1440

German Johann Gutenberg invents movable type by developing foundry-cast metal characters and a wooden printing press.

1455

Gutenberg prints his first book, a Latin Bible.

1475

Englishman William Caxton produces the first book printed in English, The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.

1559

Pope Paul IV issues the Index of Forbidden Books, which lists books the Roman Catholic Church considers dangerous to faith and morals.

1639

Stephen Day prints Freeman’s Oath and An Almanack in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first books published in the American colonies.

1663

Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions), considered the world’s first magazine, is published in Germany.

1690

America’s first newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently suspended for operating without a royal license.

1731

The Gentleman’s Magazine, considered the first modern magazine, is published in England. The periodical is intended for entertainment and includes essays, stories, poems and political commentary.

1741

Benjamin Franklin plans to publish America’s first magazine, General Magazine, but is beaten to the punch when American Magazine comes out three days earlier.

1764

Pierre Fournier of France develops the point system to measure type sizes. His system is further refined by Francois Didot, establishing consistency in type measure throughout the world.

1771

Encyclopaedia Brittanica, the first English-language encyclopedia, is published in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1793

The Pennsylvania Evening Post becomes America’s first daily newspaper.

1796

German Alois Senefelder develops lithography, a method of image transfer that produces high-quality printed images.

c. 1800

The Third Earl of Stanhope manufactures an all-metal printing press.

1810

In London, Friedrich Koenigh uses steam power to operate a printing press. His system involves rolling a cylinder over paper that lies on top of inked type. Koenigh’s method signals the end of the flat-hand press.

1822

American-born William Church invents the first mechanical typesetting device.

1846

Richard Hoe patents the first rotary press, which allows publishers to increase circulation exponentially.

1851

Selling for a penny a copy, the New York Times debuts.

1917

The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded for editorial writing, reporting, history of the United States and biography or autobiography. Fiction, drama and poetry debut in 1918.

The first op-ed page appears in the New York Times.

1921

Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence wins Pulitzer Prize.

1967

Rolling Stone and New York Magazine debut, spawning the popularity of special-interest and regional magazines.

1985

With the availability of relatively inexpensive laser printers and computers, tools for desktop publishing begin to be commonly used.

1986

The Academic American Encyclopedia is available on CD-ROM. It is the first reference work published in this medium.                           Soured from: Several Internet sites.

Community engagement and publishing business

Newspapers and magazines have over time been committing more space to opinions and letters as a forum for community engagement where readers can comment, ask or share their opinion. Different sections or independent products were developed by the different publishing houses targeting particular audience interests, which audiences the publishers marketed to advertisers. More on page 3 below

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