National Publicist Day is observed annually on October 30th. This is a day to appreciate publicists.
October 30th is the day that the New York Times printed verbatim the very first press release written by Ivy Lee, the “father of modern PR”. The Pennsylvania Railroad was a client of Ivy Lee, and on October 28th, 1906, 50 people lost their lives due to a three-car train jumping a trestle in New Jersey and plunging into a thoroughfare creek. In response to this, Ivy Lee created the first press release that afternoon. He not only convinced the railroad to distribute a public statement, but he also convinced them to provide a special train to get reporters to the scene of the accident.
The New York Times was so impressed with this innovative approach to corporate communications that it printed the first press release—verbatim—on Oct. 30, 1906, as a “Statement from the Road.”
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