[4] David Ross Locke gained national fame for the paper during the Civil War era by writing under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby.

[4] In 2004 The Blade won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting with a series of stories entitled "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths".

In 2006, The Blade was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and winner of the National Headliner Award, for breaking the scandal in Ohio known as Coingate.

In 2007 photojournalist Allan Detrich left The Blade when it was discovered that he had digitally altered a photo that was published on the front page of the March 31, 2007, edition.

[10] In May 2014, Block Communications announced plans to close The Blade's production facility, including the printing presses, located in the downtown headquarters building.