The Washington Post history

The combined publication began printing on April 15, 1878, reaching a circulation of 13,000 at the time.

The first Sunday edition was published on May 2, 1880, making it the first seven-day paper in Washington.

1888 Hutchins purchased the Daily Republican, at that time The Post's sole morning competition, and launched The Evening Post in the only attempt ever made by The Post to publish an afternoon edition.

1893 Hatton and Wilkins moved The Post to a new building at 1335 E Street, N.W., next to the National Theatre.

Wilkins acquired Hatton's share of the newspaper in 1894 at Hatton's death.

In 1902, Berryman published another famous cartoon in the Post – Drawing the Line in Mississippi.

In 1903, however, with Hatton dead and Wilkins seriously ill, the paper was again for sale.

1905 John R. McLean, owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, bought the newspaper.

In 1908, Ned and Evalyn eloped following their parents generous cash gifts.

In 1929, financier Eugene Meyer (who had run the War Finance Corp. since World War I) secretly made an offer of $5 million for the Post, but he was rebuffed by Ned McLean.

On June 1, 1933, Meyer bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $825,000 three weeks after stepping down as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Meyer eventually gained the last laugh over Hearst, who had owned the old Washington Times and the Herald before their 1939 merger that formed the Times-Herald.

In 1946, Meyer stepped down to become president of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

His son-in-law, Philip Graham, became publisher and, in 1947 when the Post incorporated, president.

Control of the paper stayed in the family, however, as Meyer transferred his voting stock to his daughter, Katharine Graham, and her husband, Philip Graham, on July 23, 1948.

1950 To accommodate the growing newspaper, Graham built a new $6 million plant for The Washington Post at 1515 L Street, N.W., installing up-to-date presses and other new equipment.

In 1953 he bought another TV station in Jacksonville, Florida.

1954 The Washington Post Company purchased its last morning rival in the city, the Washington Times-Herald.

1961 Philip Graham purchased Newsweek magazine for The Washington Post Company.

1962 The Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service was formed to syndicate columns, articles and features appearing in both newspapers.

Malcolm Gladwell, (born September 3, 1963, London, England), Canadian journalist and writer best known for his unique perspective on popular culture.

Though she originally kept the same management team put in place by her husband, in 1965 Katharine ushered in a new era at the Post with the appointment of Benjamin Bradlee as managing editor.

In 1966 Graham continued her husband's acquisition program by buying a 45 percent interest in the Paris edition of the New York Herald-Tribune.

Gladwell’s family moved in 1969 from England to Elmira, Ontario, where his father taught at the nearby University of Waterloo and his mother practiced psychotherapy.

1970 The Washington Post became one of the first newspapers in the country to appoint an "ombudsman" on its news staff.

1971 On June 15, The Washington Post Company went public with the sale of Class B common stock to the general public for $26 per share.

1972 On June 16, The Post begins reporting on a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate.

In 1973 Graham was elected chief executive officer and chairman of the Post’s parent company, the Washington Post Company, although she retained her position as publisher of the Post newspaper.

1975 The Washington Post launched three new weekly zoned sections, the Maryland, District and Virginia Weeklies.

1976 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.

1977 The Washington Post celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding.

1978 The Washington Post Company purchased the Everett (Washington) Herald, a daily newspaper north of Seattle.

1979 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.

1980 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.

New Platemaking Process In March, 1981, The Post changed its platemaking process for its eight downtown web presses from the stereotype method which used lead heated to approximately 600 degrees Fahrenheit to form a 50-pound printing plate to a NAPP direct platemaking process.

1982 The Post began publishing "Washington Home" on May 20.

1984 The October 9 edition of The Post initiated a redesign of the paper emphasizing clarity, placement and reader ease.

1985 In January The Post began publishing the country's first newspaper section devoted entirely to health.

Just four years earlier, in 1986, the 15 largest newspapers in the United States accounted for 21 percent of all newspapers sold.

Operating revenues for the year hit a healthy $1.85 billion and net income soared to nearly $221 million, climbing over $100 million for the first time since 1988's spectacular $269.1 million.

The company's jubilation was somewhat short-lived, however, for both revenue and income began a downward trend after a modest increase in 1989, a year in which the company began the first of several ambitious stock repurchasing plans as both a good investment and to ward off potential takeovers.

By the end of Graham's tenure as CEO in 1991, the stock was worth $888 per share, not counting the effect of an intermediate 4:1 stock split.

Two years later, in 1993, Katharine was named chairman of the executive committee, while Donald became the company's chairman of the board.

Circulation for the Post in 1995 had reached 834,641 for its daily paper (about 60 percent of the area's total circulation), and 1.14 million for its Sunday edition.

The following year it was shut down and the first website was launched in June 1996.

In 2000 Gladwell released his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, which contends that social epidemics result from a combination of seemingly arbitrary contextual details and the actions of a few key types of people.

The Washington Post Company sold its 50 percent interest to The New York Times Company in 2003.

It became a best seller, as did its successor, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), which extols the untold virtues of snap judgment.

In 2008, a fourth-generation Meyer descendant, Katharine Weymouth, was named publisher and CEO of a new division, Washington Post Media, which included the newspaper and washingtonpost.com; Donald Graham remained chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Company.

Gladwell compiled some of his New Yorker columns, including his award-winning profile of inventor Ron Popeil, into the collection What the Dog Saw, and Other Adventures (2009).

Twenty years later, Kaplan had surpassed the Post newspaper as the company's leading contributor to income, and by 2010 Kaplan accounted for more than 60% of the entire company revenue stream.

Gladwell was created a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011.

In 2013, Jeff Bezos purchased the paper for US$250 million.

In 2014, the Post announced it was moving from 1150 15th Street to a leased space three blocks away at One Franklin Square on K Street.

While the print circulation has been in decline, the Internet figures have hugely increased, with the website gathering 20 million readers, in the US and internationally, in 2015.