The Sun (United Kingdom) The Sun (United Kingdom) The Sun is a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. As a broadsheet, it was founded in 1964 as a successor to the "Daily Herald"; it became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owners. It is published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Since "The Sun on Sunday" was launched in February 2012, the paper has been a seven-day operation. "The Sun" previously had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the
The Sun (1792–1806) The Sun (1792–1806) John Heriot, a Scottish journalist and writer, had worked for the "Oracle" and the "World" newspapers in 1791, editing both, but did not remain in either post for long. In 1792, at the instigation of Edmund Burke, he was recruited by the British Treasury to establish a pro-government newspaper, the "Sun". This was secretly funded by members of the Tory government, on a private basis. Heriot launched the "Sun" on 1 October 1792, and it quickly rose to become the second most popular newspaper in Britain, behind "The Times". The "Sun" survived until Heriot retired in 1806.