Talk:History of Monopoly/Timeline

This is a draft/sandbox page. This may or may not wind up in the main article, or as its own article. Just trying out ideas here.

Timeline of events in the history of MONOPOLY(R)

1890s? and 1900s

• 189?/190?: Elizabeth Magie creates first versions of The Landlord's Game.

1902

• Game discussed in The Single Tax Review.

1903

• March 23rd: Application for patent on The Landlord's Game made to the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

1904

• January 5th: Patent issued to Magie (USPTO #748,626).

1906

• First professional publication of The Landlord's Game by the Economic Game Company of New York.

1910s

• 1910?: The Landlord's Game sent to Parker Brothers for possible publication. George Parker declines.

1913

• The Landlord's Game published by the Newbie Game Company in the UK as Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit.

1920s

1921

• First patent on The Landlord's Game expires (after 17 years).

1923

• April 28th: Application for patent on revised edition of The Landlord's Game made to the USPTO.

1924

• September 23rd: Patent #1,509,312 issued.

1929

• Daniel Layman begins selling handmade copies of what becomes Finance.

1930s

1932

• Date unknown: Daniel Layman begins print publication of The Fascinating Game of Finance in Indianapolis, Indiana, through Electronic Laboratories, Inc.
• Date unknown: Production of Finance is taken over by Knapp Electric, Inc.

1933

• Charles Darrow gets a copyright on his game, Monopoly.

193?

• Darrow begins sales of Monopoly through the Philadelphia department store Wanamaker's.
  

1934

• May 31st: Milton Bradley rejects the game Monopoly for publication.
• October 19th: Parker Brothers rejects the game Monopoly for publication.
• Date unknown: Darrow orders 5000 copies of Monopoly to be printed for the Christmas holiday, 1934.
• Date unknown: F.A.O. Schwarz orders 200 of the 5000 copies for their NYC store.

1935

• Parker Brothers buys out patents and rights to The Landlord's Game and Finance.
• Parker Brothers begins publication of two editions.
• August 31st: Darrow files for a patent on Monopoly.
• December 31st: Patent 2,026,082 issued.

1936

• "Rich Uncle Pennybags" (although not yet named) introduced in illustrations.
• First editions produced outside of the United States, including the United Kingdom (Waddington), France (Miro), and Germany (Schmidt Spiele).
• Parker Brothers calls for a cessation of production in December
• First edition of "Stock Exchange" add-on is produced, which could be used with games other than Monopoly

1938

• German edition goes out of print due to poor sales (in turn probably due to being denounced by Goebbels).

1940s

1941

• Second patent on The Landlord's Game expires.

1946

• Rich Uncle is published, giving a name to the character on the Monopoly cards (Rich Uncle Pennybags).

1950s

1952

• Patent on Monopoly expires.

1959

• Every copy of Monopoly on display at the American National Exposition in Moscow, USSR, is stolen.

1960s

1968

• Parker Brothers purchased by General Mills.

1970s

1973

• First Edition of Anti-Monopoly published.
• First U.S./"World" Championship held in the Catskills, New York. Winner was Lee Bayrd of Los Angeles, California.

1974

• Second U.S./"World" Championship held in the Catskills, New York. Winner was Alvin Aldridge of Dayton, Ohio.

1975

• Third U.S. Championship held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Winner was A.E. "Gus" Gostomelsky, of Skokie, Illinois.
• First Canadian Championship held. Winner was Susan Touchbourne of Toronto, Ontario.
• First "true" World Championship with international participation held in Washington, D.C. Winner was John Mair, of Ireland.

1980s

1981

• First Edition published in Austria. This was the first time Parker Brothers licensed Monopoly to be published there.

1982

• First bilingual Canadian Edition published.
• Replica of German 1936 Edition published.
• "Playmaster" electronic add-on produced.

1985

• Parker Brothers combined with Kenner, spun off from General Mills as Kenner Parker Toys.
• First full spin-off game (as opposed to an add-on) introduced: Advance to Boardwalk.
• First International Spanish Edition published by Parker Brothers, USA for domestic use and exporting.
• First Edition using Australian placenames published.

1987

• Kenner Parker Toys acquired by Tonka, renamed to Kenner Parker Tonka (retaining the KPT abbreviation).

1990s

1990

• Television game show edition of Monopoly broadcast on ABC in the U.S. during the summer.
• First Edition of Monopoly Junior is published.

1991

• Kenner Parker Tonka acquired by Hasbro
• Franklin Mint Collector's Edition first produced; the first set not made at Parker Brothers.
• Final copies of Monopoly printed at Parker Brothers' Salem, Massachusetts plant.

1992

• Chessex produces a new edition of the "Stock Exchange" add-on.

1994

• USAopoly granted license to produce custom/localized board games.

1995

• Winning Moves granted license to produce products based on Monopoly, including reprintings.

1999

• Moneybag token added to game.
• Pokemon Edition released
• Millennium Edition released
• Star Wars: Episode I Edition released in basic and Collector's Edition formats.

2000s

2000

• Monopoly: The Card Game first published by Winning Moves Games
• Winning Solutions, Inc. granted license to produce special editions of Monopoly games.

2001

• Nostalgia Edition produced in a square wooden box

2002

• 1935 Deluxe Edition replica produced by Winning Moves Games
• Michael Graves Design edition sold exclusively at Target

2006

• Speed Die introduced with Monopoly: The Mega Edition
• First plastic card readers introduced with Monopoly Here & Now Electronic Banking Edition

2008

• Speed Die introduced into standard editions of Monopoly
• Standard US edition changed - purple group becomes brown, Income Tax is a flat $200 and Luxury Tax increased to $100. New starting money distribution and higher total amount in the bank. Tokens are reduced to 8.
• Indiana Jones Edition sold exclusively at Walmart.

2009

• Speed Die use mandated starting with this year's US & World Monopoly tournaments.
• Winning Moves begins sales of "The Classic Edition" with a pre-2008 board.

2010s

2011

• February: Monopoly Live announced at New York Toy Fair.

2012

• A custom edition of Monopoly, first developed in the UK, is sold in North America for the first time: The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Edition

2013

• New cat token to replace iron token after public polling on Facebook, January 8 - February 5.