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Publick Occurences Publication
The first multi-page newspaper in America, Publick Occurences Both Forreign and Domestick, is published. Though the publication was intended to be released monthly, British colonial authorities shut it down four days later. -
The Boston News-Letter Publication (First Continuously Published Newspaper in British America)
The Boston News-Letter is initially published. First edited by John Campbell, the paper was subsidized by the British government and mostly followed news in England. -
John Peter Zenger Incident
John Peter Zenger is arrested after criticizing New York Governor William Cosby. In his trial eight months later, Zenger was defended by Andrew Hamilton against charges of seditious libel, as Zenger did not produce any false statements. -
First Amendment is Ratified (Along with Rest of Bill of Rights)
The Bill of Rights is put into effect, containing the first ten Amendments to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment hereby states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." -
Saturday Evening Post First Issue Publication
The Saturday Evening Post was, at one point, the most circulated weekly magazine in America. Previously published by the Curtis Publishing Company, the Post was shut down in 1969 then revived in 1971. Now, the Saturday Evening Post Society publishes the paper on a bimonthly basis. -
Boston Transcript Publication (First Penny Press Newspaper)
Lynde M. Walter's Boston Transcript is first published. As their name suggests, penny press newspapers costed one cent per issue, much lower than the average of 6 cents for other newspapers. This made news much more accessible for the working class. -
First Telegraph by Samuel Morse
Samuel Morse sent the message "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT" over the first long-distance telegraph system in the United States to the Mt. Clare Depot in Baltimore, MD. The electrical telegraph uses electrical signals through means such as telecommunication lines. -
Yellow Journalism Peaks
Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal vied for control of newspaper circulation, with competition reaching a high during the Spanish-American War. Tactics used in yellow journalism include exaggeration of events and relying on subject matter that is more likely to grab potential readers' attention. -
McClure's Magazine Publication (Muckraking)
Ida Tarbell's investigative journalism series begins, helping begin a movement of muckraking journalists. "Muckrakers" are journalists who search for truthful information, often inspiring societal reform. -
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle Publication
The Jungle, a muckraking novel by Upton Sinclair, is published. Though the book was primarily intended to portray the hardships that immigrants faced in the Industrial Age, it is most well known for exposing the questionable and unsanitary practices of the American meatpacking industry (of which Sinclair previously investigated for a socialist newspaper). -
KDKA Is Created (First Commercial Radio Station)
KDKA first aired on this day. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, KDKA is like many AM stations in that it follows a news/talk radio format. Currently, it is owned by CBS Radio. -
War of the Worlds Broadcast
On this date, Orson Welles (pictured) narrated this episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air on the day of Halloween. Welles narrated various announcements stating that an alien invasion from Mars was taking place. The broadcast was convincing enough that some minor panic occurred throughout the U.S. -
Televisions Become Popular Throughout America
Just a few years prior, in 1948, 0.4 percent of households in the United States had a television set. In 1954, the number increased massively to 55.7, meaning that over half of the approximately-40 million households in the country had a television. -
"A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy" Broadcast
Through the 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy used fears of the Soviet Union and Communism to single out and threaten those in the U.S. who were thought to be Communist sympathizers. This was known as McCarthyism. Edward R. Murrow, a CBS reporter, and his news team broadcasted a special on his show called "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy" that criticized the senator's actions and contributed to the waning of the Red Scare. -
Watergate Scandal Begins
On this date, a break-in occurred at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate offices. The Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigated the break-in and eventually discovered various illegal activities conducted by the Nixon administration. Several members of the administration, including Richard Nixon, resigned and were punished. -
CNN First Broadcast
In 1980, the Cable News Network was founded by Ted Turner and was the first channel to provide news on a 24-hour basis. Now, CNN is one of the most tuned-to television channels in the country. -
World Wide Web Debuts (Public Internet)
Tim Berners-Lee posted a summary of the World Wide Web, a project of his, on the "alt.hypertext newsgroup," marking its debut. The first website was finished by Berners-Lee in December of 1990. -
Founding of MySpace and Rise of Social Networking
Though social networking sites came as early as 1997 with services like sixdegrees.com, use of them dramatically increased after 2005, a few years after the founding of MySpace. Facebook, created in 2004, is currently the most popular social network, with sites like Twitter and Tumblr close behind.
