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William Holmes McGuffey

William Holmes McGuffey, American author and academic (died 1873)

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Born
September 23, 1800
Died
May 4, 1873
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1800

About William Holmes McGuffey

William Holmes McGuffey was an American college professor and president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks. More than 120 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Named for William Holmes McGuffey's influential primers that first appeared in 1836 and remained in print until 1921, the McGuffey longevity awards recognize long-lived, still-in-use textbooks of excellence. William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 – May 4, 1873) was an American college professor and president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

William Holmes McGuffey timeline

  1. William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 – May 4, 1873) was an American college professor and president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely used series of elementary school-level textbooks.
  2. Named for William Holmes McGuffey's influential primers that first appeared in 1836 and remained in print until 1921, the McGuffey longevity awards recognize long-lived, still-in-use textbooks of excellence.
  3. More than 120 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.

The world when William Holmes McGuffey was born

William Holmes McGuffey was born in 1800. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineUS capital moves to Washington, D.C.
  • Technology milestoneAlessandro Volta invents the electric battery
  • World population~900M

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn Adams
  • U.S. population5.3M

1800 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in William Holmes McGuffey's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18002026
Population5.3M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.