Before I started working at @natgeo, I truly didn't realize that it was much more than a magazine and TV channel. 1/
I’ve been here a little more than two years, and every day I’m learning more about the historic things @natgeo has done. 2/
On its 130th anniversary (and b/c I just finished reading the amazing “Explorers House” by former editor Bob Poole amzn.to/2B32CUj), here are some of the things I’ve learned. 3/ 
.@natgeo was founded in 1888 in D.C. by a guy named Gardiner Greene Hubbard as a membership society to spread “geographic knowledge.” 4/
“Geographic knowledge” was—and still is—defined broadly. At the founding, there was geography of the air (flight, meteorology, etc), of the land, of the oceans, and of life. 5/
The magazine was launched as a journal to keep track of all the interesting stuff happening. No yellow border, no photos. Here’s what it looked like, via @kristinromey bit.ly/2B5AvEc 6/ 
The @natgeo founder’s son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell (the one and only), became the Society’s 2nd president, and really got the magazine off the ground. He defined geography as “the world and all that is in it.” 8/
Bell said “if we can’t find anything to interest ordinary people in that subject we better shut up shop and become a strict, technical, and scientific journal.” (At one point, @natgeo did try to launch such a venture, but it didn’t last long) 9/
Bell hired Gilbert Grosvenor to be the magazine’s first editor. A Grosvenor would helm the organization in one form or another for about the next century. 10/
Side note/fun fact: @natgeo was responsible for one of the first known direct mail campaigns in magazine history. Also one of the first to insert subscription blanks into magazines to encourage people to sign up. 11/
But don’t ever call someone who subscribes to @natgeo a “subscriber.” They are members. The society was conceived of as an exclusive club that was so much more than just a magazine. 12/
Al Capone was a member of Nat Geo Society. African Americans were not—until at least the 1940s. It wasn’t until the ‘70s that the exclusion of American people of color was really addressed head-on. 13/
When did @natgeo start using photos? In 1905 there was a gaping hole in the magazine, and it was due at the printers. The editor filled the pages with recently filed photos from the “forbidden capital” of St. Petersburg. 14/
At a time when many publishers considered photography in magazines to be vulgar, @natgeo’s readers loved it. See some of the @natgeo photographs that made history (via @alexakeefe): on.natgeo.com/2B4lOkw 15/
From then on out, @natgeo magazine would be organized along photographic lines first. Fun fact for writers: Stories often ran 8,000-10,000 words. 16/
I mentioned @natgeo was, and is, way more than just a magazine, but I’ve only talked about the magazine so far. Let’s talk about the explorer Robert Peary. 17/
He received @natgeo’s first-ever grant - $1,000 – to help fund his quest to be the first to reach the North Pole. (There was later quite a controversy over whether he or Frederick Cook made it there first) 18/
His black colleague and close collaborator Matthew Henson was ignored for more than a century. bit.ly/2B1yNDP via @socialpyramid 19/ 
The Society has given out more than 12,500 grants since Peary’s. Today grants focus on the human journey, wildlife/wild places, and our changing planet, funding projects that support research, conservation, education, technology, and storytelling. bit.ly/2B5C0SQ 20/
.@natgeo funded the excavation of Machu Picchu, Jane Goodall’s and Dian Fossey’s primate research, Jaques Cousteau’s underwater research, the discovery of the Titanic, the first flight over the South Pole, and more. 21/ 
These are some of @natgeo’s biggest discoveries: bit.ly/2B2XsHQ and historic expeditions: on.natgeo.com/2B4u7gm /22 
Maps are also a big thing here. When WWI broke out, there was major demand for, and lack of, up-to-date detailed maps. @natgeo launched its maps division to meet this demand. /23
Covering the war posed a conundrum for the magazine, though, which had a rule about only covering things that “are of a kindly nature” about any country or people. “Everything unpleasant or unduly critical is to be avoided.” /24
For that reason, the Soviet Union disappeared from @natgeo’s pages for 40 years. But that policy came crashing down in 1970 with an issue called “Our Ecological Crisis,” focusing on oil spills, air pollution, strip mining, and more. /25 
Then during WWII came one of @natgeo magazine’s most embarrassing chapters. @NinaStrochlic has the amazing story of the Nazi who infiltrated National Geographic here: bit.ly/2B3KZ6G /26
Back to maps real quick: @natgeo had a close relationship with the government for years. It provided the maps that the military used to plot its WWII European campaign on, and it also provided the maps for the postwar split of Germany and Austria. /27
Speaking of close govt relations, at one point the FBI used the room where we now have our morning editorial meetings to spy on the Russian embassy. It was called “The Mid-Atlantic Research Committee.” /29
Interjecting this thread with another fun fact: @natgeo sent **26 staffers** to cover Winston Churchill’s funeral /30
Another tale from the good ol' days: There was a private dining room with liveried waiters for senior staff until just a few decades ago. Women weren’t allowed in until the 1960s. /31
.@natgeo’s first female editor-in-chief is our current editor, @susanbgoldberg. She took on the idea of the gender revolution just last year, making history by putting a transgendered person on the cover on.natgeo.com/2B3BQeo /32 
Film and TV is another big part of @natgeo. The organization first ventured into TV when it sponsored the quest to put the first Americans atop Everest in 1963. One of the climbers filmed. Orson Welles narrated. /33
But way before that, @natgeo made its first film on a 1902 failed attempt to reach the North Pole bit.ly/2B4alBv /34
In 1995, Nat Geo Society, a nonprofit, spun off Nat Geo Ventures, a for-profit, where it made feature films, published books, sold a CD-ROM set of its archives, began a website, and began licensing its brand for merchandise. /35
Oh, and that’s when Rupert Murdoch got involved. A deal with Fox helped Nat Geo break into the cable market. /36
20 years later, a bigger deal was struck with 20th Century Fox. TV, magazine, website, books became part of National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between Fox and the Society. bit.ly/1i30tP2 /37
The National Geographic Society maintains a 27 percent stake in the new venture, and a portion of the new Nat Geo Partners’ profits go back to the Society. It's a changing media landscape where publishing outlets are struggling to survive. /37
Aaand two years later, it’s looking like this new Nat Geo Partners venture may soon be a part of Disney. Disney made a $52.4 billion bid on a chunk of 21st Century Fox’s properties, including Nat Geo. nyti.ms/2B2rlIj /39
So to summarize, I’m proud to be a part of National Geographic. From research and exploration to multiple magazines, films & TV, books, travel, lectures, exhibitions, it does so much more than I ever realized before coming here. Happy 130th anniversary! /40
And if I haven’t bored you with @natgeo history and fun facts yet, check out this interactive timeline and mini-doc on the history of National Geographic.
Video: bit.ly/2B33qIZ
Timeline: bit.ly/2B3CrNa /fin!
Video: bit.ly/2B33qIZ
Timeline: bit.ly/2B3CrNa /fin!
