Herald is an image of the millennium

It has made it on to the final list of top newspaper pages dating as far back as 1776.

Other classic front pages include stories featuring the landing of a man on the moon, the death of Nelson, the American Declaration of Independence and the end of World War Two.

As well as major historical events, there are a number of front pages which have made their way into folklore such as the Sun's "Freddie Starr ate my hamster" and "Gotcha!".

Ranked alongside those however are the small adverts which made up the Craven Herald front page of September 10 this year.

This means that ranking alongside those front pages of truly international significance will be the likes of Malham Show committee meeting, Alan's Dance Band in Bolton Abbey, Cross Hills Allotment Show and Wharfedale Rugby Club's minis coaching session.

All were advertised on the front page on September 10 1999 and now find themselves officially part of the classic collection of newspapers for the Millennium.

The top 50 images were selected by the Press Gazette, the media trade paper, and the Newspaper Press Fund.

The Herald was chosen because of its distinct style which harks back to a previous era.

All 50 will be blown up to giant size and used to adorn the Hilton Hotel in London for the Millennium Press Ball.

The 50 classic pages will form part of a commemorative supplement.

The Herald was selected after an appeal to all newspapers and magazines for submissions and is the only weekly newspaper to be selected.

Editor Ian Lockwood submitted the Herald with a covering letter daring the judges to include it as one of only three surviving newspapers in the country to maintain small adverts only on its front page.

"I was surprised at first when the Press Gazette called back and told me that we had made the top 50 because newspapers tend to be judged on the impact of their front page," said Mr Lockwood.

"But our front page has become so rare that everyone comments on it and it does have an impact in this day and age. I suppose at the turn of the millennium it is a reminder of the way newspapers have changed.

"Looking at the list of those front pages selected, they are such defining moments not just in newspaper history but also in world history that it seems funny to think our collection of jumble sales, pub concerts, exhibitions and Skipton Auction Mart sale notices rank alongside them."

The full list of the top 50 newspaper and magazine pages of the millennium is:

National newspapers:

1 Death of Lord Nelson - The Times, November 7 1805

2 Lord Kitchener calls for more men (World War One and battle of the Somme) - Daily Mail, May 20 1915

3 British women vote for the first time - Sunday Pictorial, Dec 15 1918

4 First picture of the King after his illness - Sunday Pictorial, February 10 1929

5 Woman flies the Atlantic alone - Sunday Pictorial, May 22 1932

6 Don't lose it again (cartoon on peace being found after end of World War Two) - Daily Mirror, July 5 1945

7 Haigh's sensational confession - News of the World, July 31 1949

8 All this and Everest too (conquest of Mount Everest) - Daily Express, June 2 1953

9 Come on Margaret! (Princess Margaret's love for Peter Townsend) - Daily Mirror, August 19 1955

10 Kruschev exposes Stalin - The Observer, June 10 1956

11 Sir Winston Churchill dead - Daily Telegraph, January 25 1965

12 Man steps on the moon - Daily Express, July 21 1969

13 Gotcha! - The Sun, May 4 1982

14 They did not die in vain (Falklands war) - Daily Star, June 15 1982

15 Why? (Zeebrugge ferry disaster) - Mail on Sunday March 8 1987

16 Freddie Starr ate my hamster - The Sun, March 13 1986

17 Thatcher in tears - Daily Mirror, November 19 1990

18 Mandela to carry the hopes of South Africa - Sunday Correspondent, February 11 1990

19 If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain turn the lights out - The Sun, April 9 1992

20 One bomb, £1 billion devastation (IRA bombs London) - Independent on Sunday, April 25 1993

21 A liar and a cheat (Jonathan Aitken) - The Guardian, October 1 1996

22 Murderers (accusation in Stephen Lawrence case) - Daily Mail, February 14 1997

23 Princess Diana and Dodi are killed in Paris car crash - Sunday Telegraph, August 21 1997

24 Goodbye England's rose (funeral of Princess Diana) - Sunday Mirror, September 7 1997

25 Nailed - Sunday People, May 2 1999

Regional newspapers:

26 Front page adverts - The Craven Herald and Pioneer, September 10 1999

27 We will remember them (50th anniversary of D-Day) - The News, Portsmouth, June 6 1944

28 I resign (Norman Lamont) - Grimsby Evening Telegraph, May 7 1993

29 The sun sets on 400 years (closure of the last coal mines in the north east) - The Northern Echo, October 14 1992

30 Cup horror at Hillsborough - The Green Un (Sheffield Star), April 15 1989

31 Bombed (Brighton Bombing - Brighton Evening Argus, October 12 1984

32 Ripper squad put Bradford man in court - Yorkshire Post, January 5 1981

33 Battle of Brighton (mods v rockers) - Brighton Evening Argus, May 18 1964

34 The night of 100,000 screams (the Beatles) - Liverpool Daily Post, July 11 1961

35 King decides to abdicate - Yorkshire Telegraph and Star, December 10 1936

36 United in crash, many die (Manchester United in Munich air crash) - Lancashire Evening Post, February 6 1958

37 Nation in grip of National Strike - The Northern Echo, May 5 1926

38 Declaration of American Independence - Belfast News Letter, August 27 1776

Magazines:

39 When the countryside marched on London - Shooting Times, March 1988

40 Marijuana - New Scientist, February 1998

41 Princess Diana - Country Life, September 1997

42 Kurt Cobain - New Musical Express, April 16 1994

43 John Lennon dies - Melody Maker, December 13 1980

44 Elvis dies - New Musical Express, August 27 1977

45 Second issue - Cosmopolitan, April 1972

46 Princess Anne - Woman's Journal, August 1953

47 A Woman's Place - Homes and Gardens, January 1953

48 Salute the Great Victory (VE Day) - Woman, May 1945

49 Volume 1, Number 1 - Woman's Weekly, November 4 1911

50 Coronation of George VI - Good Housekeeping, May 1937

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.