PAPER, BOOKS AND WIRE + MORE PAPAL BULL

An assortment of events relating to writing occurred on the 24^th April.

First Issue

First published on 24^th April 1704, The Boston News-Letter is regarded as the first continuously published newspaper in British North America. It was heavily subsidized by the British government, with a limited circulation. The colonies’ first newspaper was Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, which published its first and only issue on 25^th September 1690. In 1726 the Boston Gazette began publishing with Bartholomew Green Jr. as printer.

The News-Letter’s first editor was John Campbell, a bookseller and postmaster of Boston. It was originally issued weekly as a half sheet – a single page printed on both sides. During its early years it was filled primarily with news from London journals describing English politics and the details of European wars. As the only newspaper in the colonies at the time, it also reported on the sensational death of Blackbeard the pirate in hand-to-hand combat with Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy, on 22^nd November 1718.

Construction of the Thomas

Jefferson Building, from

8 July 1888 to 15 May 1894

The Library of Congress was established on 24^th April 1800, when President John Adams signed an Act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. Part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 "for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress...and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them...." Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol. The collection covered a variety of topics but the bulk of the materials were legal in nature, reflecting Congress' role as a maker of laws.

Thomas Jefferson played an important role in the Library's early formation, signing into law on January 26, 1802, the first law establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The law established the presidentially appointed post of Librarian of Congress and a Joint Committee on the Library to regulate and oversee the Library, as well as giving the president and vice president the ability to borrow books.

Between 1865 and 1870, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, placed all copyright registration and deposit activities under the Library's control, and restored the Library's international book exchange. The Library also acquired the vast libraries of both the Smithsonian and historian Peter Force, strengthening its scientific and Americana collections significantly. By 1876, the Library of Congress had 300,000 volumes and was tied with Boston Public Library as the nation's largest library. When the Library moved from the Capitol building to its new headquarters in 1897, it had over 840,000 volumes, 40% of which had been acquired through copyright deposit.

The Imperial Wireless Chain, also known as the Empire Wireless Chain, was a strategic international wireless telegraphy communications network, created to link the countries of the British Empire. Although the idea was conceived prior to World War I, Britain was the last of the world's Great Powers to implement an operational system. The first link in the chain, between Leafield in Oxfordshire and Cairo, Egypt, eventually opened on 24^th April 1922, with the final link, between Australia and Canada, opening on 16 June 1928.

Another ceremony took place on the 24th April 2005 in Rome. The inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. The inauguration ceremony was over three hours. Here is a bit of video from Italian Television of the announcement of his election on the 19th April, which is shorter and more amusing.