Diverse - The Sphere; An Illustrated Newspaper For Home; Including first issue - 1900

The first issue came out at the height of the Boer War and was a product of that conflict and the public appetite for images. At the time, it was in direct competition with The Graphic and Illustrated London News, and evidence of this rivalry can be seen in the latter's publication shortly after of a new illustrated paper entitled The Spear in an attempt to confuse readers. During World War I, the weekly issues were called 'war numbers' and over two hundred appeared between 1914 and 1919. In all, it totalled 3,343 issues, plus a special supplement issued in January 1965, entitled Winston Churchill: A Memorial Tribute.

The Sphere was founded by Clement Shorter (1857–1926), who also founded Tatler in the following year.[1] It covered general news stories from the UK and around the world; much of the overseas news features were reported in detail as the title was targeted at British citizens living in the colonies.