Archives: Milestones

Harry Houdini, arguably the greatest and most famous magician of all time, states that he does not want his occupation in Who’s Who in America to be listed as “magician.” He repeatedly implores the Marquis editors to categorize him as an “actor, inventor, and author,” a request that is politely ignored.

Along with the uniformly positive reviews Who’s Who in America receives, it becomes a sought after resource for statistical and demographic studies. An early example is Professor Edwin Dexter’s study, “High Grade Men: In College and Out,” which appears in Popular Science Monthly. In the study, Professor Dexter tabulates the

The reviews of the first edition of Who’s Who in America are very positive. “This book will be indispensable to every reader of newspapers, to every library, and to every man and woman who reads or writes.” –The Chicago Tribune “It is certainly something new in American bookmaking and occupies

After arriving in Chicago, Marquis continues to operate his publishing company, A.N. Marquis and Company and becomes a newspaperman. He is fascinated by Chicago’s resurgence as it begins rising from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and establishes itself as the industrial and trade capital of the

Under the corporate entity A.N. Marquis & Company, the imprint Marquis Who’s Who is established.

Marquis Who’s Who founder, Albert Nelson Marquis is born on January 10 in Brown County, Southern Ohio. Orphaned as a child and raised by his maternal grandparents, he works in his grandfather’s general store as a boy, and following his grandfather’s passing, he manages the store from age 18 to