History of The New York Times

The first issue of The New York Times is released.

Sep 18, 1851

• It began with, “We Publish today the first number of The New York Daily Times, and we intend to issue it every morning (Sundays excepted) for an indefinite number of years to come” (Davis 21).
• The paper consisted of 4 pages, 6 columns, each (Davis 23).
• Single-column headlines were the rule then, as the descriptive headline had not yet been invented (Davis 24).
• The cost was one cent (Davis 27).
• The founders were Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (New York Times Company).
  

Raymond Rotham writes the first theater review for The Times (New York Times Chronology).

Sep 11, 1852

The first year of The Times is reviewed.

Sep 18, 1852

• Raymond said “it had been immeasurably more successful, in all respects, than any newspaper of a similar character ever before published in the U.S.” (Davis 26).
• The Times had not yet paid its way. $50,000 was spent for mechanical equipment, $40,000 was spent for paper, $25,000 for the wages of the mechanical and business departments, $13,000 on correspondents, editors, and reporters (Davis 26).

Image: Henry Jarvis Raymond

More reviews of the first year.

Sep 18, 1852

• Raymond, as editor, received a salary of $2,500 a year (Davis 27).
• The circulation at the end of the year was more than 26,000 (Davis 26).
• The small size of the paper restricted the space available for advertising, so rates were accordingly high. Advertisers saw no reason to pay extra when they could reach as many readers for less money in the Tribune, Sun or Herald (Davis 26).

The second year of The Times is reviewed.

Sep 18, 1853

• The Times doubled its size and price, going up to two cents a copy (Davis 27).
• The extra pages gave room not only for more advertising, but for more news, and before long, a loss in circulation had been more than made up ( Davis 27).

After 6 years, The Times claims a circulation of 40,000 (Davis 27).

Sep 18, 1857

The Times starts publishing Sunday issues in response to the thirst for Civil War News (New York Times Company).

Apr 21, 1861

The Times, as a leading member of the Associated Press, arranges for the agency to be the official receiver of all war news from the government (New York Times Company).

Nov 21, 1861

• Before, the government had dispensed news to a few favored organs. (New York Times Company).

The Times publishes its first illustrations (New York Times Company).

Dec 11, 1861

• They were front-page cartoons of Henry Jarvis Raymond's rival, James Gordon Bennett, publisher of The Herald (New York Times Company).

Henry Jarvis Raymond dies suddenly (New York Times Company).

Jun 18, 1869

• George Jones takes over as publisher (New York Times Company).

Image: George Jones

18 years later, The Times hires their first female reporter (New York Times Chronology).

Sep 18, 1869

Maria Morgan is the first female reporter to occupy a desk in The Times newsroom, where she's assigned to stock news, horse shows, and racing (New York Times Chronology).

The Times begins publishing the first of three supplements written in Spanish (New York Times Chronology).

Mar 25, 1878

29 years later, the relationship between newspapers and advertisers changes (Schudson 93).

Sep 18, 1880

-Thanks in part to the growth of department stores and the development of brand names and trademarks by national manufacturing concerns, business demand for advertising space accelerated. The ratio of editorial matter to advertising in the newspaper changed from about 70-30 to 50-50 or lower. Advertising revenue represented 44% of total newspaper income in 1880 (Schudson 93).

Charles Ransom Miller becomes editor in chief (New York Times Company).

Apr 13, 1883

• He goes on to write many of the paper's most famous and controversial editorials until his death in 1922 (New York Times Company).

George Jones, co-founder and publisher, dies (New York Times Company).

Aug 12, 1891

Image: George Jones

After 40 years, the weekly price is raised to three cents (New York Times Company).

Dec 18, 1891

• This was an effort to offset the expense of rebuilding its offices (New York Times Company).
• It caused circulation to drop (New York Times Company).

Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of The Chattanooga Times, acquires controlling ownership of The Times for $75,000, nearly all of it borrowed (New York Times Company).

Aug 18, 1896

• He installs himself as publisher (New York Times Company).
• The circulation becomes 9,000 (New York Times Company).

Ochs announces his newspaper policies in The Times (Schudson 110).

Aug 19, 1896

An illustrated Sunday magazine begins, carrying the newspaper's first photographs (New York Times Company).

Sep 6, 1896

The phrase, “All the news that’s fit to print” first appears on the editorial page (New York Times Company).

Oct 25, 1896

Within months, on February 10, 1987, the phrase moved to the first page (New York Times Company).

46 years after its first issue, The Journalist praises The Times (Schudson 107).

Sep 18, 1897

• “It has lived up to its motto of ‘All the news that’s fit to print,’ and the great cultivated, well-to-do class do not want anything beyond that. As an advertising medium for good goods it is steadily growing in value. It may not have so large a number of readers as some of its less conservative contemporaries, but its readers represent more dollars, which, after all, is what the advertiser is after,” (Schudson 107).

The price of the daily paper is lowered back to one cent (New York Times Company).

Oct 10, 1898

• Circulation rises to 76,000 (New York Times Company).
• Advertising revenues soar (New York Times Company).

The Times receives the first on-the-spot wireless transmission from a naval battle (New York Times Company).

Apr 13, 1904

• It was a report of the destruction of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Port Arthur in the Yellow Sea during the Russian-Japanese war (New York Times Company).

FUN FACT (New York Times Chronology).

Dec 31, 1906

• Ever wonder how the ball dropping in Times Square came about? On this date, Ochs dropped an illuminated globe from the top of his new building, Times Tower in Times Square on New Year's Eve. This public relations innovation marked it as the beginning of an annual ritual (New York Times Chronology).

First air delivery of The Times goes to Philadelphia (New York Times Company).

Jun 14, 1910

The Times wins its first Pulitzer Prize (New York Times Company).

Jun 3, 1918

• The award was for public service in publishing the texts of dozens of official reports, documents and speeches about World War I (New York Times Company).

First trans-Atlantic delivery by air of The Times goes to London (New York Times Company).

Jul 9, 1919

The Times installs its own wireless receiving station at 43rd Street (New York Times Company).

Feb 9, 1920

• Within a few years it will have the world’s most extensive wireless news-gathering operation (New York Times Company).

Image: The Times' wire room

The first radio photo appears in The Times (New York Times Company).

May 1, 1926

• It was transmitted from London and showed a dinner honoring the retiring viceroy of India. It ran at the top of page 1, under a headline heralding the technological advance (New York Times Company).
  

Adolph S. Ochs dies (New York Times Company).

Apr 8, 1935

Ochs’ son-in-law, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, becomes publisher (New York Times Company).

May 7, 1935

Crossword puzzles begin as a feature of the magazine (New York Times Company).

Feb 15, 1942

Image: First crossword puzzle

After 94 years of existence, The Times hires its first African American reporter, George Streator (New York Times Chronology).

Sep 18, 1945

The Times introduces an editorial change announcing they will no longer refer to the race of persons suspected of a crime unless race is relevant to the story (New York Times Chronology).

Aug 11, 1946

The first monthly weather chart is published (New York Times Company).

Feb 2, 1949

The Times introduces an international edition (New York Times Company).

Jun 20, 1949

• It is produced in New York and airmailed to Paris for publication a day later. Starting in 1960, it will be set by teletype for same-day publication (New York Times Company).
  

The daily crossword puzzle is introduced (New York Times Company).

Sep 11, 1950

Arthur Hays Sulzberger steps down as publisher after 26 years (New York Times Company).

Apr 25, 1961

• His son-in-law Orvil E. Dryfoos is named to succeed him (New York Times Company).
  

Image: Orvil E. Dryfoos

Orvil E. Dryfoos dies (New York Times Company).

May 25, 1963

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger is named publisher (New York Times Company).

Jun 20, 1963

Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher from 1935-1961, dies (New York Times Company).

Dec 11, 1968

The Op-Ed page makes it debut opposite the editorial page (New York Times Company).

Sep 21, 1970

The Times begins publishing a "Correction" box directly under the news summary and index (New York Times Chronology).

Jun 2, 1972

• It is for stories previously reported with factual errors (New York Times Chronology).

Within this month, the computer age arrives in the newsroom (New York Times Company).

Dec 1, 1974

• Reporters and editors begin using the video terminal, described in the employee magazine as a "television screen attached to an electric typewriter keyboard," (New York Times Company).
  

With the debut of Weekend, The Times publishes its first four-section daily paper (New York Times Company).

Apr 30, 1976

• Other free-standing feature sections followed over the next two years including: SportsMonday, Science Times, Living and Home (New York Times Company).
  

News and advertising columns are widened (New York Times Company).

Sep 6, 1976

The Business Day section makes its debut (New York Times Company).

May 17, 1978

The Times begins abandoning hot metal type, set by Linotype operators, in favor of "cold type," set on computers (New York Times Company).

May 26, 1978

Image: A Times linotype operator

The Times begins publishing a national edition (New York Times Company).

Aug 18, 1980

• Pages are transmitted by satellite to printing presses in Chicago. Trucks and planes distribute it from there. Eventually The Times will be printed at plants around the country (New York Times Company).

The Times introduces an "Editor's Note" (New York Times Chronology).

Mar 4, 1983

• It is positioned under the "Correction Box" for stories that were factually correct but may have been misleading and unclear requiring clarification (New York Times Chronology).

The Sunday paper weighs in at a record 12 pounds, with 1,612 pages (New York Times Company).

Sep 13, 1987

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher since 1963, steps down at age 65 (New York Times Company).

Jan 16, 1992

• The job passes to his son, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., 40 (New York Times Company).

Image: Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

Full color is first used in the Book Review (New York Times Company).

Jun 6, 1993

• Other Sunday sections – Travel, Arts and Leisure, and Real Estate – soon follow (New York Times Company).
  

The business section is redesigned and expanded (New York Times Company).

Mar 14, 1995

The Times goes on the Web – NYTimes.com (New York Times Company).

Jan 19, 1996

• This gives readers anywhere in the world access to the newspaper's articles and pictures on the night of publication (New York Times Company).
  

The first color picture appears on page 1 (New York Times Company).

Oct 16, 1997

• The picture was of Tony Fernandez, whose 11th-inning home run propelled the Cleveland Indians into the World Series (New York Times Company).

The largest weekday Times, at 174 pages, is published (New York Times Company).

Apr 19, 2000

The Times continues its national expansion (New York Times Company).

Apr 2, 2002

• There is a significantly enlarged and enhanced national edition, including Dining In/Dining Out, House & Home and a new Friday section, Escapes (New York Times Company).

The Times relaunches the SundayBusiness section (New York Times Company).

Apr 18, 2004

The Times relaunches the Real Estate section (New York Times Company).

Jun 6, 2004

The Times relaunches the Book Review and Culture sections (New York Times Company).

Oct 3, 2004

The Times relaunches the Travel section (New York Times Company).

Dec 5, 2004

The Times expands editorial pages (New York Times Company).

Apr 10, 2005

The Times introduces Thursday Styles (New York Times Company).

Apr 14, 2005

The International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times, joins forces with The Times on the Web to create a new online Global Edition (New York Times Company).

Mar 30, 2009

• The Global Edition combines the international voice of the IHT with the worldwide breadth of reporting of The Times and the digital expertise of NYTimes.com (New York Times Company).

The Times launches Metropolitan (New York Times Company).

May 24, 2009

• It is a new section appearing in the Sunday edition with narrative profiles, reported essays and innovative storytelling about New York and its suburbs (New York Times Company).