3 March: Time Magazine

On this date in 1923 Time magazine was first published. 10 facts about it:

1. Time Magazine was the first weekly magazine to be published in the United States, created by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden.

2. It’s original name was Facts, because it was intended to be straight and to the point.

3. The magazine has had a characteristic Red border since 1927, although on occasion the border is silver, Green or Black to commemorate special events like 9/11 or Earth Day.

4. The person who has featured on the cover most often is former US president Richard Milhous Nixon, who has appeared 55 times.

5. There have been five occasions where the cover picture has been covered with a red X. This was when enemies of the United States got their comeuppance, for example, Hitler in 1945, Osama bin Laden in 2011 and Saddam Hussein in 2003.

6. Europe, Asia and the South Pacific all have their own versions of Time Magazine, covering news in their regions. Time Europe, published in London, Time Asia based in Hong Kong and The South Pacific edition, based in Sydney, respectively.

7. There has been one occasion when the word Time didn’t appear on the cover. The November 2, 2020, issue of the U.S. edition used the word "VOTE" instead.

8. Writer Evelyn Waugh was once included in a list called ‘’100 Most Read Female Writers in College Classes’’ list in error.

9. The Person of the Year feature is not an endorsement of the person or entity featured but rather an acknowledgement that this was the person or thing which had the most influence on world events. Hence people like Hitler and Stalin have been featured. Almost every US president has featured, usually in the year they get elected. The exceptions are Calvin Coolidge (in office at the time of the first issue), Herbert Hoover (the subsequent president), and Gerald Ford (the only president never to have been elected to the office of president or vice president). Until 1999 the feature was known as Man of the Year. The first Man of the Year was Charles Lindbergh; the first Person of the year was Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com.

10. Only four women received the title before 1999, including Wallis Simpson (1936) and Queen Elizabeth II (1952). The most recent recipient at time of writing was Taylor Swift in 2023. Sometimes objects or concepts are chosen rather than an individual. In 1982, it was “the computer”, in 1988, the Endangered Earth, and in 2022, the Spirit of Ukraine. In 2006 it was “You” in honour of all the people who contribute to websites like YouTube and Wikipedia, often anonymously.