American Bible Society Historical Timeline (text)

A 194-year History of Innovative Bible Outreach

* Click here for visual timeline.

 

1816-1900

• Elected American Bible Society's first president-Elias Boudinot, former president of the Continental Congress
• Distributed the Society's first Bibles (300) to the Steuben County Bible Society in Bath, N.Y.
• Launched a grant program to distribute Bibles to U.S. Military-a program that continues today-by distributing Bibles to the crew of the U.S.S. John Adam
• Provided Bibles to the U.S. military during the Civil War-North and South
• Distributed Bibles to soldiers who fought in the Mexican War
• Completed the Society's first Bible translation,  a Lenape translation for Native American groups in the mid-Atlantic area of the United States
• Elected John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, president of ABS
• Developed first Bible for the visually impaired

 

1900-1950

• Distributed Bibles to troops serving in World War I
• Sent an exhibit of Bibles to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in
  San Francisco
• Created an exhibit for the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago highlighting the parts of the globe where portions of the Bible have been translated and distributed
• Supplied a King James Bible to be included in the Westinghouse Time Capsule at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair
• Provided more than 7.4 million copies of Bible literature to troops during
  World War II
• Established the Department of Visual Aids to produce stereopticon slides, motion pictures and filmstrips, radio and television broadcasting, exhibits and displays

 

1950-1975

• Published the Illustrated New Testament with more than 500 images and maps
• Started the Bible-a-Month Club^®, where members pledge as little at $4 a month to provide Bibles to people around the world
• Designed the Good News for a New Age exhibit for the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
• Provided a Revised Standard Version Bible to be included in the time capsule at the New York World's Fair
• Produced and released the New Testament in Today's English Version-now called the Good News Translation-a translation written in common English language
• Published Dios Lllega, a Spanish Bible translation
• Began the Good News for New Readers program, which supplies booklets of Bible passages throughout the world in more than 350 languages to people learning to read.  The booklets are used in schools, literacy classes, Sunday schools and for individual tutoring

 

1975-2000

• Produced and released the complete Good News Translation Bible
• Released Dios Habla Hoy, the full Bible in the Spanish Popular Version translation
• Provided more than 4 million Bibles to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in
  Los Angeles
• Contributed more than 1 million dollars for Amity Foundation to establish a printing plant in Nanjing to produce the first Chinese Bibles
• Secured Bibles for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through a "Gifts of Love" appeal
• Introduced The Life of Christ in the American Sign Language Translation
• Published the Contemporary English Version (CEV) New Testament
• Provided 300,000 compact Bibles to the U.S. military serving in the Persian Gulf
• Contributed a four year, $23.5 million commitment to help fund the publication, printing and distribution of Scripture in the Former Soviet Union
• Published the Contemporary English Version (CEV) Old Testament
• Distributed Bible resources at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta
• Disseminated 5,000 copies of Bible literature to black churches in the South that were victims of racially motivated arson attacks
• Published the African American Jubilee Bible

 

2000-Today

• Published the Contemporary English Version (CEV) Learning Bible
• Distributed more than 1 million copies of Bible literature to those affected by
  Sept. 11
• Developed and produced pocket-sized military Bibles with the help of Catholic and Protestant chaplains from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces
• Partnered with Bible societies in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka to distribute Bible resources to those affected by the 2004 tsunami
• Sent 1 million Bibles to those affected by Hurricane Katrina
• Partnered with Habitat for Humanity to give Bibles to new homeowners in the United States
• Commemorated the American Bible Society's 190th anniversary by hosting a Bible Read-a-Thon.  During the event, which lasted six days, the entire Bible was read in 26 different languages
• Launched an awareness program, La Biblia Es Mi Guía (The Bible is My Guide), to promote Bible reading among Spanish-speakers
• Collaborated with several Bible societies to launch a Web site that allows consumers across the world to receive the Bible on their mobile phone
• Released, A Fuego Con La Palabra (On Fire with the Word), featuring original songs from top Christian reggaetón artists in conjunction with the Latino Christian music label CanZion Group
• Launched the 40forGod, e100, Scriptures from the Heart, Share Your Story Now and 411God programs to encourage Bible engagement via a myriad of channels