ATLANTA — Ted Turner, the brash media mogul who founded CNN and transformed global news consumption with the world's first 24-hour cable news network, died Wednesday at his Florida home. He was 87.

Turner's death marks the end of an era for a larger-than-life figure known as the "Mouth of the South." He built a cable television empire, owned professional sports teams, won the America's Cup, championed environmental causes and donated $1 billion to the United Nations. His passing comes after a public battle with Lewy body dementia, diagnosed in 2018.

Here are 10 essential things to know about Ted Turner's remarkable life and enduring impact:

1. He pioneered 24-hour news with CNN's audacious 1980 launch.

On June 1, 1980, Turner launched Cable News Network from a converted Atlanta mansion. Skeptics mocked the idea of nonstop news, but CNN quickly proved viable. It provided real-time coverage of breaking events, fundamentally changing how the world receives information. Turner called CNN his greatest achievement.

2. Turner turned a billboard business into a media powerhouse.

Born Robert Edward Turner III on Nov. 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, he took over his father's advertising company after the elder Turner's 1963 suicide. He acquired a struggling Atlanta UHF station in 1970, renamed it WTBS and transformed it into the first "superstation" via satellite in 1976, beaming programming nationwide.

3. He owned the Atlanta Braves and Hawks, delivering a World Series title.

Turner bought the Braves in 1976 and the Hawks in 1977. His flamboyant ownership boosted the Braves' popularity through TBS broadcasts. The team won the 1995 World Series under his watch, cementing his sports legacy before he........

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