The history of crossword puzzles dates back to 1913. A journalist named Arthur Wynne was asked by the New York World to write a crossword puzzle and published it the following month. It wasn't long before other newspapers jumped on the bandwagon and published their own crossword puzzles. Arthur Wynne made crossword puzzles to entertain readers and serve as a brain teaser.
The first book on crossword puzzles sold 300,000 copies in its first year and helped creators Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster start America's largest publishing company. Simon and Schuster were motivated by their aunt, an avid crossword lover. She asked the duo to publish a book of crosswords, and it was a runaway success.
Publishing of the book fueled a spike in dictionary sales. And as the crossword puzzle became more popular, fabrics with black and white squares became fashionable.
By the mid-twentieth century, crosswords were published in almost every newspaper in the United States, the Atlantic, and Europe. This growth made them one of the most popular past-times among adults. Today, there are even mobile phone apps that contain crosswords.
Crosswords are among the best, most fun ways to improve vocabulary and learn new words. That, according to historians, is one reason why the educated class in the US back then had such a vast vocabulary.
To help you solve crossword puzzles, we offer a free crossword dictionary where you can look up those hard to find words:
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