Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Astounding Science Fiction, also edited by Campbell; many authors and illustrators contributed to both. Campbell wanted to publish a fantasy magazine with more finesse and humor than Weird Tales, the leading fantasy magazine in the 1930s. Campbell required his authors to avoid simplistic horror fiction and insisted that the fantasy elements be developed logically. Notable stories included several well-received novels by L. Ron Hubbard and Fritz Leiber's "Two Sought Adventure", the first in his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series. Unknown was forced to a bimonthly schedule in 1941 by poor sales, and cancelled in 1943 when wartime paper shortages forced Campbell to choose between turning Astounding into a bimonthly or ending Unknown. The magazine is generally regarded as the finest fantasy fiction magazine ever published, despite the fact that it was not commercially successful.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unknown_%28magazine%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
Construction began on the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the official residence of the king of Thailand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace
1937:
The German airship Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed (newsreel featured) during an attempt to dock at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, killing 36 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg
1941:
American entertainer Bob Hope performed his first show with the United Service Organizations, beginning a career that lasted 50 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hope
2010:
Exacerbated by high-frequency traders using strategies that have since been banned, major U.S. stock indices dropped nearly 9 percent and quickly rebounded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_flash_crash
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
staid: 1. Not capricious or impulsive; sedate, serious, sober. 2. (rare) Always fixed in the same location; stationary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/staid
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we judge by wealth and power, our times are the best of times; if the times have made us willing to judge by wealth and power, they are the worst of times. --Randall Jarrell https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Randall_Jarrell