The continuing story

May 22 2007 By The Journal

May 12 1832: First issue of the weekly newspaper the Newcastle Journal, price 7d. The Journal title was first associated with Tyneside when a newspaper of that name was launched on April 7 1739. It had no connection with the new Newcastle Journal and ceased publication in 1788 on the death of its proprietor.

Jan 2 1841: Published in an enlarged size due to "distinguished patronage".

Dec 29 1860: Final issue as a weekly.

Jan x 1861: Now a daily, the name is changed to the Newcastle Daily Journal.

August 13 1867: Ownership passed into the hands of the Northern Counties Conservative Newspaper Company - on payment of £2,357.15s - in whose hands it would remain until 1937.

Feb 1 1876: Newcastle Courant (established in 1711) absorbed.

Jan 7 1924: The North Star (Darlington) merged.

May 12 1932: Special centenary edition.

Mar 14 1937: Bought by Allied Newspapers which is later divided in two, with ownership of provincial newspapers, including The Journal, passing to Kemsley Newspapers.

Mar 14 1939: Motoring supplement takes the paper up to 32 pages, its biggest ever.

Sep 19 1939: The North Mail (founded August 1901) amalgamated into the Newcastle Journal. Newcastle's coat of arms which had appeared on the North Mail since 1914, transferred with it. Price 1d.

Apr 23 1949: Six pages are guaranteed every day.

Feb 26 1951: Price increased to 1½d. This would rise steadily every four or five years until April 13 1970 when it was 6d.

May 29 1953: The Newcastle Daily Journal's 33,333th issue.

Mar 31 1956: 24-page Modern Homes supplement advertised as "gay and lively".

Jun 12 1956: Net sale reaches 136,137.

Jul 7 1958: Title changed to The Journal.

Jun 21 1959: Printers' strike stopped publication until August 5.

1960: Ownership changes again as Kemsley Newspapers is acquired by The Thomson Organisation.

Nov 19 1960: Wins national design award.

Jan 14 1961: Weekend magazine commenced.

Mar 30 1961: David Ashley from Low Fell, Gateshead, retires after 54 years service, mostly in the stereo department.

Sep 27 1961: Centenary of The Journal as a daily newspaper.

Sep 19 1962: Bergen edition, Gateway to Britain, published ­ in Norwegian.

Mar 15 1963: First full-page colour advert.

May 1965: Prime Minister Harold Wilson opens the new Thomson House.

Oct 19 1967: No publication due to overtime ban.

Feb 15 1971: Decimal price 2½p.

May 1 1973: No publication - "day of action".

Jul 1 1974: Adverts went metric.

Dec 11 1978: Price reduction from 8p to 4p due to a National Union of Journalists' dispute.

Sep 22 1982: No publication - "day of action".

Nov 11 1982: Special 9am edition published to mark the death of President Brezhnev.

Nov 10 1984: First Journal colour magazine "84", a 32-page free glossy.

Nov 9 1987: The Journal gets a facelift with a new look, new features, and business and farming news extended to every day.

Jun 21 1989: The Journal's 44,444th issue.

Jul 5 1990: Colour news pictures published for the first time.

Feb 22 1992: The Journal goes tabloid (officially launched by Kevin Keegan at Grey's Monument).

Sep 8 1994: The Journal Business Magazine launched.

1996: Ownership of The Journal passes to Trinity which merges with Mirror Group in September 1999 to form Trinity Mirror - the biggest newspaper publisher in the UK.

May 12 2007: The Journal's 175th anniversary and its 49,584th issue.