IF, in retrospect, a journalistic enterprise could have preordained its date of birth, we wouldn't have done it any other way. Time Incorporated officially became a business in November 1922. In March 1923, "TIME The Weekly News-Magazine" appeared on the newsstands, editorially designed "to serve the modern necessity of keeping people informed." So these next few months mark the 50th anniversary of the company. A fabulous half-century, like no other in history. And today the charter of Time Inc.—to keep people informed—remains the same.
TIME was the brainchild of Henry R. Luce and Briton...