1780 Hicky’s Bengal Gazette was published today in Calcutta, India. It was established by the Irishman James Augustus Hicky and is the first major English newspaper published in India. The English lawyer William Hickey, no relation to the aforementioned irishman, commented on the newspaper ad its creator, saying: “There never having been a press in Calcutta. … it occurred to Hicky that great benefit might arise from setting on a foot a public newspaper, nothing of that kind ever having appeared …. Every person read it, and was delighted. Possessing a fund of low wit, his paper abounded with proof of that talent. He had also a happy rack at applying appropriate nicknames and relating satirical anecdotes.”
