January 1 Sunday – James T. Fields announced his retirement as editor-in-chief of the Atlantic. William Dean Howells took over the job of the faltering publication. From a peak of 50,000 circulation, the Atlantic fell to 35,000 in 1870 after the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s attack on Lord Byron for adultery. By 1874 the circulation was down to 20,000, and by the end of Howells’ editorship was about 12,000 [Goodman and Dawson 138, 142].