【10/30 今日美史】广播剧《世界大战》播出引发恐慌

今

日

美

史

每天一篇“今日美史”，提炼和总结历史在今天发生的重要事件：谁，在哪里，什么时候，做了什么，这件事为什么重要，以及在写关于什么主题的论文的时候可以作为潜在的论据引用。

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10/30

"War of the Worlds" Broadcast Causes Mayhem

When

Where

Who

What

When:  1938

Where:  Mercury Theater

Who：Orson Welles

What：

On this day in 1938, Orson Welles read War of the Worlds in a radio presentation that sent the country into a panic.

Orson Welles performed a radio broadcast based on H.G. Wells’ novel about an alien invasion. Though the program opened with a warning that this was a radio play, it played like a series of news reports interrupting evening programming.

The way the story goes, the general public thought that this broadcast was a real news report, and thought that aliens were invading. Contemporaneous reports stated that calls were coming in to the radio station, including the mayor of a midwestern town, stating there was rioting in the streets. Police and press came to the radio station, claiming that there were reports of suicides and stampedes. Times Square ran a lighted bulletin that read, “Orson Welles Causes Panic.” A coincidental blackout in a small town in Washington state only added to the mayhem.

Why

significant

In 1927, the oil fields were restored to the U.S. government by a Supreme Court decision. Two years later, Fall was convicted of bribery and sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of $100,000. Doheny escaped conviction, but Sinclair was imprisoned for contempt of Congress and jury tampering.