First issue of Zion's Watch Tower published in Pittsburgh

Background. Charles Taze Russell, an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an early Christian Zionist. His decision to start a new journal followed the disappointment of 1878, when the expected rapture did not occur. This failure caused significant strain between Russell and his associate Nelson Barbour, leading to a debate in their shared journal from early 1878 to mid-1879.

Publication Launch. Russell withdrew his financial support from Barbour's journal and established his own publication, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. The first issue was published in July 1879 in Pittsburgh. This magazine was an illustrated religious publication that has been published continuously since its inception, initially under this specific title.

Immediate Context. The launch occurred shortly after Russell's marriage to Maria Frances Ackley in March 1879. Separately, Russell taught as early as 1879 that God's favor had been restored to Jews as the result of a prophetic "double" which had ended in 1878, an idea suggested by Nelson Barbour. These dated facts sit alongside the journal's founding in the same year.