Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. ("Current Events from Italy, Germany, etc.") was the first Dutch newspaper. It began appearing in Amsterdam in June 1618 and was a regular weekly publication. The Courante can be called the first broadsheet paper, because it was issued in folio-size. Before this, news periodicals had been pamphlets in quarto-size.
The paper carries no imprint of the printer or the publisher. Similar papers published later suggest that it may have been printed by Joris Veseler and published and edited by Caspar van Hilten. The exact date of the publication is not known, but the dates of the news items suggest that it was probably printed between 14 and 18 June 1618.
The word "Courante" in the title of this and other news publications went on to supply the Dutch word for newspaper, krant (previously spelled courant, a spelling that is still used in the titles of many Dutch newspapers).
1618Jun, 14
Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).
Choose Another Date
Events on 1618
- 8Mar
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. - 15May
Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made). - 29Oct
Walter Raleigh
English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.