Happy birthday, William Randolph Hearst

It is the birthday of publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863), whose newspapers’ sensationalized stories pushed public opinion to a frenzy that led to the Spanish-American War. He built the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world. Hearst served two terms as congressman from New York but could never get elected mayor of New York City or governor of New York. His famous mansion, Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, California, is now a museum. Orson Welles used Hearst’s life as a basis for his title character in the movie Citizen Kane (1941). Hearst tried unsuccessfully to stop release of the movie but he did succeed in limiting its run, hurting ticket sales and Welles’ career.