The last issue of the News of the World sold 3.8 million copies on Sunday (July 17, 2011) – up 1.1 million from the previous week – with many stores selling out across the UK. Retailers were hit by unprecedented demand as people swept up copies of the newspaper, which included a 48-page souvenir pullout charting some of the paper’s famous scoops over its 168-year history. Readers who were left empty-handed will have the chance to purchase a copy of Sunday’s final edition as well as a souvenir copy of the paper’s very first edition – published on Sunday October 1, 1843.
