This Day in History...
Say the words "Sports Illustrated" to the average man on the street, and he'll think "swimsuit issue." But to the more than 20 million American adults who read the magazine weekly, SI is also about the different sporting events that occur during the other 51 weeks of the year. In the early 1950s, Time publisher Henry Luce — himself not an avid sports fan — decided the time was right for a magazine dedicated to sports. Against the advice of his editors and business consultants, he pushed forward the idea and, on this date in 1954, the first issue of Sports Illustrated magazine was published with Milwaukee Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews on the cover. The journal didn't take off immediately; it took twelve years to turn a profit. But the in-depth sports reporting, wealth of color photos and annual SI awards helped to push sales. And the annual swimsuit issue didn't hurt.
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Sports do not build character. They reveal it." — Heywood Broun
