--- description: On Mar. 3, the magazine's birthday, you can check out the whole issue title: The First Issue of TIME: How to Read It Online image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9a70679ce3751c/698780d10b72e3298a6ddd9c/1101230303_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How to Read the First-Ever Issue of TIME by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 2, 2016 7:00 PM CUT  The first cover of TIME, from Mar. 3, 1923 The first cover of TIME, from Mar. 3, 1923TIME by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 2, 2016 7:00 PM CUT [Click here to read the full issue.](http://time.com/vault/issue/1923-03-03/page/1/ "undefined") The first issue of TIME was published 93 years ago, and a lot has changed in the decades since. The first-ever issue of the magazine was dated Mar. 3, 1923, and it was shorter and far less colorful than the magazine readers might recognize today. Many of the names it features have been largely forgotten, while others—William Howard Taft, Mussolini, Charlie Chaplin—remain well-known. TIME subscribers can always access that issue—and every other one—in the TIME Vault (and non-subscribers can peruse it too, until they hit their article threshold). **_To access the issue, simply click_** [**_here_**](http://time.com/vault/issue/1923-03-03/page/1/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4237445/read-first-issue-free/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4237445/read-first-issue-free/"},"headline":"How to Read the First-Ever Issue of TIME","datePublished":"2016-03-02T19:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:23:14.107Z","description":"On the magazine's birthday, you can check out the whole issue","url":"https://time.com/4237445/read-first-issue-free/","keywords":["Media"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9a70679ce3751c/698780d10b72e3298a6ddd9c/1101230303_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde9a70679ce3751c/698780d10b72e3298a6ddd9c/1101230303_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"First cover of TIME","caption":"First cover of TIME","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4237445/read-first-issue-free/","name":"How to Read the First-Ever Issue of TIME"}}]}] ```