John Peter Zenger

1734 – 1735

John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a printer, publisher, editor and journalist whose indictment, trial and acquittal on sedition and libel charges (against the then Governor William Cosby of the New York Colony) in 1734 was an important contributing factor to the development of the freedom of the press in America.