From The Onion‘s historical archives, a digitization of its October 6, 1783, edition. The editors note by way of preface:

In late 1783, change was sweeping the Western world. The Revolutionary War
had drawn to a close, the Treaty of Paris had been signed, Mozart’s Great
Mass was performed for the first time, and, with the Montgolfier brothers’
balloon, mankind was poised on the threshold of flight.
And only one newspaper, H. Ulysses Zweibel’s The Onion, had the courage to stand against it all.

Actually, in October 1783 the British hadn’t yet officially vacated the city. That wouldn’t happen until November 25 of that year, a day that would be celebrated for decades as “Evacuation Day.”

Anyway, in the spirit of Irving: