“A widely read newspaper” dates back to the early 1840s and was initially created as a supplement to the British Daily Mail. From the time it first started until the end of the nineteenth century, it was the most heavily read paper in the entire country. As a result, its size is well known and well recorded: one newspaper published daily in a dedicated environment and at a particular rate (usually a half-page per day). The size limit of the press used, combined with the speed at which it could print hundreds of sheets per hour, meant that only a single large newspaper could be circulated at any given moment.

“The New York Times” newspaper, which was established around the same time as the aforementioned “Newspaper of Modern Times” in 184, was, for a short period of time, the most popular newspaper in the entire world. It became even more so after the introduction of the first railroad service in the United States. The sheer size of this new printing press, combined with the need to quickly dispatch large volumes of information across the country, meant that only a handful of newspapers ever managed to outnumber the New York Times. This period of history, though, also witnessed the advent of “newspapers” as we know them today: a change that would dramatically impact the news industry.

In 2021, the United Kingdom will commemorate the bicentennial birthday of one of the most significant newspapers of modern history: the “Newspaper of Modern Times.” This special feature newspaper was created by a man named William Allen White in 18orne, England. Originally founded as a weekly newspaper, the Newspaper of Modern Times quickly evolved into a daily newspaper, and eventually became a popular daily newspaper in Great Britain. Today, its archive is held by the University of Toronto.