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
edit- 189?/190?: Elizabeth Magie creates first versions of The Landlord's Game.
1902
edit- Game discussed in The Single Tax Review. [1]
1903
edit- March 23rd: Application for patent on The Landlord's Game made to the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
1904
edit- January 5th: Patent issued to Magie (USPTO #748,626).
1906
edit- First professional publication of The Landlord's Game by the Economic Game Company of New York.
1910s
edit- 1910?: The Landlord's Game sent to Parker Brothers for possible publication. George Parker declines.
1913
edit- The Landlord's Game published by the Newbie Game Company in the UK as Brer Fox an' Brer Rabbit.
1920s
edit1921
edit- First patent on The Landlord's Game expires (after 17 years).
1923
edit- April 28th: Application for patent on revised edition of The Landlord's Game made to the USPTO.
1924
edit- September 23rd: Patent #1,509,312 issued.
1929
edit- Daniel Layman begins selling handmade copies of what becomes Finance.
1930s
edit1932
edit- 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
edit- Charles Darrow gets a copyright on his game, Monopoly.
193?
edit- Darrow begins sales of Monopoly through the Philadelphia department store Wanamaker's.
- Darrow begins sales of Monopoly through the Philadelphia department store Wanamaker's.
1934
edit- 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
edit- 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
edit- "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
edit- German edition goes out of print due to poor sales (in turn probably due to being denounced by Goebbels).
1940s
edit1941
edit- Second patent on The Landlord's Game expires.
1946
edit- Rich Uncle is published, giving a name to the character on the Monopoly cards (Rich Uncle Pennybags).
1950s
edit1952
edit- Patent on Monopoly expires.
1959
edit- Every copy of Monopoly on display at the American National Exposition in Moscow, USSR, is stolen.
1960s
edit1968
edit- Parker Brothers purchased by General Mills.
1970s
edit1973
edit- 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
edit- Second U.S./"World" Championship held in the Catskills, New York. Winner was Alvin Aldridge of Dayton, Ohio.
1975
edit- 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
edit1981
edit- First Edition published in Austria. This was the first time Parker Brothers licensed Monopoly to be published there.
1982
edit- First bilingual Canadian Edition published.
- Replica of German 1936 Edition published.
- "Playmaster" electronic add-on produced.
1985
edit- 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
edit- Kenner Parker Toys acquired by Tonka, renamed to Kenner Parker Tonka (retaining the KPT abbreviation).
1990s
edit1990
edit- Television game show edition of Monopoly broadcast on ABC in the U.S. during the summer.
- First Edition of Monopoly Junior is published.
1991
edit- 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
edit- Chessex produces a new edition of the "Stock Exchange" add-on.
1994
edit- USAopoly granted license to produce custom/localized board games.
1995
edit- Winning Moves granted license to produce products based on Monopoly, including reprintings.
1999
edit- Moneybag token added to game.[2]
- Pokemon Edition released
- Millennium Edition released
- Star Wars: Episode I Edition released in basic and Collector's Edition formats.
2000s
edit2000
edit- Monopoly: The Card Game first published by Winning Moves Games
- Winning Solutions, Inc. granted license to produce special editions of Monopoly games.
2001
edit- Nostalgia Edition produced in a square wooden box
2002
edit- 1935 Deluxe Edition replica produced by Winning Moves Games
- Michael Graves Design edition sold exclusively at Target
2006
edit- Speed Die introduced with Monopoly: The Mega Edition
- First plastic card readers introduced with Monopoly Here & Now Electronic Banking Edition
2008
edit- 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
edit- 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
edit2011
edit- February: Monopoly Live announced at New York Toy Fair.[3]
2012
edit- 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
edit- New cat token to replace iron token after public polling on Facebook, January 8 - February 5.