American science fiction and fantasy magazines flourished from the mid- 1920s to the 1940s. The first magazine to focus on fantasy and horror was Weird Tales, launched in 1923, which established itself as the leading weird fiction magazine over the next two decades, with regular contributors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard. In 1926 Hugo Gernsback's Amazing Stories appeared (pictured), running only science fiction. Its letters column, which often provided contact information, marked the beginning of organized science fiction fandom. Astounding Stories of Super-Science, founded in 1930, became the leading magazine in its genre, publishing early classics such as Murray Leinster's "Sidewise in Time". John W. Campbell took over as editor in 1937 and ran works by Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and A. E. van Vogt. Only eight science fiction and fantasy magazines survived World War II, with all but Astounding still in pulp magazine format.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_US_science_fiction_and_fantasy_magazines_to_1950
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1787:
German-born British astronomer William Herschel discovered two Uranian moons, later named by his son as Oberon and Titania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titania_%28moon%29
1923:
Troops from France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr to force the German Weimar Republic to pay its reparations in the aftermath of World War I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Ruhr
1964:
In a landmark report, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the warning that smoking may be hazardous to people's health, concluding that it has a causative role in lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and other illnesses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_and_Health:_Report_of_the_Advisory_Committee_to_the_Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States
2003:
After Chicago police detective Jon Burge was discovered to have forced confessions from more than 200 suspects, Governor of Illinois George Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 prisoners and pardoned 4 more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ryan
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
blotto: (informal) (Very) drunk or intoxicated. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blotto
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Not the individual man nor a single generation by its own power can erect the bridge that leads to God. Faith is the achievement of many generations, and effort accumulated over many centuries. … There is a collective memory of God in the human spirit, and it is this memory which is the main source of our faith. --Abraham Joshua Heschel https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel