Eighty years ago today, Orson Welles caused nationwide panic via a sensational radio broadcast simulating alien invasions from the scifi classic “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells. The show began on Sunday, October 30, at 8 p.m. Sunday evening in 1938 was prime-time in the golden age of radio, and millions of Americans had their radios turned on. Perhaps as many as a million radio listeners believed that a real Martian invasion was underway. Panic broke out across the country. When news of the real-life panic leaked into the CBS studio, Welles went on the air as himself to remind listeners that it was just fiction.
Relive history from the golden age of radio by stopping by our lobby display case!
(Can you guess what our next display case theme will be from this quote: “Excuse me, but this is an emergency. What city is it out there?”)