The first newspaper goes back about five centuries ago.The first known newspapers were in Renaissance Europe. They were handwritten and held information on wars, economic conditions, social customs, and "human interst" features. Printed newspapers first appeared in Germany in the late 1400's in the from of pamphlets. The first newspapers in the English-speaking areas were called corantos. They only had information on important events. The Weekly Newes was the first prosperous newspaper and was made in 1622. The first English newspaper was published in 1666 and was called The London Gazette. The first newspaper in America was Publick Occurrances. It was made without authority in 1690 in Boston. The publisher was arrested and copies were destroyed. Postmaster John Campbell made the first successful American newspaper. It was made on April 24, 1704 and was called Boston News-Letter. The News-Letter was filled with information mostly about the intrigues of the English politics, a variety of events concerning the European war, items listing ship arrivals, deaths, sermons, political appointments, fires, accidents, and more. Over 2 dozen newspapers were made in the colonies by the eve of the Revolutionary War. It guaranteed writers had freedom of the press. At the end of the war in 1783 there were 43 newspapers in print. The press played a very important role in the affairs of the new nation. many more newspapers were stating different political opinons. In 1791 the Bill of Rights was issued.It gave freedom of the press. By 1814 there were 346 newspapers. In the Jacksonian populist 1830's advances in printing and paperemaking technology led to a huge newspaper growth, the emergence of the Penny Press. It was then possible to purchase a newspaper for a cent.