Wednesday, October 30, 2013

75 years ago Aliens Invaded Earth...

... or at least that is what 1 million listeners of Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast believed.

Believing a reading of the H.G. Well's story would be too boring, the 23 year-old Orson Welles found a creative way to engage the radio listeners. The show began like an ordinary newscast, then was interrupted with a panicked "breaking news" report of invading tripods. Fake interviewees and updates of military actions filled the hour-long broadcast, the end of which had Welles break character to announce that the broadcast was a Halloween prank. However, many listeners of the broadcast stopped listening before the end, and were sent into a panic. Newspapers from across the country contained conflicted reports over the event, resulting in "the most famous media event in history" (PBS American Experience - "War of the Worlds") 

You can listen to the entire radio broadcast here:



Interested in seeing some of the newspapers from the day after like this one?



Check out our Historical Newspapers Online Resource

~jh

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