1954 n=49

1962 n=33

1977 n=120

1987 n=532

1987 n=666

1987 n=2392

1994 n=7397

1998 n=13509

2001 n=15112

2004 n=24978

Proctor and Gamble ran a contest in 1962.  The contest required solving a TSP on a specified 33 cities.  There was a tie between many people who found the optimum.  An early TSP researcher, Professor Gerald Thompson of Carnegie Mellon University, was one of the winners.

(Picture is a link to a higher resolution version.)