Short answers, pulled from the story.
Rurouni Kenshin first appeared as a prototype story titled Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story in December 1992. This early tale featured an initial version of Kenshin preventing a crime lord from seizing control of the Kamiya dojo.
The original Rurouni Kenshin manga was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from the 12th of April 1994 to the 21st of September 1999. The series collected 255 individual chapters into 28 volumes with the final volume released on the 4th of November 1999.
An anime television series produced by SPE Visual Works aired on Fuji TV from January 1996 to September 1998. Studio Gallop animated episodes one through sixty-six while Studio Deen handled episodes sixty-seven through ninety-five.
The direct sequel Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc began publication in September 2017 as a follow-up to the original series. An epilogue chapter was created in 2021 exclusively shown at an exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary.
Before becoming an official author Masashi Kishimoto read Rurouni Kenshin during college years deciding he should try creating a samurai manga. Hideaki Sorachi cited it as major inspiration for Gintama and Koyoharu Gotouge partially based Tanjiro Kamado's appearance on Kenshin.