The oldest continually published newspaper in the world began printing in Oxford, England on November 16, 1665 while King Charles II was avoiding the plague. It was called the Oxford Gazette and many sources, including Britannica, consider it to be the first English-language newspaper (it was the first to fit the definition of the term “newspaper”). After the 23rd issue of the Oxford Gazette, the King felt the plague was subsiding so he moved the paper back to London where it resumed as the London Gazette. While it originated as a weekly paper, the Gazette continues to be published each weekday in 2008 as an official record of British government. Any of the first 23 Oxford Gazette issues are worth more than $1,000 each - most reaching north of $5,000.

Across the pond, the first American newspapers began printing in the early 1700s. Below is a list of the first 21 American newspapers with the start date and length of first run for each title - many of which restarted, often under new management, at later dates. Keep in mind that this list does not include Publick Occurrences, which was printed on September 25, 1690, but was banned after the first issue and therefore doesn’t qualify as an actual newspaper.

1. The Boston News-Letter – April 24, 1704 - 1776 (Boston)
2. The Boston Gazette – December 21, 1719 – 1798 (Boston)
3. The American Weekly Mercury – December 22, 1719 – 1749 (Philadelphia)
4. The New England Courant – August 7, 1721 – 1727 (Boston)
5. The New York Gazette – November 8, 1725 – 1744 (New York)
6. The New England Weekly Journal – March 20, 1727 – 1741 (Boston)
7. The Maryland Gazette – September 16, 1727 – 1734, 1745 – 1820+ (Annapolis)
8. The Pennsylvania Gazette – December 24, 1728 – 1815 (Philadelphia)
9. The Weekly Rehearsal – September 27, 1731 – 1735 (Boston)
10. The South Carolina Gazette – January 8, 1732 – 1775 (Charleston)
11. The Rhode Island Gazette – September 27, 1732 – 1733 (Newport)
12. The New York Weekly Journal – November 5, 1733 – 1751 (New York)
13. The Boston Weekly Post-Boy – November 18, 1734-1775 (Boston)
14. The Boston Evening-Post – August 18, 1735 – 1775 (Boston)
15. The Virginia Gazette – August 6, 1936 – 1750 (Williamsburg)
16. The Pennsylvania Journal – December 2, 1742 – 1793 (Philadelphia)
17. The New York Weekly Post-Boy – January 3, 1743 – 1747 (New York)
18. The Independent Advertiser – January 4, 1748 – 1749 (Boston)
19. The North Carolina Gazette – August 9, 1751 – 1759 (New Bern)
20. The New York Mercury – August 3, 1752 – 1768 (New York)
21. The Connecticut Gazette – April 12, 1755 – 1768 (New Haven)

According to this list and highlighted in The History of Printing in America by Isaiah Thomas, only four newspapers existed in 1754 – all weeklies printed in Boston and they never printed more than 600 copies. Still, between April 1704 and April 1775, 78 different newspapers were printed in the colonies, but many quickly ceased production. When the American Revolutionary War started in 1775, there were 37 newspapers printing in the colonies. In 1800, there were at least 150 newspapers in total, and 10 years later the newspaper count was more than 360.

According to Readex’s America’s Historical Newspapers, after the Civil War, the number and size of newspapers continued to grow rapidly. The adoption of the telegraph and the prevalence of the Associated Press contributed to a second transformation of the newspaper industry during the second half of the 19th century. Daily editions replaced many weeklies, and—by the early 20th century—nearly every town in the United States had its own newspaper.