On December 6, Stilson Hutchins launched his "Democratic daily journal," which he named The Washington Post. Volume 1, Number 1 was four pages on rag paper. more...
The Post absorbed the National Union and moved into its rival's building at 330 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
The same year, the newspaper hired its first female reporter, Calista Halsey.
The Post announced its acquisition of "one of Hoe's new printing machines, capable of turning off both sides of the paper at one impression..." more...
Presses
The Post became the first daily newspaper in Washington to publish seven times a week, sounding the death knell for the Sunday weeklies. more...
The Old Dominion also got a Post office — a bureau in Richmond.
The Post's big, beautiful new building was destroyed by fire but was quickly repaired and enlarged. In 1966, this one-time Post home fell to the wrecker's ball to make room for the new FBI building.
The Post absorbed another old rival, the National Republican. more...
"The Washington Post March" was on the program of The Post's Amateur Authors Association awards event for its public schools essay contest. more...
Post March
The Post moved again — to a Gothic-Romanesque structure at 1339 E Street, NW, directly fronting on Pennsylvania Avenue. The paper finally installed a battery of 10 linotypes.
1890s
1893
Frank Hatton died. His wife sold their Washington Post stock to copublisher Beriah Wilkins.
The Post's coverage of the Spanish-American War is remembered best, perhaps, for Clifford K. Berryman's illustration "Remember the Maine."
Handset Headlines
Beriah Wilkins died and was succeeded at The Post by his Princeton-educated sons, John and Robert.
John R. McLean, owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, purchased a controlling interest. Shortly thereafter, John Wilkins sold his interest, putting the entire newspaper under McLean's ownership.
Newspaper Rolls
Bundling Newspapers
Edward B. (Ned) McLean became sole owner/publisher of The Washington Post upon his father's death. Between 1916 and 1933, he managed to dwindle Post circulation to 51,534 - one third of which was taken to be padding on the books for records' sake.
The Post began publishing the work of a young cartoonist named Herbert L. Block, who became known as "Herblock." more...
1930s
1933
On June 1, Eugene Meyer bought The Washington Post at public auction for $825,000. more...
Editor Felix Morley and George B. Parker won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing - The Washington Post's first major journalism award.
1933
1930s
The Post scolded the Daughters of the American Revolution for denying the use of Constitution Hall for a concert by Marian Anderson.
Ten years after Eugene Meyer purchased The Post, circulation was 165,000 — more than triple its 1933 figure. Advertising lineage also has tripled — from 4 million lines to 12 million.
1940s
1950s
Philip L. Graham, Eugene Meyer's son-in-law, stepped up from assistant publisher to publisher of The Post, where he would serve until 1961. more...
Benjamin C. Bradlee joins The Post as a reporter and stays on until 1951. more...
Meyer and Truman
1950
The Post moved uptown to 1515 L Street, NW. more...
The Post acquired its biggest prize to date: The Times-Herald, which was purchased for $8,500,000 and merged with The Post on St. Patrick's Day becoming the only morning paper in the city. more...
1954
1954
Upon the death of Eugene Meyer, Philip L. Graham became president and publisher of the newspaper.
Philip Graham purchased Newseek Magazine for The Washington Post Company.
1960s
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times established their joint news service of which each holds 50 percent.
Katharine Graham, daughter of Eugene Meyer and a former Post reporter, returned to the newspaper as its president upon the death of her husband, publisher Phil Graham.
Benjamin C. Bradlee became executive editor.
The Post launched STYLE, replacing the traditional FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN section. The brainchild of Ben Bradlee, the section debuted on Monday, January 6.
The Washington Post became one of the first newspapers in the country to appoint an "ombudsman" on its news staff. In addition to being the readers' advocate, The Post's ombudsman monitors and comments upon the media in general and The Washington Post in particular.
On June 18, The Washington Post began publishing excerpts of the so-called Pentagon Papers containing allegedly secret information about the war in Vietnam. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of The Post and other newspapers to publish the Pentagon papers.
Donald E. Graham, joined The Post staff, working in nearly every department over the next four years.
1970s
In the early morning hours of June 16, Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, along with several other Post reporters and editors, followed up on what seemed like a routine burglary. more...
Katharine Graham was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Washington Post Company while continuing as publisher of The Washington Post newspaper. more...
The Washington Post launched thre new weekly zoned sections, the Maryland, District and Virginia Weeklies. more...
After working at The Post in various editorial, production and executive capacities, Donald E. Graham, Katharine Graham's son, was appointed executive vice president and general manager of the newspaper.
The Washington Post celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. The newspaper's Sunday supplement, Potomac Magazine, became "The Washington Post Magazine," and a new Friday tabloid section, "Weekend," was begun.
Donald Graham became publisher of The Post, succeeding his mother, who retained her corporate positions of chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company.
On April 14, The Washington Post began publishing each Monday, a financial tabloid section called "Washington Business." The new section added approximately 15 columns of news and tables to the Monday business and finance pages which it replaced. more...
New Platemaking Process more...
The Post began publishing "Washington Home" on May 20. The weekly tabloid section was devoted to the home, inside and out, and featured topics ranging from decorating to making repairs; purchasing antiques or new furniture; or landscaping a garden, among others.
The Washington Post National Weekly edition was launched on November 7. It provides readers nationwide with access to The Post's daily coverage of government, politics, the economy and diplomatic affairs. The daily Post has been specially edited and redesigned in a weekly tabloid format for a national audience.
The October 9 edition of The Post was redesigned to emphasize clarity, placement and reader ease. This was the first complete redesign of the paper in fifty years.
In January, The Post began publishing the country's first newspaper section devoted entirely to health. Titled "Health," the tabloid covers a broad range of health-related subjects, including medicine, fitness and psychology.
In February, The Post launched Post-Haste a new, free telephone service that provides a wide variety of information to callers. more...
Donald Graham was named chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, while his mother retained her corporate position of chairman of the board. His new responsibilities were in addition to his continuing as publisher of The Washington Post newspaper.
Leonard Downie, Jr. became executive editor.
Donald Graham became chairman of the board of The Washington Post Company, while also retaining his responsibilities as chief executive officer. more...
Presses
In May, The Washington Post announced plans to purchase eight new offset presses from Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses, U.S.A. more...
In June, Digital Ink Co. launched The Washington Post´s website, washingtonpost.com.
Washingtonpost.com
On March 23, The Post's first of eight new presses arrived from Mihara, Japan. Weighing more than 750 tons, it required approximately 85 trucks to transport the disassembled equipment to the Springfield, Virginia plant.
Mrs. Graham wins Pulitzer and The Post gets a new look. more...
On January 28, in one of the many improvements made possible by the new presses, The Post began printing color in photos, art and advertisements. more...
KidsPost, a Monday through Friday page in Style was launched to interest 9 to 13 year-olds. The page contains daily news summaries, feature stories, contests, graphics, photos, puzzles and the like. more...
KidsPost
EXTRA tabloid editions were launched for Fairfax and Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia. The EXTRA editions replaced the localized Weekly broadsheet sections in March. more...
The Washington Post celebrated its 125th Anniversary. A special anniversary section ran highlighting The Post's unique history. more...
A new section, The Sunday Source, was launched in April to target the 18-to-34 age group as part of an effort to increase readership among younger audiences. more...
The Washington Post Company acquired El Tiempo Latino LLC, the publisher of El Tiempo Latino, a free weekly Spanish-language newspaper in the Washington area.
Slate
Later in the year, the company acquired the online magazine Slate. more...