Despite the fact that the Internet is gradually replacing newspapers, they still do not lose popularity. Many people simply like to flip through rustling sheets of paper while reading on the way to work or during their holidays. And indeed, there is something in it – it is more pleasant to hold a newspaper in your hands than to read the text from the screen. At least some people think that way.
Long before their invention, handwritten news bulletins became their prototype. The name of the newspaper is obliged to the Italian small coin “Gazette”. About 4 centuries ago, the Italians paid one such coin to read the daily newsletter, which was hung in a certain place. The first newspapers were published in ancient Rome. They were hung around the city and delivered notable patricians. They were of a news nature, but Julius Caesar ordered the inclusion of summaries of decisions made by the Senate. The world’s first newspaper in the usual sense of the word began to be published in China about 1,200 years ago. It was called “Capital Messenger”. It was made by imprint of hieroglyphs on the board.
Real paper newspapers became available to the general public in the middle of the 15th century, when the European pioneer printer Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press, which considerably reduced the cost of production of printed products. In the 17th century, the newspaper La Gazette was so popular in France that the king personally wrote some messages to her. She was the first in which paid advertising began to be published. The first newspaper in the United States was published only in 1690, but because of the scabrous content of its first edition was the last. The next American newspaper appeared only 14 years later.
There is still one manuscript newspaper in the world, Musalman. It is published in India, in the city of Chennai, and is created by Urdu scribes. After creating the sample, it multiplies using a printing press. About 50,000 different newspapers are published in Russia. And more than 2000 of them use the Latin alphabet, and not the Cyrillic. The most popular newspaper in the world is the British Guardian. It has been published for about 200 years.
