History
The publication was started by Charles Taze Russell on July 1, 1879 under the title Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. According to its first issue, the magazine's purpose was to draw attention to Russell's belief that people of the time were "living "in the last days" "the day of the Lord"—"the end" of the Gospel age," and that "the dawn of the "new" age, are facts not only discernible by the close student of the Word, led by the spirit, but the outward signs recognizable by the world bear the same testimony."
In 1908 the name was changed to The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. In 1920, the Watch Tower Society reprinted all issues from 1879–1919 in seven volumes, known as the Watchtower Reprints, which have since been reprinted through the years by other groups. On 15 October 1931, the magazine was renamed The Watchtower and Herald of Christ's Presence, in January 1939, The Watchtower and Herald of Christ's Kingdom, and from March 1939 until the present, its full name has been The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom.
Read more about this topic: The Watchtower
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