Several loyalists and purists of newspapers look out for crossword puzzles every single day. Some dailies like The New York Times are even singularly famous for their puzzles. But who published the first-ever crossword puzzle book on this very day back in 1924?
It was none other than Simon and Schuster. Although the puzzle itself had been introduced much earlier, it was these publishers who were responsible for causing the birth of a larger craze among the American public. In 1924, Richard Simon, who was one of the company's founders, was asked by his aunt if there were any books on crossword puzzles. Finding that there were none, Max Schuster and he decided to pool $8,000 (equivalent to $126,000 today) to start the company. The first-ever crossword book came with an attached pencil as well. Needless to say, people were soon hooked to the practice.
No news here!
With telecommunication and the internet being in their heydays today, it is nigh on impossible to imagine what a slow news day would be like today.
But 92 years ago, even the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) had to admit defeat to a lean day with regard to happenings of the day. On this day back in 1930, a news anchor of UK's national broadcaster BBC had nothing to communicate and hence, said, "There is no news", as the script for the 20.45 news bulletin.
Instead of the daily affairs, piano music was played for the rest of the 15-minute segment. People were still relying on radio for the major entertainment and information of the day as television broadcasts were six years in the distance. A wholly different time indeed!
