Noteworthy Events in the Modern-day History of Jehovah’s Witnesses

1870 Charles Taze Russell and a group from Pittsburgh and Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., begin systematic study of the Bible

1870-75 Russell and his study associates learn that when Christ comes again he is to be invisible to human eyes and that the object of his return includes the blessing of all families of the earth

1872 Russell and his study group come to appreciate the ransom price that Christ provided for humankind

1876 C. T. Russell receives a copy of Herald of the Morning, in January; meets N. H. Barbour, the editor, that summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Article by C. T. Russell, published in October issue of Bible Examiner, in Brooklyn, New York, points to 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times

1877 The book Three Worlds is published, as a result of joint efforts of N. H. Barbour and C. T. Russell

C. T. Russell publishes the booklet The Object and Manner of Our Lord’s Return, at the office of Herald of the Morning, in Rochester, New York

1879 Russell withdraws all support from Herald of the Morning, in May, because of Barbour’s attitude toward the ransom

First issue of Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, dated July 1879

1881 First tracts published by Bible Students; before 1914, yearly tract distribution totals tens of millions of copies in 30 languages

Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society is organized; call goes out “Wanted 1,000 Preachers,” some to be regular colporteurs, others to give whatever time they can to spreading Bible truth

Distribution of 300,000 copies of Food for Thinking Christians to churchgoers in principal cities in Britain

1883 Watch Tower reaches China; former Presbyterian missionary soon begins to witness to others there

1884 Food for Thinking Christians reaches Liberia, Africa; an appreciative reader writes to ask for copies to distribute

Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society is legally chartered in Pennsylvania; officially recorded on December 15

1885 Watch Tower publications are already being read by some truth-hungry people in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia

1886 The Divine Plan of the Ages is published, the first volume of the series called Millennial Dawn (later known as Studies in the Scriptures)

1889 The Bible House is constructed on Arch Street, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as headquarters for the Society

1891 First gathering of Bible Students that they call a convention, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (April 19-25)

1894 Traveling overseers that in time came to be known as pilgrims (today, circuit and district overseers) are sent out in connection with the Society’s program for visiting congregations

1900 The Watch Tower Society’s first branch office is opened, in London, England

Witnessing by the Bible Students has been done in 28 countries, and the message they preach has reached 13 other lands

1903 Intense house-to-house distribution of free tracts on Sundays; earlier, much of the tract distribution was done on streets near churches

1904 Sermons by C. T. Russell begin to appear regularly in newspapers; within a decade they are being printed by about 2,000 papers

1909 Headquarters of the Society is moved to Brooklyn, New York, in April

1914 First showing of the “Photo-Drama of Creation,” in New York, in January; before the end of the year, it is seen by audiences totaling over 9,000,000 in North America, Europe, and Australia

On October 2, in the Bethel dining room at Brooklyn, C. T. Russell affirms, “The Gentile times have ended”

Bible Students are active preaching in 43 lands; 5,155 share in witnessing to others; reported Memorial attendance is 18,243

1916 Death of C. T. Russell at 64 years of age, on October 31, while on a train traveling through Texas

1917 J. F. Rutherford becomes president of Society on January 6, after an executive committee of three has administered the Society’s affairs for about two months

The book The Finished Mystery is released to the Bethel family in Brooklyn on July 17; four who had been serving on the Society’s board of directors become heated in their opposition; thereafter many congregations are split

1918 The discourse “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die” is first delivered, on February 24, in Los Angeles, California. On March 31, in Boston, Massachusetts, the talk is entitled “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die”

J. F. Rutherford and close associates are named in federal arrest warrants issued on May 7; trial begins on June 5; they are sentenced on June 21 (one on July 10) to long terms in federal penitentiary

Brooklyn headquarters is closed in August, and its operations are transferred back to Pittsburgh for over a year

1919 The Society’s officers and associates are released on bail, on March 26; on May 14 the court of appeals reverses the decision of the lower court, and a new trial is ordered; the next year, on May 5, the government withdraws from the case, declining to prosecute

As a test to see whether the work of the Bible Students can be revived, J. F. Rutherford arranges to give the public lecture “The Hope for Distressed Humanity,” at Clune’s Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California, on May 4; the crowd cannot all fit in, and the talk has to be given a second time

Bible Students hold convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, September 1-8; coming publication of the magazine The Golden Age (now known as Awake!) is announced

Bulletin (now known as Our Kingdom Ministry) is published as stimulus to field service

Report for the year shows 5,793 Bible Students actively preaching in 43 lands; reported Memorial attendance, 21,411

1920 Watch Tower Society undertakes its own printing operations, in Brooklyn

1922 Radio is first used by J. F. Rutherford, on February 26, in California, to broadcast a Bible discourse

Convention of Bible Students at Cedar Point, Ohio, September 5-13; the appeal is made “Advertise, advertise, advertise, the King and his kingdom”

Clergy in Germany agitate for police to arrest Bible Students when these engage in public distribution of Bible literature

1924 WBBR (first radio station owned by Watch Tower Society) begins to broadcast on February 24

1925 Watch Tower of March 1, in discussing the birth of God’s Kingdom in 1914, shows that there are two distinct and opposing organizations—Jehovah’s and Satan’s

1926 House-to-house preaching with books on Sunday is encouraged

1928 Bible Students are arrested in New Jersey (U.S.A.) for distributing literature as part of their house-to-house preaching; within a decade, there are over 500 such arrests per year in the United States

1931 The name Jehovah’s Witnesses is adopted by resolution at a convention in Columbus, Ohio, on July 26, and thereafter at conventions around the earth

1932 Vindication, Book 2, explains why Biblical restoration prophecies apply not to the natural Jews but to spiritual Israel

Arrangement for “elective elders” is terminated, in harmony with explanation in Watchtower issues of August 15 and September 1

1933 Jehovah’s Witnesses are banned in Germany. During the intense persecution down to the end of World War II, 6,262 are arrested, and their combined time of imprisonment totals 14,332 years; 2,074 are sent to concentration camps, where their confinement totals 8,332 years

Transcription machines (some mounted on automobiles) are used by Witnesses to broadcast Bible lectures in public places

1934 Portable phonographs are used by Witnesses to play short recorded Bible discourses for interested ones

1935 In convention discourse at Washington, D.C., on May 31, the “great multitude” is identified as an earthly class; 840 persons are baptized at this convention; greater emphasis is progressively given to hope of eternal life on a paradise earth for faithful servants of God now living

Meeting place is, for the first time, called Kingdom Hall, in Honolulu, Hawaii

1936 Advertising placards are first worn by Kingdom publishers to notify public of Bible lectures

Encouragement is given to start studies with interested people, using the Society’s book Riches along with the Bible; these are frequently group studies

1937 Portable phonographs are used by Witnesses to play recorded Bible talks right on the doorsteps of homes

1938 Theocratic arrangements for selecting overseers in congregations replace democratic procedures, in harmony with Watchtower issues of June 1 and 15

Zone assemblies (now known as circuit assemblies) are arranged for groups of congregations

1939-45 Throughout British Empire and British Commonwealth, 23 nations ban Jehovah’s Witnesses or place prohibitions on their Bible literature

1940 Street distribution of Watchtower and Consolation becomes a regular feature of the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Decision of U.S. Supreme Court, on June 3, upholding mandatory flag salute regardless of religious belief unleashes nationwide mob violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses

1941 Active Witnesses pass the 100,000 mark, reaching a peak of 109,371 in 107 lands, in spite of the fact that World War II has engulfed Europe and is spreading in Africa and Asia

1942 J. F. Rutherford dies on January 8, in San Diego, California

N. H. Knorr becomes third president of Society on January 13

Total printing of Watchtower for the year in all languages is 11,325,143

An Advanced Course in Theocratic Ministry is inaugurated for the Society’s headquarters staff, on February 16

Watch Tower Society prints the complete Bible, King James Version, on its own press (a web rotary)

1943 First class of Watchtower Bible School of Gilead begins its studies on February 1

Course in Theocratic Ministry (now called Theocratic Ministry School) for congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses introduced at assemblies in April

U.S. Supreme Court renders decisions favorable to Jehovah’s Witnesses in 20 out of 24 cases; High Court in Australia lifts ban on Witnesses there, on June 14

1945 As of October 1, the Society’s board of directors is no longer selected by voters who qualify because of monetary donations

Average number of free home Bible studies being conducted each month is now 104,814

1946 During the preceding seven years, over 4,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States and 1,593 in Britain have been arrested and sentenced to prison terms ranging from a month to five years because of their Christian neutrality

In this first year after World War II, 6,504 are sharing in full-time service as pioneers

Awake! magazine (successor to The Golden Age and Consolation) begins publication; total printing of 13,934,429 copies for the year

Over 470 Witnesses are taken before the courts in Greece because of sharing Bible teachings with others

1947 In Quebec, Canada, 1,700 cases involving the evangelizing work of Jehovah’s Witnesses are pending in the courts

Number of congregations now exceeds 10,000, reaching a total of 10,782 worldwide

1950 New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures is released in English, on August 2, at convention in New York

1953 An extensive program of training of Jehovah’s Witnesses in house-to-house preaching gets under way, September 1

1957 In 169 lands, 100,135,016 hours are devoted by Jehovah’s Witnesses to proclaiming God’s Kingdom and conducting Bible studies with newly interested persons

1958 Divine Will International Assembly, in New York, draws attendance of 253,922 from 123 lands; 7,136 baptized

1959 First sessions of Kingdom Ministry School, starting March 9, at South Lansing, New York, designed for congregation overseers and traveling overseers

1961 First group of the Society’s branch overseers attends special ten-month training course at Brooklyn, New York, with a view to further unification of the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, the complete Bible in one volume, is released in English

1963 New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures is released in six more languages (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), with more to come in later years

Over a million of Jehovah’s Witnesses are now active in 198 lands; peak of publishers for the year is 1,040,836; 62,798 more baptized

1965 First Assembly Hall, a renovated theater, is put to use by Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York

1967 Waves of prolonged and savage persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses sweep across Malawi and continue for years thereafter

1969 Home Bible studies exceed a million; report shows average of 1,097,237

1971 Governing Body is enlarged; on October 1, chairmanship begins to rotate among its members on an annual basis

1972 Congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses come under local supervision of body of elders, instead of one person, as of October 1

1974 Peak publishers worldwide reach 2,021,432; pioneers increase from 94,604, in 1973, to 127,135

1975 Governing Body is reorganized; on December 4, responsibility for much of the work is assigned to six committees, which begin to function on January 1, 1976

1976 Branch offices of Watch Tower Society each come under supervision of a committee of three or more spiritually mature men, instead of one overseer, as of February 1

1977 Pioneer Service School begins to provide specialized training for tens of thousands of pioneers worldwide

1984 Home Bible studies being conducted by Jehovah’s Witnesses now average 2,047,113

1985 Arrangement for international volunteers is initiated, coordinating from headquarters the Society’s worldwide construction work

Report shows 3,024,131 sharing in the work of Kingdom preaching in 222 lands; pioneers now average 322,821; 189,800 baptized this year

1986 Regional Building Committees appointed to help coordinate building of Kingdom Halls

1987 Disciple-making work continues to expand, as Bible studies are now being conducted with 3,005,048 individuals and family groups, many on a weekly basis; baptisms for the year total 230,843

Ministerial Training School goes into operation on October 1, with first class at Coraopolis, Pennsylvania

1989 Changing conditions in Eastern Europe help to make possible three large international conventions in Poland, and then in other lands in following years

1990 Lifting of restrictions on Jehovah’s Witnesses in lands in Africa and Eastern Europe facilitate evangelizing among an additional 100,000,000 people

Kingdom publishers reach new peak of 4,017,213; pioneer ranks swell to 536,508; total of 895,229,424 hours are devoted to urgent work of Kingdom proclamation

1991 Bans lifted in Eastern Europe and Africa make it easier to reach 390,000,000 more people with the good news of God’s Kingdom

1992 Watchtower has average printing of 15,570,000 in 111 languages; Awake!, available in 67 languages, has an average production of 13,110,000

Greatest witness ever given, as 4,472,787 share in Kingdom proclamation in 229 lands; monthly average of 605,610 pioneers; 1,024,910,434 hours devoted to public witnessing; 4,278,127 Bible studies conducted; 301,002 new disciples baptized