Newspaper archive project, Chronicling America, hits million-page milestone - washingtonpost.com

Hours after a monumental earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906, the Evening World, a New York newspaper, blared its account: "Earthquake's Dead May Number 3,000; Fire Is Now Raging." Even in the smallest towns the news of the catastrophe quickly spread, with the Palestine Daily Herald in Texas simply stating in its headline: "San Francisco Wrecked."

Through an extensive database launched two years ago, decades of the country's newspapers can be searched online for major events and history-making names, as well as family connections and local celebrations. The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities have worked together for 20 years to preserve old newspapers, first through microfilm and now digitization...