When the KM's website KentOnline launched 20 years ago this month, it did so in a world where a mere 13% of households in the UK had access to the internet.

And for those who did, it was delivered through dial-up modems with speeds so sluggish it took minutes to download one picture and the ability to stream video was the stuff of futuristic dreams.

The KM Group had long delivered the best-selling newspapers across the county, but it was alert to the potential of reaching an even wider audience.

Its earliest incarnation looked pretty basic compared to today's modern standards, with just a handful of stories each day uploaded.

But it started to develop an audience which today sees more than 2.6 million unique browsers each month, served up more than 5,000 stories a week.

In fact, the very first incarnation of KentOnline had much of its front page devoted to a guide telling visitors what links were, and how to click on them.

It also advised users to download the latest browser - but warned to do so would take "over an hour".

As internet speeds improved, so did the amount of content we were able to deliver.

Today the site is a multimedia-rich environment with everything from video clips to podcasts with content shared far and wide through our hugely popular social media networks.

It may only have been 20 years, but the rate of technological change has been remarkable - and the size of our audience bigger than ever.

We take a look back at some of the biggest stories served up to our readers since 1999.

1999

Sophie Rhys-Jones spent her childhood in the pretty village of Brenchley, near Tunbridge Wells. But she would spend her adult life as a royal following her wedding at Windsor Castle to the Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, in 1999. Today she is better known as Sophie, Duchess of Wessex.

2000

After four years evading justice, much spent hiding in Spain, Kenneth Noye was finally sentenced in 2000 for the murder of Stephen Cameron, 21, on a slip road of the M25, near Swanley.

2001

The 1996 murders of Lin and Megan Russell in Chillenden, near Canterbury, was one of Kent's most horrific crimes. The mother and her six-year-old daughter were killed and Megan's sister, Josie, nine, left for dead. Gillingham's Michael Stone was given a re-trial in 2001 but was again convicted.

2002

There have only been six people fulfilling the role of Archbishop of Canterbury in the last 50 years, so the unveiling of Rowan Williams as the successor to George Carey after his 11 years in the post generated plenty of interest.

2003

The Iraq War dominated the headlines with millions taking to the streets in London to protest against it. In Kent, there were protests too - including an impromptu invasion of the streets in Rainham when 200 children from the Howard School quit classes to raise their objections.

2004

Hildenborough's Kelly Holmes had been the nearly-girl so often in her career, but at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens she finally delivered - with gold in both the 800m and 1,500m - making her the most successful female middle-distant runner in the nation's history.

2005

Having a Kent player in the England cricket team has become something of a rarity. But having one in the most thrilling Test match series of all time, the 2005 Ashes, is something else. Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones may have come in for plenty of criticism but he played a pivotal role in beating the old enemy - including a match-winning catch at Edgbaston.

2006

On the morning of February 22 the nation woke to news of the largest cash robbery in British history. In an audacious raid on the Securitas cash depot in Tonbridge, masked men kidnapped the manager's family and tied up staff as they stole more than £53 million.

2007

Folk in Folkestone got a rude awakening on April 28 when an earthquake registering 4.3 on the Richter scale shook the town and sent roof tiles tumbling and left nerves jangling. The tremors could be felt as far away as Whitstable. Remarkably, no one was hurt.

2008

Oliver Postgate passed away in December at a nursing home in Broadstairs. Along with Peter Firmin - the pair used to live close to one another just outside Canterbury - they created the likes of Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, the Clangers and Pogles' Wood. He was 83.

2009

Swine flu found its way to Kent with a number of cases being reported against a back drop of some worrying headlines and a rising death toll elsewhere in the world. In the end just over 450 died in the UK - far less than the 65,000 feared.

2010

KentOnline was born under a Labour government and would have to wait 11 years before that changed. Kent's splash of red disappeared overnight as it lost four Labour MPs as the country returned a hung parliament which resulted in a Tory coalition with the Liberal Democrats and David Cameron as PM.

2011

Margate's decline had been well documented over the years, but the opening of the Turner Contemporary delivered a huge boost to the town, after fears it would never materialise - and it continues to pull in thousands of visitors every year.

2012

Street parties were held across the county for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, while thousands came out to cheer on the Olympic Torch as it made its way around the county in the run-up to the Games in London. Just a pity the summer was one of the wettest in 100 years.

2013

As fog settled, cars started crashing on the Sheppey Crossing - the bridge linking the island to the mainland. And they didn't stop. In total, 130 cars were involved in one of the UK's worst ever pile-ups. Yet, remarkably, despite the travel chaos, no one died.

2014

The murder of Claire Tiltman in Greenhithe in 1993 had been one of the county's most notorious unsolved cases. But, finally, 21 years later, Colin Ash-Smith, long thought the key suspect, was charged and jailed for life for the brutal killing of the 16-year-old. Neither of her parents survived to see justice finally served.

2015

Operation Stack returned. And stayed all summer. For 32 days, the M20 was turned into a massive lorry park with roads across the county left to take the strain. It prompted years of debate into just how to avoid a repeat in the future.

2016

Kent voted overwhelmingly for Brexit when the EU referendum was staged. Only Tunbridge Wells voted to Remain as the picture overall in the county saw 59% support leaving the European Union. Three years later, we still haven't.

2017

The life of Molly McLaren, 23, was cut short in a frenzied attack by her ex-boyfriend at the Dockside Outlet in Chatham in a case which shocked both the county and the nation. Killer Joshua Stimpson was arrested at the scene, charged and later jailed for life.

2018

It was the weather which stole all the headlines as the Beast from the East brought deep snow and freezing conditions for weeks in February and early March - and was then replaced three months later by a heatwave which almost eclipsed the summer of 1976.

While much has been written about the decline in the sales of local and national newspapers, the hunger for quality journalism has remained as strong as ever.

But that trusted, independent, gathering of the latest news online comes at a high price for publishers. With so much content available for free just how can it be afforded?

An increasing number of publishers are today switching to alternative methods.

The Daily Telegraph is increasing the amount of premium content it now charges online readers a subscription to access, as does the likes of the Financial Times and the Scotsman.

Local titles are looking to do similar, with trials taking place in Blackpool and Portsmouth.

There has also been an increase in the number of sites charging micro-payments - normally around 20-50p - to read in-depth articles with easy-use payment schemes like Agate.

Securing these revenues are seen as essential to ensuring quality, trusted journalism continues.

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