On this day, Robert Kiernander, son of John Zachariah Kiernander, Swedish Lutheran missionary in Bengal, wrote a letter to his missionary friends in Halle, Germany.

It said he had just printed an English almanac at a small English press that he had bought. He added that he remembered the printing press at Halle well.

John Zachariah Kiernander had wanted almanacs to be printed in Calcutta.

The almanac would lead to some trouble. James Augustus Hicky, who had printed India’s first newspaper, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, and was always embroiled in controversies, particularly for his aggressive, anti-establishment stand, began to print almanacs soon.

Hicky began to sell his almanacs at a lower price following which the Kiernanders began to give away theirs for free. Following much unpleasantness, John Zachariah Kiernander filed a libel suit against Hicky.

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