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1 History

The newspaper was founded as the St. Louis Post and Dispatch by owner and editor Joseph Pulitzer. Its first edition, 4020 copies of four pages each, appeared on December 12, 1878. Upon his retirement in 1907, Pulitzer wrote what is now referred to as the paper's platform:

"I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."

Since his retirement, generations of Pulitzers have guided the newspaper.

The paper's 125th anniversary included some highlights of the paper's stories of St. Louis:

• The story of Charles Lindbergh, whose flight across the Atlantic was a success despite being denied financial or written support from the Post-Dispatch.
• A Pulitzer Prize-winning campaign to clean up smoke pollution in St. Louis. For a time in the late 1930s and early 1940sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the, the city was considered to have the filthiest air in America.
• The sports coverage, including nine " St. Louis baseball CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals was also the name of a National Football League team based in Saint Louis, Missouri, which moved and became the Phoenix Cardinals (now known as the Arizona Cardinals) in 1988. The St. Louis Cardinals are an American Major League Ba" championships, an NBA title by the St. Louis Hawks in 1958Events January January 1 Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented January 4 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957) January 8 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship January 18 Armed Lumbee Nat, and the 2000This page is about the year 2000. See 2000 AD for the UK comic book, Number 2000 for other uses. 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar), and also the International Year for a Culture of Peace''. Events Y2K passes without the seri Super BowlAmerican football competitions The Super Bowl is the championship game of professional American football. It is the championship game of the National Football League, and is the most important American football competition. An AFL-NFL Championship Game wa victory of the St. Louis RamsLouis Rams are a National Football League team based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded 1937 Formerly known as Cleveland Rams ( 1937- 1945), Los Angeles Rams ( 1946- 1994; in Los Angeles 1946- 1978 and Anaheim 1979- 1994). Home stadium Edward Jones Dome (for.
• Coverage of the city's "cultural icons" including Kate Chopin, Tennessee Williams, Chuck Berry and Miles Davis.

Since February 11, 1901 the paper has included the Weatherbird on its front page, a cartoon of a bird posed and attired to reflect a topical comment of the day, next to the weather forecast. In the 1920s, Louis Armstrong twice recorded ragtime duets named after it.

Its major competitor until the 1980s was the more conservative St. Louis Globe-Democrat .