom in first 24 hours ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" had sold 2 million in first day of release in 2005); Barnes & Noble, Inc. reported all-time sales, 1.8 million copies purchased in first two days (560,000 in first hour, rate of more than 150 copies per second); Random House Audio's Listening Library sold 225,000 copies in first two days; Scholastic Inc. sold 8.3 million hardcovers in United States during first 24 hours; easily broke old high of 6.9 million for "Half-Blood Prince").

December 13, 2007 - Rupert Murdoch (News Corp.) completed  $5.16 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Company; ended 105-year control by Bancroft family.

January 2, 2008 - Market value of independent, publicly traded American newspaper companies fell from $23 billion (42%) since end 2004:

(source: Henry Blodget, Silicon Alley Insider)