Moses Yale Beach

Today in 1846, The New York Sun carried the first dispatches from the Mexican War, marking the birth of the Asosociated Press. Moses Yale Beach (1800-68), publisher of The New York Sun, established a pony express to deliver news of the Mexican War, joining with The Journal of Commerce, The Courier and Enquirer, The New York Herald, and The Express.

Telegraphic communications between Washington and New York are established on June 5; the New York-Boston line goes into operation on June 27; and by summer’s end, the telegraph extends from New York to Albany and Buffalo, and from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg, creating a telegraph network. Editors now actively collect news as it breaks, rather than gather already published news.