DAY, BENJAMIN HENRY

born April 10, 1810, West Springfield, Mass., U.S. died Dec. 21, 1889, New York, N.Y. American printer and journalist who founded the New York Sun, the first of the penny newspapers in the United States. Starting in 1824 as a printer's apprentice of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, Day moved to New York City and opened his own printing business in 1831. He launched the Sun partly to create business for his shop. By 1839 the paper's circulation had climbed to 50,000. To build circulation, Day emphasized the human side of the news, stressing crime and sensation but including elements of pathos and humour. He hired reporter George Wisner to write a column of brief Police Office items. Wisner became the United States' first police reporter. In 1840, having sold the Sun, Day launched the True Sun, another penny paper. In 1842 he started Brother Jonathan, a magazine that reprinted old British novels. He was succeeded as publisher by his son Benjamin, Jr., who invented the Ben Day process for producing a halftone image of printing plates. Another son was the father of Clarence Day, noted for his autobiography, Life With Father.