Ghulam Ali Khan and Lata Mangeshkar at the function to felicitate Hridaynath Mangeshkar on his 71st birthday in Mumbai.

Students to tackle mosquito menace

breeding ground: Students will soon receive training in keeping the surroundings clean to prevent breeding of mosquitoes. A scene near the MRTS station near Triplicane in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Students and teachers of all government, government-aided and Corporation schools in the city will undergo training during November first week to tackle the mosquito menace, Director of Public Health P. Padmanaban said on Saturday.

The Directorate of Public Health will distribute brochures to schools. The brochures would carry information on how mosquitoes breed, how this could be prevented at schools and homes and the role of students in identification and destruction of breeding sources, Dr.Padmanaban told The Hindu.

“Students will have to check for breeding sources in and around their homes and their neighbourhood, and report the condition to their teacher everyday,” he said.

“Students who come across parents or neighbours covering water containers with pieces of cloth will be asked to discourage the practice.” They would be encouraged to get the piled up plastic cups and bottles cleared. Students would be required to keep their class teacher informed on the number of breeding sources they eliminated the previous day.

“In rural areas, the Health and Sanitation Committees will oversee the training given to students and give us reports periodically,” Dr. Padmanaban said. A senior Corporation official said the initiative fell in line with recognising students as health ambassadors.

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Indian football team

TRAINING HARD: The Indian football team goes through the paces at a training session on Saturday.

CHENNAI: The heat has truly begun for the round-one second-leg match in the World Cup football qualifier between Lebanon and India. Even before the kick-off at the floodlit Nehru Stadium on Sunday, enough has happened outside to up the tempo.

The Indian team landed at the practice venue on Saturday at the stipulated time only to find the Lebanon side already there.

The unexpected mix-up was something India’s chief coach Bob Houghton could not digest. After letting his displeasure known in no uncertain terms, he ensured that his team members remained in the bus itself until the rival side left the place. Yes, Houghton meant business and in his observations too, he has not given up India’s hopes.

“All we need to ensure is to be up 1-0 at the half-way stage. Things can change from there,” he said after the Indian team’s workout.

Messing it up

Houghton felt the Indians had measured up well in the away match in Saida, where India lost. “Those 20 to 25 minutes of poor play in the first phase of the second half finished it all (Lebanon had scored three goals in that period).” As for Sunday, he said there were injury worries.

“We may bring in Ajayan for Rennedy Singh (nursing a sore ankle) and Sameer Naik for a sick N.S. Manju,” he said.

Nonetheless, to the Lebanon officials, India had strong credentials.

“The 1-4 scoreline in the first leg is not the true reflection of Indian football’s power. Indians are good players,” felt Emile Rustom, the Lebanese coach.

Another official, Hassan Choughari, said: “We have difficulties. We could come only with 17 players because one player (Roda Antar was not released by his German club FC Kohn) and two others have injuries. One more (midfielder Khodor Salame) sustained injury on coming here.”

But Choughari believes, “It will be a good match, beautiful for the crowd.”

Meanwhile, the organisers, the Tamil Nadu and Chennai football associations, remain concerned, thanks to the weather.

The monsoon has been active and rains have been coming in spells, even if not heavy. “But for now, the ground looks good. The worst case scenario, if it pours and the arena gets flooded, is postponement by a day. If that is not possible, then report to FIFA seeking fresh dates. Of course, it is the referee who takes the decision,” said Rendeni Gamini, the Match Commissioner from Sri Lanka.

The teams (from): India: Subrata Paul, Sandip Nandi, Subhasis Roy Choudhary, Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Syed Rahim Nabi, saSamir Naik, N.S. Manju, Debarata Roy, Clifford Miranda, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, N.P. Pradeep, Steven Dias, Ajayan, Climax Lawrence, Gourmangi Singh, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri, Manjit Singh, Tarif Ahmed. Chief coach: Bob Houghton.

Lebanon: Lary Mehanna, Paul Rustom, Mootaz Bellah El Jounaidi, Hussein Amine, Hassan Moghnieh, Mohammed Ghaddar, Ali Al Saadi, Ramez Dayoub, Amer Khan, Khodor Salame, Mohamad Korhani, Faissal Antar, Mohamad Halawi, Ali Yaakoub, Abbas Ali Atwi, Mahmoud El Ali,Hossain Hemdane. Coach: Emile Rustom.

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HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN: Virender Sehwag’s

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN: Virender Sehwag’s ODI career was revived by the selectors with a recall to the National team for the first two games against Pakistan.

Ahmedabad: Virender Sehwag’s one-day career that had come to an abrupt halt after the two-match series in Bangladesh in May was revived by the national selectors here on Saturday when they included him in the Indian squad for the first two one-day internationals to be played against Pakistan at Guwahati and Mohali.

Sehwag, who has missed 19 matches for India after the Bangaldesh tour, has so far played 20 matches against Pakistan and scored 651 runs at 32.55.

The selectors also rewarded Uttar Pradesh seamer Praveen Kumar for his consistent showing for his State, India ‘A’ and in the Challenger Trophy here in the last two days.

Praveen Kumar has captured nine wickets in the competition here.

Nothing spectacular

Though Sehwag has done nothing spectacular to warrant a recall after five months — in between he played three Afro-Asian Cup matches — he has been given a chance.

He was a member of the Indian team that won the ICC T20 competition in South Africa.

On Saturday the selectors also hinted at a potential end to the one-day career of Rahul Dravid who has scored 20,077 runs for India in 445 matches with 36 centuries, 129 half centuries and held 274 catches.

Meagre collection

Clearly, Dravid’s meagre collection of 51 runs in six matches against Australia went against him.

He was not in the XI for the seventh match against Australia that India won at the Wankhede Stadium.

“Sehwag has been among the runs in recent times and today also he showed his form scoring 75.

“Dravid has been given a break, he’s a great player. The players whose form and fitness are good will always be considered for India.

Form and fitness

“Form and fitness applies to all players. This is a five-match series against Pakistan and we have picked the team for the first two matches,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, Chairman of the national selection committee.

Tamil Nadu’s wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has been dropped after his poor display in the five matches he played against England and the one against Australia.

It’s unfortunate that S. Badrinath, who had replaced the injured Gautam Gambhir in the Indian squad from the fifth match against Australia, had to make way for the left-hander.

Match fitness

Gambhir proved his match fitness in the T20 match at Mumbai and also the two matches here in the Challenger Trophy.

The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Niranjan Shah, said Mahendra Singh Dhoni had been consulted over phone.

He added that Lalchand Rajput would continue to be the cricket manager for the ODI series against Pakistan.

The team for matches at Guwahati and Mohali: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Rohit Sharma, S. Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir, Praveen Kumar. Lalchand Rajput (Cricket Manager).

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welcomes Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Beijing

Lessons from China: Communist Party of China politburo member and Beijing CPC Secretary Liu Qi welcomes Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Beijing on Saturday.

Beijing: Describing the pace of change in China as “truly astounding and outstanding,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said India had much to learn from China’s economic reforms and liberalisation.

In an address to the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University, organised by International Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), Ms. Gandhi also spoke of “pragmatism and mutual self-interest” as the basis for the future development of Sino-India relationship, despite different views on bilateral and global issues.

Ms. Gandhi said the world today had recognised the Asian renaissance and the re-emergence of China and India, and the two countries must work and prosper together as the “world is big enough” to accommodate the growth and aspirations of both the nations.

“People in India admire the tremendous progress China has made since it began its economic reforms in 1978,” Ms. Gandhi said on the third day of her five-day China visit at the invitation of Chinese President and CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao.

China had shown the world how much could be achieved with pragmatism, clarity of vision and determination of effort, Ms. Gandhi said, while pointing out that India, too, had been evolving its economic policies in response to “emerging circumstances and challenges.”

“We are not merely catching up with the developed world; in the coming decades, China and India will be the largest and third largest respectively among the global economies,” she said.

As in China, India focussed on balanced economic development to ensure growth with social welfare and justice, she said.

Noting that both countries sought an open and inclusive world order based on the principles of ‘Panchsheel’, Ms. Gandhi said pragmatism and mutual self-interest offered “a sound basis for the future development of our relationship.”

“We may well have different views and different perspectives on both bilateral and global issues. That is only natural. I have no doubt, however, that there is no problem that cannot be sorted out through free and frank dialogue and discussion.”

Observing that much had changed in the bilateral relationship, she said the countries already had a definite perspective of the future course of their relationship.

“We must be guided by the vision that dialogue and partnership must be pursued with consistency and focussed effort,” she said, adding there was peace and tranquillity on the border and outstanding issues relating to the boundary question were being discussed in a comprehensive manner by the Special Representatives of the two countries.

Referring to the new ways being explored by both India and China to give greater impetus to commercial ties, Ms. Gandhi said more than trade, it would be investment that would bring the two countries together.

Underlining that the Sino-India ties went beyond commerce, she said it was a relationship between two civilisations rather than two trading partners or two nations.

“This is the framework that we need to revive ... I would say beyond the economic, we must strengthen our cultural ties.”

Ms. Gandhi also said educational institutions, media, tourism industries and business sectors of both nations should intensify their efforts to bridge the information gap “so that we no longer retain stereotyped images of each other.”

She called for more frequent interactions between the scholars and intellectuals and joint projects “which can become visible and powerful symbols” of bilateral cooperation. She identified the areas including education, public health, science and technology and local governance.

“I see only one possibility between our two countries — that of co-existence with cooperation.”

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leader Karan Singh, Union Ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Anand Sharma and India’s Ambassador to China, Nirupama Rao, were present at the lecture.

Sonia meets Liu

Ms. Gandhi also met Liu Qi, a prominent leader of China’s ruling Communist party, as she continued her interaction with the new Chinese leadership.

Mr. Liu, a member of the Communist Party of China’s powerful organ, Central Committee Politburo, told Ms. Gandhi that Beijing wanted to strengthen the strategic partnership with India, noting that both countries had a deep friendship and shared broad space for cooperation. — PTI

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Normal life was affected Kashmir

PITCHED BATTLE: Protesters clash with the police in Srinagar on Saturday. Business establishments, schools and offices were closed after separatists called a strike to protest the 60th anniversary of the Army’s arrival in the Kashmir.

SRINAGAR: Normal life was affected throughout the Kashmir valley on Saturday due to a general strike called by the separatist organisations to protest the landing of Indian troops on this day in 1947.

Shops, business establishments, banks, educational institutions and government offices in most parts of Kashmir remained closed. Transport services were also affected. However, in many parts of Srinagar particularly the uptown shops were open and traffic was also plying normally. Supporters of the Mirwaiz Umar faction of the Hurriyat Conference took out a silent march on Residency Road asking the forces to go back.

A spokesman of the Hurriyat said that strike was complete. He condemned the house arrest of one of its leaders Zafar Akbar Bhat who was planning to lead a procession.

Antony visits Pahalgam

Defence Minister A.K. Antony visited Pahalgam in South Kashmir to preside over a function commemorating Silver Jubilee of the Jawahar Mountaineering Institute.

Mr. Antony who is president of the executive body of the Institute announced that two more institutes are being set up in Batote and Bhaderwah and work on those is going in full swing.

On the intervention of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who was present there, the Defence Minister announced that another institute will be set up in Leh also in near future. Later he chaired a high level meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation. The meeting was attended by Mr. Azad, state, military, paramilitary, intelligence and police officials besides officials from the Home Ministry which is currently on a visit to Srinagar.

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Normal life was affected Kashmir

PITCHED BATTLE: Protesters clash with the police in Srinagar on Saturday. Business establishments, schools and offices were closed after separatists called a strike to protest the 60th anniversary of the Army’s arrival in the Kashmir.

SRINAGAR: Normal life was affected throughout the Kashmir valley on Saturday due to a general strike called by the separatist organisations to protest the landing of Indian troops on this day in 1947.

Shops, business establishments, banks, educational institutions and government offices in most parts of Kashmir remained closed. Transport services were also affected. However, in many parts of Srinagar particularly the uptown shops were open and traffic was also plying normally. Supporters of the Mirwaiz Umar faction of the Hurriyat Conference took out a silent march on Residency Road asking the forces to go back.

A spokesman of the Hurriyat said that strike was complete. He condemned the house arrest of one of its leaders Zafar Akbar Bhat who was planning to lead a procession.

Antony visits Pahalgam

Defence Minister A.K. Antony visited Pahalgam in South Kashmir to preside over a function commemorating Silver Jubilee of the Jawahar Mountaineering Institute.

Mr. Antony who is president of the executive body of the Institute announced that two more institutes are being set up in Batote and Bhaderwah and work on those is going in full swing.

On the intervention of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who was present there, the Defence Minister announced that another institute will be set up in Leh also in near future. Later he chaired a high level meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation. The meeting was attended by Mr. Azad, state, military, paramilitary, intelligence and police officials besides officials from the Home Ministry which is currently on a visit to Srinagar.

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Maoists killed 18 persons

PHOTO: AP

MASSACRE AT NIGHT: A poignant scene as the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi (second from left), looks at the body of his son, Anup, and those of 17 others after Maoists gunned them down at Chikhadia village on Saturday. The victims were attending a cultural programme when the extremists, disguised as CRPF personnel, struck. Nunulal, brother of Mr. Babulal Marandi, however, escaped. This is one of the most brutal naxalite attacks since last year's massacre in Errabore, Chhattisgarh. Around 30 died in that incident.

HYDERABAD: Maoists killed 18 persons, including the son of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, when they opened indiscriminate fire on a group of people watching a cultural programme in Chikhadia village in Jharkhand, in the small hours of Saturday. Around eight persons were injured in the attack.

Over 40 extremists mingled with the crowd and opened fire with automatic weapons, after their target Nunulal Marandi, brother of Mr. Babulal Marandi escaped, Jharkhand’s Additional DGP, G.S. Rath told The Hindu over telephone. Mr. Anup Marandi fell to a hail of bullets.

Mr. Babulal Marandi is presently an MP of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) representing Koderma constituency.

The JVM leader had been a Maoist target, ever since he began opposing naxalite activity in his constituency bordering Bihar. Chikhadia village, which comes under Deori police station limits, is some four km away from the Bihar border and is known to be a hotbed of Maoist activity.

— Photo: PTI

GRIEF-STRICKEN: The grieving mother and other relatives of Anup Marandi, gunned down in the Maoist attack, in Giridih near Dhanbad on Saturday.

Mr. Rath said both Mr. Nunulal and Mr. Anup were participating in the well-publicised meeting in the village. There was a football match followed by a music programme. Police personnel on security withdrew after the match and did not stay for the music programme which continued well beyond midnight.

“Around 12.45 a.m. the Maoists took control of the stage and announced that Nunulal should surrender himself to them. As repeated announcements were being made, people scattered and Mr. Nunulal escaped. After the Maoists realised this, they fired shots directly into the audience with high-power weapons like SLRs and carbines,” Mr. Rath said. Except one or two victims, all were tribals.

Police are enquiring how the police personnel on security withdrew from the ground. Mr. Rath said the threat perception of Mr. Babulal Marandi and his brother were regularly assessed and district officials were alerted about the possibility of a Maoist attack on them. However, Mr. Anup Marandi, was not on the Maoist hit-list.

Police suspect that Maoists from Bihar could have been involved in the attack, one of the most brutal ones, after the Errabore killings in Chhattisgarh. Giridh district on the Bihar- Jharkhand border has been the centre stage of naxalite activity and in one of the most daring raids on a Home Guard Training centre in Giridh on November 11, 2005, Maoists looted 190 rifles.

On March 4, 2007, Maoists shot dead Sunil Kumar Mahato, an MP of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and three others in Beguria village of East Singhbhum district. According to an MHA report on internal security, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 67.46 per cent of total incidents of Maoist violence in the country and 75.98 per cent of total casualties.

PTI reports:

Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda termed the attack a “conspiracy” and said he had spoken to his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar seeking assistance for joint raids.

Nunulal Marandi, who survived the attack.

“The sequence of happenings emits the smell of a conspiracy. But it can be unravelled only after a thorough probe. I have sent our Director General of Police (V.D. Ram) for a spot inspection,” Mr. Koda told PTI at his residence in Ranchi without elaborating.

Five companies of para-military forces from Jharkhand and Bihar are embarking on a massive combing operation in the contiguous areas of the two states to trace the attackers, the DGP said.

Mr. Ram visited the carnage site and told newsmen that he had spoken to his counterpart in Bihar after the attack.

Mr. Nitish Kumar said, “There is no place for violence in a democracy. Such elements should be dealt with sternly.” Earlier, he spoke to Mr. Babulal Marandi and Mr. Koda to convey his shock and sympathies to the families of those killed in the attack.

The JVM has called a statewide bandh on Sunday, party sources said.

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The British Newspaper, 1951-2000

The British Newspaper, 1951-2000

Selwyn Eagle with Diana Dixon, NEWSPLAN: Report of the Newsplan Project
in the London and South Eastern Library Region (London, 1996)
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1953 : General Council of the Press formed.
• 1954 - Oct 3 : The Manchester Sunday paper, Emire News, sets up its first Cardiff edition as 'Wales's Own Sunday Paper: Printed in Wales for Wales'.
• 1959 - Aug 24 : Manchester Guardian changes title to the Guardian, based in London.
• 1961 : Second Royal Commission on the Press.
• 1961 - Feb 5 : Sunday Telegraph launched.
• 1962 - Feb 4 : Launch of Sunday Times magazine as Sunday Times Colour Section.
• 1964 : Press Council replaces General Council of the Press.
• 1964 - June 9 : Death of Lord Beaverbrook.
• 1964 - Sept 6 : Observer colour supplement launched.
• 1964 - Sept 15 : Daily Herald becomes the Sun.
• 1964 - Sept 25 : Daily Telegraph magazine launched.
• 1966 : Times bought by Roy Thomson, owner of the Sunday Times.
• 1966 - May 3 : Times begins printing news on the front page.
• 1969 : News of the World bought by Rupert Murdoch.
• 1969 - Nov 17 : Sun re-launched as a tabloid by Rupert Murdoch.
• 1973 : Y Dinesydd launched in Cardiff: the first of the Welsh-language community papers ['papurau bro'] established in Wales.
• 1974 : Third Royal Commission on the Press.
• 1976 : Evening Post (Nottingham) becomes the first British newspaper to introduce direct input by journalists.
• 1978 - Nov 2 : Daily Star launched.
• 1978 - Dec 1 : Publication of the Times and Sunday Times suspended for eleven months.
• 1979 : Financial Times launches international edition in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
• 1980 : Daily Star printed simultaneously by facsimile in London and Manchester.
• 1980 : British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter launched. Became Newspaper Library News in 1997.
• 1980 - Oct 31 : Closure of Evening News leaves London with just one evening newspaper.
• 1981 : Rupert Murdoch buys the Times and Sunday Times.
• 1981 - May 3 : Sunday Express magazine launched.
• 1981 - Sept 6 : News of the World magazine, Sunday, launched.
• 1982 - May 2 : Mail on Sunday launched: the first photocomposed national newspaper in Britain.
• 1982 - Oct 17 : Sulyn launched: first Welsh-language Sunday newspaper. Ceased publication in January 1983.
• 1984 : Robert Maxwell buys the Mirror Group.
• 1984 - Oct 2: Daily News (Birmingham) launched by Chris and Pat Bullivant. The UK's first free daily title.
• 1985 : Daily Telegraph bought by Conrad Black.
• 1986 : News International moves all national titles to its new plant at Wapping.
• 1986 - March 4 : Today launched by Eddy Shah, first national colour newspaper.
• 1986 - Sept 14 : Sunday Sport launched.
• 1986 - Oct 7 : Independent launched.
• 1987 : Today bought by Rupert Murdoch.
• 1987 : First women editors of national newspapers in modern times: Wendy Henry (News of the World) and Eve Pollard (Sunday Mirror).
• 1987 - Feb 24 : London Daily News launched by Robert Maxwell: the first attempt at a 24-hour newspaper in Britain. Ceased publication on 23 July.
• 1987 - April 26 : News on Sunday launched. Ceased publication in November.
• 1988 - Aug 7: Scotland on Sunday launched.
• 1988 - Aug 17 : Sport launched, initially appearing every Wednesday.
• 1989 - March 5 : Wales on Sunday launched in Cardiff.
• 1989 - Sept 17 : Sunday Correspondent launched. Ceased publication 25 November 1990.
• 1990 - Jan 28 : Independent on Sunday launched.
• 1990 - May 11 : European launched by Robert Maxwell. Ceased publication on 14 December 1998.
• 1991 : Press Complaints Commission replaces the Press Council.
• 1991 - Oct 7 : Sport becomes daily.
• 1991 - Nov 5 : Death of Robert Maxwell.
• 1992 : Dundee Courier becomes the last daily in Britain to put news not advertisements on its front page.
• 1993 : Observer bought by Guardian Media Group.
• 1994 - Nov : Electronic Telegraph launched: first British national on the Internet.
• 1995 - Nov 17 : Today ceases publication: first national to close since the Daily Sketch.
• 1996 - April 21: Sunday Business launched.
• 1997 - Nov 11 : Shetland Times versus Shetland News: Scotland's test case on Internet links, settled out of court, permits the News, under certain conditions, to link to stories on the Times's website.
• 1998 - March 15 : Sport First launched: Britain's first national Sunday newspaper dedicated to sport.
• 1998 - May 17 : Death of Hugh, Lord Cudlipp of Aldingbourne, who first joined the Daily Mirror in 1935.
• 1998 - June 10 : Death of Sir David English, the editor who transformed the fortunes of the Daily Mail.
• 1998 - Sept 1 : Death of Vere Harmsworth, Third Viscount Rothermere.
• 1999 - Feb 7: Sunday Herald (Glasgow) launched
• 1999 - March 16 : Metro launched: a daily newspaper distributed free to travellers on the London Underground.
• 1999 - March : The Heritage Lottery Fund awards NEWSPLAN a grant of £5 million.
• 2000 - Sept 20 : Business a.m. launched: the first new, daily newspaper in Scotland for 100 years.

Newspaper Library News Winter 1998/1999
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

The British Newspaper, 1901-1950

The British Newspaper, 1901-1950

The Daily Mirror 2 November 1903
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1902 - Jan 17 : Times Literary Supplement launched.
• 1903 - Nov 2 : Daily Mirror launched by Harmsworth. First daily illustrated exclusively with photographs.
• 1907 : National Union of Journalists founded.
• 1908 - Nov 14 : Illustrated Weekly Budget launched: 'The only 1d newspaper in the world printed in colour'. Only seven issues published.
• 1909 - March 2 : Daily Sketch launched. Merged with the Daily Mail in 1971.
• 1911 : Copyright Act.
• 1911 - Jan 25 : Daily Herald launched. First newspaper to sell two million copies.
• 1913 - April 12 : New Statesman founded by Sidney Webb.
• 1914 - March 11 : First half-tone in the Times: a 4 by 3 inch picture of the Rokeby Venus, damaged in a Suffragette demonstration.
• 1915 : 'Teddy Tail' - first British comic strip - in the Daily Mail.
• 1915 - March 14 : Sunday Pictorial launched by Rothermere. Became Sunday Mirror in 1963.
• 1916 : Daily Express bought by Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook).
• 1918 - Dec 29 : Sunday Express launched.
• 1922 - Aug 14 : Death of Lord Northcliffe.
• 1924 - Nov 2 : First crossword in a British newspaper, in the Sunday Express.
• 1926 - May : Most newspapers suspended during the General Strike. Government publishes British Gazette; TUC publishes British Worker.
• 1930 - Jan 1 : Daily Worker launched. Became Morning Star in 1966.
• 1930 - Feb 1 : First Times crossword.
• 1930 - June 2 : News Chronicle formed by the merger of the Daily News and the Daily Chronicle. Merged with Daily Mail in 1960.
• 1931 : Audit Bureau of Circulations formed.
• 1932 - Aug 23 : British Museum Newspaper Library opened at Colindale in North London.
• 1934 - Oct 18 : Daily Mail publishes the first photograph to be transmitted by beam radio (from Melbourne to London).
• 1938 - Oct 1 : Picture Post launched by Edward Hulton. Ceased publication in 1957.
• 1940 : Newsprint rationing introduced.
• 1940 - Nov 26 : Death of Lord Rothermere.
• 1941 : Daily Worker and Week suppressed.
• 1947 : First Royal Commission on the Press.

Sunday Pictorial 14 March 1915
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

The British Newspaper, 1851-1900

The British Newspaper, 1851-1900

The Colored News 15 September 1855
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1851 : Reuters News Agency opens in London.
• 1853 - Aug : Abolition of advertisement tax.
• 1855 : Yr Herald Cymraeg launched in Caernarfon.
• 1855 - June 29 : Daily Telegraph launched.
• 1855 - July 1 : Repeal of the Stamp Act opens the way for cheap, mass-circulation newspapers and modern newspaper design in terms of spacing and headlines.
• 1855 - Aug 4 : Colored News, first coloured newspaper, launched. Discontinued 29 September.
• 1855 : Clerkenwell News launched; became Daily Chronicle in 1872.
• 1855 - Sept 20 : Daily Telegraph becomes the first 1d London morning newspaper.
• 1857 : Daily Telegraph invents box number system for classified advertisements.
• 1859 - March 24 : Penny Bell's Life & Sporting News launched. Became Sporting Life on 30 April.
• 1859 - March 29 : Irish Times launched.
• 1861 : Paper duty abolished.
• 1861 - May 20 : First daily newspaper published in Wales: Cambrian Daily Leader is launched in Swansea.
• 1865 - Feb 7 : Pall Mall Gazette launched. Merged with Evening Standard in 1923.
• 1868 : Press Association formed.
• 1868 - Dec 8 : Echo launched, first ½d daily. Ceased publication in 1905.
• 1869 - May 1 : Western Mail launched.
• 1869 : Newspapers deposited directly with British Museum by publishers.
• 1869 - Dec 4 : Graphic launched. Ceased publication in 1932.
• 1871 : Central News founded to rival Press Association.
• 1872 : C.P. Scott becomes editor of Manchester Guardian (until 1929).
• 1872 - Feb 7 : South Wales Daily News launched in Cardiff.
• 1880 : W.T. Stead succeeds John Morley on Pall Mall Gazette and introduces 'new journalism', including the interview and gossip column, into Britain.
• 1880 - May 31 : St James Gazette launched. Merged with Evening Standard in 1905.
• 1881 - July 26 : Evening News launched. Merged with Evening Standard in 1980.
• 1881 - Oct 16 : People launched.
• 1881 - Oct 22 : Tit-Bits launched by George Newnes.
• 1888 - Jan 9 : London Financial Guide launched. Became Financial Times on 13 February.
• 1888 - Jan 17 : Star launched. Merged with Evening News in 1960.
• 1888 : David Lloyd George forms a company to produce the Welsh weekly, Udgorn Rhyddid ['Trumpet of Freedom'].
• 1889 - March 30 : Early use of photographs: Cambridge and Oxford boat crews, in Illustrated London News.
• 1890 - Jan 4 : Daily Graphic launched, first daily illustrated paper. Merged with Daily Sketch in 1926.
• 1891 - Nov 4 : First half-tone newspaper picture published in Daily Graphic: that of George Lambert, Liberal parliamentary candidate.
• 1892 - May 21 : Morning founded; became London Morning in 1898, then Morning Herald; purchased by C. Arthur Pearson; in September 1900 merged with Daily Express.
• 1892 - May 23 : Morning Leader founded: later amalgamated with Daily News.
• 1893 - Jan 2 : Financial Times first appears on pink paper.
• 1893 - Jan 31 : Westminster Gazette launched. Merged with Daily News in 1928.
• 1893 - Feb 13 : South Wales Daily Post launched in Swansea.
• 1896 - May 4 : Daily Mail launched by Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe).
• 1897 - June 23 : Largest news illustration ever printed by any daily paper in this country, of the Diamond Jubilee procession, published in Daily Mail.
• 1899 : Llais Llafur launched by Ebeneser Rees. Ceased publication in 1915.
• 1900 - April 24 : Daily Express launched by Pearson. First national daily to put news on the front page.

The People 16 October 1881
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

The British Newspaper, 1801-1850

The British Newspaper, 1801-1850

The Times 10 January 1806
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1801 - Sept 27 : Weekly Dispatch launched. Became Sunday Dispatch in 1928. Ceased publication in 1961.
• 1802 - Jan 1 : Cobbett's Annual Register founded, later Cobbett's Weekly Political Register. Ceased publication in 1836.
• 1803 : Globe launched. Merged with Pall Mall Gazette in 1921.
• 1804 : Cambrian launched in Swansea. First newspaper published in Wales.
• 1806 - Jan 10 : First use of illustration in the Times: Nelson's funeral.
• 1808 - Jan 3 : Examiner launched. Editor Leigh Hunt imprisoned in 1813 for publishing criticism of the Prince Regent. Ceased publication in 1881.
• 1808 : North Wales Gazette launched in Bangor. First newspaper published in North Wales.
• 1810 : Carmarthen Journal launched.
• 1814 - Jan 1 : Baptist Minister, Joseph Harrris launches Seren Gomer ['Star of Gomer'] in Swansea. First Welsh-language newspaper.
• 1814 - Nov 24 : First issue of a newspaper - the Times - printed on a (Koenig) power press.
• 1815 : Stamp Duty increased to 4d per sheet.
• 1817 - Jan 25 : Scotsman launched.
• 1821 - Feb 18 : New Observer launched. Became the Sunday Times on 20 October 1822.
• 1821 - May 5 : Manchester Guardian founded by John Edward Taylor.
• 1822 : Stamp Office agrees to pass copies of all newspapers to British Museum.
• 1822 : Cardiff Weekly Reporter launched.
• 1822 - March 3 : Bell's Life in London adds and Sporting Chronicle to its title. First newspaper to include sport as a major component. Merged with Sporting Life in 1886.
• 1827 - May 21 : Standard launched, later Evening Standard.
• 1828 - July 5 : Spectator founded.
• 1832 : First recorded British newspaper cartoon, published in Bell's New Weekly Messenger.
• 1837 : Northern Star, major Chartist newspaper, founded in Leeds by Feargus O'Connor.
• 1841 - July 17 : Punch founded. Ceased publication in 1992; re-launched in 1996.
• 1841 - Nov 12 : Jewish Chronicle founded. Oldest Jewish newspaper in the world.
• 1842 - May 14 : Illustrated London News launched: first fully illustrated weekly.
• 1842 - Nov 27 : Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper launched, later Lloyd's Weekly News. Became Sunday News in 1923; incorporated with Sunday Graphic in 1931.
• 1843 : Yr Amserau ['The Times'] founded in Liverpool by John Jones and edited by William Rees. Published in the Isle of Man between July and September 1848. Merged with Baner Cymru ['Banner of Wales'] in 1859 under Thomas Gee to become Baner ac Amserau Cymru.
• 1843 - Sept 2 : Economist founded, to campaign for free trade.
• 1843 - Oct 1 : News of the World founded by John Browne Bell at 3d. Newsagents at first refused to handle it at such a low price.
• 1844 - Aug 6 : First story based on telegraphed news printed in the Times: birth of Queen's son at Windsor.
• 1846 : Mitchell's Newspaper Press Directory founded, later Benn's Media Directory.
• 1846 - Jan 21 : Daily News launched, edited by Charles Dickens.
• 1848 : William Howard Russell joins staff of the Times. Shortly to become first professional war correspondent.
• 1848 : First W.H. Smith station bookstall opened, at Euston.
• 1850 - May 5 : Reynold's Weekly Newspaper launched. Became Sunday Citizen in 1962; ceased publication in 1967.

Charles Mitchell, The Newspaper Press Directory ... For the Year 1846 (London, [1846])
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

The World's Press 1893

The Old Newspaper Reading Room in the British Museum, Bloomsbury
Sell's Dictionary of the World's Press 1893

History of Newspapers in world

A Brief History of Newspapers

The newspaper as we know it today is a product borne of necessity, invention, the middle class, democracy, free enterprise, and professional standards.

Choose your historical marker to begin the history of newspapers. The first news sheet? The first newspaper? The first daily newspaper?

Pre-history "newspapers" were one-to-one in nature. The earliest variation on a newspaper was a daily sheet published in 59 BC in Rome called Acta Diurna (Daily Events), which Julius Caesar ordered posted throughout the city. The earliest known printed newspaper was in Beijing in 748.

In 1451, Johannes Gütenberg uses a press to print an old German poem, and two years later prints a 42-line Bible -- the significance being the mass production of print products, ushering in an era of newspapers, magazines, and books. By 1500, the genesis of a postal system can be seen in France, while book publishing becomes popular throughout Europe and the first paper mill can be found (England).

Zeitung (newspaper) is a news report published in Germany in 1502, while Trewe Encountre becomes the earliest known English-language news sheet in 1513. Germany's Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, in 1609, is the first regularly published newspaper in Europe. Forty-four years after the first newspaper in England, the Oxford Gazette is published, utilising double columns for the first time; the Oxford/London Gazette is considered the first true newspaper. The first North American newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, was published in 1690 in Boston.

The 1700s was a century in which market elements were created that encouraged the development of daily newspapers: rising literacy, the formation of nation-states, a developing postal system, the proliferation of urban centers, a rising literary and philosophical tradition emphasising democratic involvement in government, and technologies that supported newspaper production. In short, it was a great news century. The first daily newspaper was The Daily Courant in London, 1702. In 1754, The Daily Advertiser in London uses the first four-column format. France's first daily newspaper appears in 1777, Journal de Paris, while the first United States daily was the Pennsylvania Packet in 1784.

The rise of the middle class transformed newspapers in the 1800s. A penny (US$0.01) buys a New York newspaper in 1833, opening up the first mass market for newspapers. In 1847, the telegraph is used as a business tool, transforming far-away stories. In 1873, an illustrated daily newspaper can be seen in New York. In 1878 the first full-page newspaper advertisements appear, and in 1880 the first photographs are seen in newspapers, using halftones.

With the basic technical groundwork for the modern newspaper in place by the late 19th century, the story of newspapers in the 20th century was about professional development and adaptation to changing consumer and media markets. The story also involved an evolving business model that rode an ever-growing wave of mass-market advertising. Increased profitability and higher revenues attracted publicly owned corporations interested in buying newspapers from descendants of company founders, while simultaneously exposing newspapers to the whims of cash- and profit-hungry stock markets.

By 2000, newspapers were juggling priorities: fragmentation of news consumption, fragmentation of advertising investments, the advantages and disadvantages of being a mass medium, balancing the wants of the marketplace with the company's duty to provide the needs of the marketplace, a journalistic backlash against industry changes, the sheer physicality of ink-on-paper production and distribution versus digital distribution, increasing profit pressure surrounding the core print product, and extension of the company's core brand into other profit centers.

The British Newspaper 1651-1700

The British Newspaper, 1651-1700

The Ladies Mercury 27 February 1693
The British Library, 816.m.19.(7.)
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1655 : Cromwell restores the licensing system and suppresses all newspapers except official publications such as Mercurius Politicus.
• 1662 : After the Restoration, the Printing Act brings in stringent press control.
• 1665 - Nov 16 : Oxford Gazette founded. Became London Gazette in February 1666. The world's oldest surviving periodical.
• 1679 : Lapse of Licensing Act brings a flood of unlicensed newspapers, later suppressed.
• 1693 : Ladies Mercury founded, the first women's magazine.
• 1695 : Parliament decides against renewing the Licensing Act; the way is cleared for a free press.
• 1696 : Lloyd's News founded, forerunner of Lloyd's List.
• 1699 : Edinburgh Gazette founded.

The Edinburgh Gazette 18-21 September 1699
The British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

History of the Newspaper Library

Chronology of Key Dates in the History of the Newspaper Library

• 1822 : Newspapers are passed to the British Museum from the Stamp Office.
• 1869 : Newspaper Printers and Reading Rooms Act: newspapers to be deposited by publishers at the British Museum.
• 1897 : Space for newspapers in the British Museum at Bloomsbury exhausted.
• 1900 : British Museum Bill authorising the disposal of pre-1837 newspapers is withdrawn after protests.
• 1902 : British Museum Act authorising purchase of the Colindale site.
• 1903 : British Museum Newspaper Repository completed as a warehouse for English provincial, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh newspapers.
• 1905 : Newspaper Repository opened.

A weekly horse and cart delivery of newspapers from Colindale to Bloomsbury.
• 1922 : Newspaper Repository is full.
• 1928 : Royal Commission on National Museums and Galleries Interim Report recommends that the Colindale Repository be enlarged to contain all newspapers published later than 1800 and that a reading room be built.
• 1930 : Building of the library commences.
• 1932 - Aug 23 : British Museum Newspaper Library is opened.

All newspapers are transferred from Bloomsbury to Colindale, except for the pre-1801 London newspapers in the Burney Collection, and newspapers in oriental scripts.
• 1940 - Oct 20 : A Luftwaffe bomb destroys the 1903 building. An estimated 6,000 volumes of newspapers are also destroyed and a further 15,000 volumes are damaged.
• 1950 : Two temporary storage buildings (sheds) are built as well as a microfilm annexe to house equipment donated by the Rockefeller Foundation of New York.
• 1951 : Temporary buildings are full.
• 1956 : New extension to the Library is commenced: the 'new wing'.
• 1957 : New extension is finished with space up until 1970.
• 1959 : Post of Superintendent is upgraded to Senior Executive Officer and is filled by Peter Allen.
• 1969 : Microfilming of the foreign newspaper collection begins.
• 1971 : New Microfilm building is completed.
• 1972 : Middle Reading Room, staff canteen, and the public cafeteria are built on the site of the old microfilm annexe.
• 1973 : British Library is established. All library departments of the British Museum are formed into the new national library of the United Kingdom.
• 1975 : Catalogue of the Newspaper Library Colindale, compiled by P.E. Allen, is published in eight volumes.

First volume of the Bibliography of British Newspapers (Wiltshire) is published.
• 1976 : Study into the future policy of the Newspaper Library by Andrew Phillips is published.
• 1977 : A consultation paper, The Newspaper Collections and the Future, is published.
• 1979 : The Plan for the Newspaper Collections published. Working Party on Access to Newspapers is established.
• 1980 : First curatorial post in the Newspaper Library is established when John Westmancoat is appointed as Information Officer.

First edition of the British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter is published, which becomes Newspaper Library News in 1997.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Working Group on Newspapers is established.
• 1981 : Retirement of Peter Allen.

First professional Head of the Newspaper Library is appointed: Stephen Green.
• 1982 : Fifty years of service to readers and libraries commemorated.
• 1983 : Report of the Working Party on Access to Newspapers published.

First NEWSPLAN project established.
British Library Consultative Group on Newspapers is set up.
• 1985 : Eve Johannson is appointed Head of the Newspaper Library.

New Microfilm Reading Area opened.
120 Colindale Avenue is leased.
• 1986 : First of the NEWSPLAN reports is published (South West).
• 1987 : First international symposium on newspaper preservation and access is organised by IFLA.
• 1989 : Geoffrey Hamilton is appointed Head of the Newspaper Library.
• 1991 : Newspaper Library becomes responsible for the Newspaper Legal Deposit Office at 120 Colindale Avenue, formerly administered by the Copyright Receipt Office.
• 1994 : Geoff Smith is appointed Head of the Newspaper Library and Newspaper Librarian.

Conversion of the Newspaper Library catalogue to machine-readable form is commenced.
A high density store for positive microfilm is built.
• 1995 : Conversion of the catalogue is completed.
• 1996 : Erection of two-storey prefabricated building with reader facilities on the first floor - the 'New Reading Room' - providing twenty-nine extra reader places.

Final NEWSPLAN report is published (London and South Eastern Library Region).
British Library Newspapers website is established.
• 1997 : John Byford is appointed Head of the Newspaper Library and Newspaper Librarian.

A Closed Circuit Television system is installed in the Reading Rooms.
Structural damage necessitates the destruction of the former official residence of the Superintendent, to the west side of the Newspaper Library site, built in 1903.
• 1999 : The Heritage Lottery Fund awards a grant of £5 million to NEWSPLAN.

Edmund King is appointed Head of the Newspaper Library and Newspaper Librarian.
An online catalogue of the collections is made available in the Reading Rooms.
• 2000 : The Newspapers catalogue of over 52,000 newspaper and periodical title holdings is launched on the web.

British Library Newspapers building in the 1980s

British Library Newspapers

Select Bibliography on the History of British Library Newspapers

'1932-1982: 50 Years Service to Readers and the Public', British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter, 5 (Autumn 1982): 1-3.

'British Library Newspaper Library Services and Collections in 1998', Newspaper Library News, 25 (Winter 1998/1999): 15.

'British Library Newspaper Library Services and Collections: January to June 1999', Newspaper Library News, 26 (Summer 1999): 14.

'British Library Newspaper Library Services and Collections: January to June 2000', Newspaper Library News, 28 (Summer 2000): 14-15.

'British Library Newspaper Library Services and Collections: July to December 1999', Newspaper Library News, 27 (Winter 1999/2000): 14-15.

'British Library Newspaper Library Services and Collections: July to December 2000', Newspaper Library News, 29 (Winter 2000/2001): 12-14.

'Review of Activities at the Newspaper Library in 1987', British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter, 9 (January 1988): 5, 7.

[Janice Anderson], 'The Newspaper Library' in: The British Library (London: British Library, 1983), pp. 38-41.

J.O. Baylen, 'Some Recollections of the British Library Newspaper Library since the 1950s', Newspaper Library News, 25 (Winter 1998/1999): 3-4.

Alan Day, The New British Library (London: Library Association Publishing, 1994), pp. 99-108.

Eamon Dyas, 'The Early Development of the Newspaper Library', British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter, 10 (June 1989): 4-6.

Elizabeth Ellis, The British Library Newspaper Library, 1973-1986, Unpublished M.A. Thesis (Loughborough University, 1986).

Stewart Gillies, '90 years of Colindale', British Library Newspaper Library Newsletter, 20 (Winter 1995/1996): 9-11.

Stephen Green, 'The Newspaper Collections of the British Library', in: Sources for American History in U.K. Libraries, ed. Alison Cowden and John Pinfold, Proceedings of a Conference of the SCONUL Advisory Committee on American Studies, Held at the American Embassy, London, on 2 December, 1983 (London: SCONUL Advisory Committee on American Studies, 1985), pp. 13-18.

Stephen Green, 'The British Library's Newspaper Library in a New Era', Journal of Newspaper and Periodical History, 1(1) (Winter 1984): 4-11.

Geoffrey Hamilton, 'A Ticket to History', British Book News (April 1990): 242-244.

Michael Harris, 'Collecting Newspapers: Developments at the British Museum During the Nineteenth Century', in: Bibliophily, ed. Robin Myers and Michael Harris (Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 1986), pp.44-62

P.R. Harris, A History of the British Museum Library 1753-1973 (London: British Library, 1998), pp. 271-273, 327-328, 355-356, 376-378, 468-473, 568-569, 601-602.

F.J. Hill, 'Newspapers' in: 'The Shelving and Classification of Printed Books' in: The Library of the British Museum: Retrospective Essays on the Department of Printed Books, ed. P.R. Harris (London: British Library, 1991), pp. 50-54, 57.

Eve Johannson, 'The British Library Newspaper Library: Looking Ahead', Journal of Newspaper and Periodical History, 2(3) (Summer 1986): 34-37.

Huw Richards, 'History Stored in Column Inches', Times Higher Education Supplement (1 December 1991): 7.

Gareth Weekes, 'There's No News Like the Old News: A Remarkable Library at Colindale is Celebrating its 50th Anniversary', Hendon Times (16 September 1982): 10.

The British Newspaper, 1751-1800

The British Newspaper, 1751-1800

The Leedes Intelligencer 19 May 1761
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1754 : Leedes Intelligencer founded, later the Yorkshire Post.
• 1755 - Oct 18 : Bath Advertiser, Bath's second newspaper, founded to include 'Lists of the Nobility and Gentry resorting to the BATH; with an Account of Plays perform'd at both the Theatres'.
• 1760 - Jan 12 : Public Ledger founded: oldest British periodical with continuous daily publication.
• 1763 : First open reporting of Parliament since June 1738, in the North Briton under John Wilkes, who was prosecuted for seditious libel.
• 1770 : Morning Chronicle founded. Ceased publication in 1862.
• 1771 : Press wins the right to report Parliamentary proceedings.
• 1772 : Morning Post founded by John Bell. Merged with Daily Telegraph in 1937.
• 1779 : First London Sunday newspaper: (Mrs) E. Johnson's British Gazette and Sunday Monitor. Ceased publication in 1829.
• 1780 - Nov 1 : Morning Herald founded. Ceased publication in 1869.
• 1785 - Jan 1 : Daily Universal Register founded by John Walter I. Became the Times on 1 January 1788. Britain's oldest surviving newspaper with continuous daily publication.
• 1788 - May 3 : Star and Evening Advertiser launched: the first daily evening newspaper.
• 1790 - June 20 : Sunday Chronicle announces 4 a.m. Sunday morning publication, instead of Saturday night. All Sunday papers adopt the practice about this time.
• 1791 - Dec 1 : Observer founded: oldest surviving Sunday newspaper.
• 1794 - Feb 8 : Morning Advertiser founded by the Licensed Victuallers Association. In 1815 it became the first daily published in Fleet Street.
• 1796 - May 1 : Bell's Weekly Messenger founded. Ceased publication in 1896.

The Bath Advertiser 15 November 1755
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

The British Newspaper, 1701-1750

Farley's Bath Journal 18 October 1756
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©2000, The British Library Board

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The British Newspaper, 1701-1750

The Edinburgh Courant 17-19 December 1705
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1999, The British Library Board

• 1701 - Sept 6 : Estimated first issue of the Norwich Post: probably the first provincial newspaper.
• 1702 - March 11 : Daily Courant founded, first daily paper. Ceased publication in 1735.
• 1704 : Weekly Review founded by Daniel Defoe.
• 1704 - Aug 12 : Earliest surviving copy of a provincial newspaper: William Bonny's Bristol Post-Boy (No. 91).
• 1705 : Edinburgh Courant founded.
• 1706 : Evening Post, first evening newspaper, founded.
• 1709 : First Copyright Act.
• 1709 : Tatler founded by Steele and Addison.
• 1709 : Worcester Post-Man founded. Became Berrow's Worcester Journal in 1753. Britain's oldest surviving non-official newspaper.
• 1710 : Examiner founded, with Swift briefly as editor.
• 1711 : Spectator founded by Steele and Addison.
• 1712 - Aug : Stamp duty imposed on newspapers and advertisements.
• 1713 : Stamford Mercury founded, second oldest surviving provincial newspaper.
• 1719 : Daily Post founded, with Defoe as contributor.
• 1727 : London Evening Post founded. Ceased publication in 1797.
• 1730 - Feb 3 : Daily Advertiser founded. Ceased publication in 1798.
• 1731 : Gentleman's Magazine founded by Edward Cave. Ceased publication in 1914.
• 1734 : Lloyd's List founded.
• 1737 : Belfast Newsletter, the world's oldest surviving general daily newspaper, founded.
• 1738 : All parliamentary reporting suppressed.
• 1747 - Dec 29 : Aberdeen Journal founded, later Press and Journal, the oldest surviving Scottish newspaper.

Stamford Mercury 6 September 1722
British Library Newspaper Library
Copyright ©1997, The British Library Board

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Historical Overview of British Library

The British Museum began collecting newspapers systematically during the 1820s. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, there was no storage space left, and in the British Museum Bill of 1900 it was proposed that the collections of provincial newspapers should be disposed of. Fortunately, this aroused considerable opposition, and instead a site was purchased at Colindale in the north London suburbs and a Newspaper Repository was built. Opening in 1905, this became the home of English provincial, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish newspapers. London newspapers and overseas titles remained in the main British Museum building at Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury. There were no facilities for readers, so a weekly transport system consisting, at first, of a horse-drawn wagon, and from 1913 a motor van, delivered newspaper volumes to readers in the Newspaper Reading Room in the British Museum.

After about twenty years the Repository was full. In 1928 the Royal Commission on National Museums and Galleries recommended that a purpose-built newspaper library, with facilities for readers, should be constructed at Colindale. This was completed in May 1932. The new British Museum Newspaper Library contained a public reading room with space for fifty-six readers, a bindery, and an additional storage building on six floors. All the British Museum's newspapers were transferred to Colindale, with the exception of pre-1801 London newspapers and newspapers in oriental languages.

The British Museum Newspaper Repository

The Repository building was destroyed by bombing on 20 October 1940, along with an estimated 6,000 volumes of English provincial and Irish newspapers, mainly from the late 19th century. Two temporary buildings were erected at the end of the War to provide replacement storage space, and these are still in use today. Plans for a new building to replace the Repository were begun in 1943, but not put into effect until 1957 when the 'new wing' was finally completed. In the last few decades the Reading Rooms have been extended, a purpose-built microfilming unit and a specially designed microfilm reading area have been opened. In 1996, a further reading room extension, known as the New Reading Room, was opened which includes facilities which provide networked access to online newspapers and newspapers on CD-ROM. In 1973, the Newspaper Library, along with the other library departments of the British Museum, became part of the newly-formed British Library.

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