October 30th is the day that the New York Times printed verbatim the very first press release written by Ivy Lee, the “father of modern PR”. The Pennsylvania Railroad was a client of Ivy Lee, and on October 28th, 1906, 50 people lost their lives due to a three-car train jumping a trestle in New Jersey and plunging into a thoroughfare creek. In response to this, Ivy Lee created the first press release that afternoon. He not only convinced the railroad to distribute a public statement, but he also convinced them to provide a special train to get reporters to the scene of the accident.