Between 1952 and 1954, John Raymond published three science fiction magazines and a fantasy magazine. Raymond, an American publisher of men's magazines who knew little about science fiction, hired Lester del Rey to edit the digest-size magazines. Space Science Fiction and Science Fiction Adventures appeared in 1952, followed by Rocket Stories, which targeted a younger audience, and Fantasy Magazine (pictured), which published fantasy rather than science fiction. All four were profitable, but Raymond did not reinvest the profits into the magazines, and paid contributors late. When del Rey discovered that Raymond was planning to cut rates, he resigned. Two of the magazines continued briefly with Harry Harrison as editor, but all ceased publication by the end of 1954. The magazines are well-regarded by science fiction historians, and carried fiction by many writers well known in the field, or who would later become famous, including Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Robert E. Howard, and John Jakes.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Raymond_science_fiction_magazines
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: George Washington led a Continental Army column across the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack against Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton (painting shown). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trenton
1898:
At the French Academy of Sciences, physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium
1919:
American baseball player Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to their rivals, the New York Yankees, beginning the 84-year-long "Curse of the Bambino". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth
1943:
Second World War: The German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk at the Battle of the North Cape during an attempt to attack Arctic convoys. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_North_Cape
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
tower of silence: (Zoroastrianism) A low, cylindrical, open-topped tower where Zoroastrians place the bodies of deceased people to disintegrate from exposure and consumption by carrion birds such as vultures, the remaining bones being kept in an ossuary; a dakhma. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tower_of_silence
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Men are more or less reconciled to the thought of death, but they also know that it is not necessary to kill one another. They know it intermittently, just as they know other things which they conveniently proceed to forget where there is danger of having their sleep disturbed. To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in. But man refuses to stay awake because if he did, he would be obliged to become something other than he now is, and the thought of that is apparently too painful for him to endure. --Henry Miller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Miller