Short answers, pulled from the story.
Columbia Records was founded on the 15th of January 1889 by a stenographer named Edward D. Easton and a group of investors. The company was named after the District of Columbia where its headquarters were located.
Columbia Records introduced the Long Playing microgroove LP record format on the 21st of June 1948. This format rotated at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute and became the standard for the gramophone record for forty years.
Columbia Records released Kind of Blue by the Davis Sextet in 1959. This album remains one of the best-selling jazz albums by any label and appeared as number 12 in Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in 2003.
John Hammond signed Bob Dylan to Columbia Records in 1961. Hammond first met Dylan while producing the first Columbia album by folk singer Carolyn Hester and defended him against executives who wanted to drop him from the label.
Columbia Records introduced its new modernist-style Walking Eye logo in 1954. The original logo was tall and solid before being modified in 1961 to the familiar version still used today.