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Born near Dublin. With his brother Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, he entered the world of newspaper publishing: turning the almost bankrupt Evening News into a huge success and then starting the Daily Mail. Alfred also started the Daily Mirror.

It was through the Daily Mail that Northcliff offered the prize for the first aviator to cross the English Channel, won by Louis Bleriot the following year. Diamond Geezer has seen the unusual memorial to his landing in Dover.

Before receiving his title he said: "When I want a peerage I will buy one, like an honest man". Died at home at 1 Carlton Gardens.