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One of the most signally important agencies in the development of a country is the art of printing with movable types, the "Art Preservative of all Arts." Since its discovery in Europe in 1430–1450 it has become one of the most potent of world forces. The first printing press in America, at least so far as the English language is concerned, about which anything is known, was established at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in March, 1639, by one Day. The proprietor's name was Glover, who died on his way from England to America. The first thing printed was the freeman's oath, the second an almanac, and the third a version of the Psalms. In 1709 a press was established at New London, Connecticut, by a printer named Short. The first code of Connecticut laws was revised by the general court, held at Hartford in October, 1672, and printed by Samuel Green, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1675. The first newspaper in America was the News Letter, printed in Boston, April 17, 1704. The first newspaper in Connecticut was the Gazette, begun at New Haven in 1755, by James Parker, but discontinued in 1767, because he removed to New York, and is believed to have been the first printer in that city.

The first press on the Pacific Coast, or any of its tributary islands, operated by citizens of the United States, was the Mission Press of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (the foreign missionary society of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of the United States), which was sent to Oahu, Sandwich Islands, late in