For fifty years, MAD has been a staple of bedrooms, living rooms, dorm rooms and recycling bins. And in that half century, the magazine has seen its share of highlights (driving a subtle, yet effective, wedge between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) and low points (the tragic East Coast/West Coast publishing war that claimed the lives of so many contributors). But in terms of amazing developments and captivating achievements, MAD's history is rivaled only by that of our own country — but with slightly fewer intern-related scandals. So enjoy our timeline and remember — while those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, those who learn anything from MAD's history are doomed, period!

October 1952 William M. Gaines' EC Comics, known for Tales From The Crypt and Weird Science, publishes the first issue of MAD. Edited and written by Harvey Kurtzman, it features four wild and outrageously satiric stories spoofing EC's own comics.
		December 1954 The MAD Reader, the first in a popular series of over 200 forgettable MAD paperbacks, is published by Ballantine books. Educators note a sudden, inexplicable drop in student reading scores that continues to this day.
July 1955 MAD Magazine is born (#24). Gaines and Kurtzman turn MAD into a bi-monthly, black-and-white magazine. More importantly, they get to raise the price from 10-cents to a quarter! Although it will be another year before he's named and adopted as MAD's official mascot, Alfred E. Neuman makes his first appearance on the border of MAD (#24) as the "What, Me Worry" Kid.
		September 1956 Al Feldstein takes the helm as MAD's Editor, a position he will hold for the next 28 years till he retires. (His thinking was, "Who else will hire me?")
October 1956 MAD announces the candidacy of Alfred E. Neuman for President, the first of an endless string of unsuccessful campaigns (a losing streak that will one day be challenged by the Democratic Party).
		September 1960 William Gaines brings the MAD staff to Haiti, where they pay a surprise visit to their lone Haitian subscriber and beg him to renew. He does. Thus, the MAD trips are born, and over the years "The Usual Gang Of Idiots" travels around the world, visiting Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Ugly international incidents during these trips become commonplace.
January 1961 "Spy vs. Spy," the creation of Cuban refugee Antonio Prohias, makes its first appearance in MAD (#60). At the time, Prohias only speaks three words of English, two of which are "spy."
		October 1961 "The Lighter Side of..." debuts (#66). Oddly, even after 240 installments, creator Dave Berg never got around to doing "The Lighter Side of the Chemical Reaction Between Salicylic Acid and Boron."
January 1963 Sergio Aragones' "Drawn Out Dramas," the little cartoons that appear in the margins of MAD, debut (#76). Eye doctors everywhere rejoice.
		October 1964 MAD wins a victory over the music publishers for Irving Berlin and an army of songwriters when the U.S. Court of Appeals rules that the magazine has the right to parody their songs. The Supreme Court refuses to hear the songwriters' appeal, thereby setting a precedent for ruling in favor of idiots — which George W. Bush would benefit from in the 2000 election.
April 1964 In a cheap response to Playboy's "fold-out" centerfold, "The MAD Fold-In" premieres (#86) and cheap gorks around the globe begin the loathsome practice of folding-in the back page and leaving the store without purchasing the issue.
		September 1964 Don Martin coins the sound effect "SPUSH!" (#89)
October 1965 MAD's "Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions" debuts (#98). Has this feature run for four decades because readers love it? No, MAD has just been honoring an ill-advised 40-year contract with Al Jaffee!
		January 1966 MAD hits Off-Broadway! The MAD Show starring Linda Lavin and Jo Anne Worley, among others, begins a two-year run at the New Theatre. (Some people even come to see it and one actually sits through the entire production!)
June 1966 MAD writer Dick DeBartolo's article "Some 'Purchase Tags' Few People Ever Get To See" is publish (#103), beginning his incredibly moronic (and ongoing!) streak of writing an article for every issue of MAD — which now stands at a truly stupefying 321!
		April 1970 A young Chevy Chase writes his first and only article for MAD (#134), a career move he will come to regret even more than his decision to appear in Vegas Vacation.
September 1973 MAD #161, featuring a spoof of The Poseidon Adventure illustrated by Mort Drucker, becomes the best-selling issue in the magazine's history. Like the Poseidon itself, we've been sinking ever since.
		April 1980 MAD lends its name to Up The Academy, a movie so bad (even by Hollywood standards!) that publisher William Gaines pays tens of thousands of dollars to have all references to the magazine removed from the subsequent video release.
January 1985 Al Feldstein steps down as Editor and is replaced by Co-Editors Nick Meglin and John Ficcara, who to this day continue to fight over who's really in charge.
		September 1987 In celebration of the magazine's 35th anniversary, CBS' 60 Minutes broadcasts a feature on MAD, reported by Morely Safer. Critics point to this as the dawning of irresponsible journalism by network news organizations.
July 1990 Richard Nixon, as drawn by Jack Davis, makes his record sixth appearance on a MAD cover (#246). Five years later, Sylvester Stallone will equal Tricky Dick's "achievement" with his sixth cover appearance (#338). (George Dubya and Bill Clinton are tied for second place with five cover appearances each.)
		January 1991 At the first MAD art auction, long-time MAD fans Steven Spielberg and George Lucas waste a lot of money to purchase original MAD cover art spoofing many of their movies. Spielberg, who is completely out of control, also buys the cover of MAD #1.
October 1991 Completely MAD, the official history of the magazine, written by Maria Reidelbach and published by Little, Brown & Company, hits bookstores and becomes an immediate best-seller. (Go figure!)
		June 1992 MAD's Founder and Publisher William M. Gaines dies in his New York City apartment at age 70. Since then, his attendance in the office has been spotty at best.
October 1993 To settle the ongoing debate, MAD (#322) holds the definitive Alfred E. Neuman look-alike contest between Prince Charles, Ted Koppel and David Letterman. Letterman finished a distant third and Koppel is runner-up. Prince Charles finishes first with 38.2% of the vote and wins the uncoveted price — a free MAD subscription.
		September 1994 DC Comics' Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz become MAD's new Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, respectively. They vow to continue to maintain the magazine's tradition of stupidity, and that between them, they will continue to maintain Williams Gaines' body weight.
October 1995 MADtv, a new sketch comedy show, premieres on FOX. Across the nation, viewers scramble for their remote controls.
		March 1997 MAD is featured in Howard Stern's movie Private Parts, continuing the magazine's long tradition of film appearances dating back to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. (In some circles, Alfred is frequently referred to as "the seventh Beatle.")
April 1997 Monroe debuts (#356). Readers who complain that Duck Edwing is in questionable taste now really have something to complain about.
		January 1999 MAD's first annual run-down of the "20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of the Year" (#377) appears. The editors' original intent to choose the "2,000 Dumbest People, Events and Things of the Year" had to be scrapped due to space considerations.
August 1999 Totally MAD, a complete collection of every issue of MAD through 1998, debuts on CD-ROM. Since it runs only on PCs, Mac users everywhere rejoice.
		June 2000 madmag.com is born. Three months later, the internet economy totally collapses.
February 2001 In an episode of The Simpsons, the offices of MAD are blown to smithereens. We like to think it was an "homage."
		March 2001 MAD goes to a new color format and begins accepting ads. Critics say William Gaines is "spinning in his grave," but he's not. He was cremated.
October 2002 MAD celebrates its 50th anniversary in a blatantly self-congratulatory and totally pointless timeline.