THE OLDEST SURVIVING NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES UNVEILED

 

The Hartford Courant

Founded prior to American independence, The Hartford Courant is the country's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. On October 29, 1764, New Haven printer Thomas Green began publishing The Hartford Courant (then known as The Connecticut Courant) out of the Heart and Crown Tavern in Hartford, Connecticut.SPECIAL REPORT

The Stories Behind the Nation’s Oldest Newspapers

Colman Andrews

October 24, 2018 1:36 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 3:54 pm

What is a newspaper — other than an endangered species in this digital age? Merriam-Webster defines it as “a paper that is printed and distributed usually daily or weekly and that contains news, articles of opinions, features, and advertising.”

According to the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the first newspaper in existence was the German-language Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien (Account of All Distinguished and Commemorable News), published in a book-like format in 1605 in Strasbourg — now in France, but then part of the Holy Roman Empire. The first publication in broadsheet format, more or less like a modern paper, was Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. (Current Events from Italy, Germany, etc.), published in Amsterdam in 1618.

The first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick, was published in Boston in 1690, but it didn’t last long: After only one issue, it was suppressed by the colonial authorities because it contained, as the governor of Massachusetts put it, “sundry doubtful and uncertain Reports” (fake news?) — and because it had been published without the required license.