12 Historical Headlines That Could Not Have Been More Wrong

Headlinesfrom theVancouver SuntheVancouver Daily Provinceand theWorldall reported that nobody died on the TitanicTitanicthe morning after the disaster. Reality shows over 1,500 people died.1,500 people diedThis count includes both passengers and crew members.Most survivors were women, children, and "higher class" passengers."Glorious news!" claimed this misinformed newspaper, reporting in 1862 the Confederacy took Washington, D.C. This is untrue; the South did not win the Civil War, and the conflict lasted three more years.

"Glorious news!" said this misinformed newspaper, reporting in 1862 that the Confederacy had taken Washington, D.C. This was false; the South did not win the Civil War, and the conflict lasted three years longer.

The newspaper's blotchy look came from the paper's surface: wallpaper.wallpaperA Union blockade made paper scarce in the South, so printers used any material they could find.

On December 21, 1924, theNew York Timesclaimed Adolf Hitler changed after prison. They added Hitler's "behavior during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political group, the Volkischer, no longer needed fear. He will likely retire to private life and return to Austria, his birth country."

Hitler publishedMein Kampfa year later in 1925, and World War II began in September 1939 when a Hitler-ruled Germany invaded Poland.invaded Poland.

This is the most famous false newspaper headline. On November 3, 1948, theChicago Tribuneprinted papers declaring Thomas Dewey the presidential election winner before the final count. Harry Truman won the presidency, and the image of him holding theTribuneThis is a memorable moment in U.S. history.

The Tribune pointed to a printers' strike as a factor in the error. They ran the headline hours earlier than usual, and publishing it seemed safe. Everyone assumed Dewey would win easily.Tribunepoints to a printers' strike as a factor in the error. They had to go to press hours earlier than normal, and running the headline felt like a safe choice. Everyone assumed Dewey would win in a landslide.

On November 11, 1918, theChicago Herald Examinerdeclared peace on earth after World War I ended. A war of that size might never happen again, but it did not. Unrest continued globally, and World War I tensions spilled into World War II.World War II.

On August 17, 1977, The GuardianThe Guardianproclaimed that since Elvis was dead, rock was too. Groups like the Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, and the Foo Fighters proved this assumption wrong.

The article cites Elvis's death as "acute respiratory distress." Today, people widely believe he died from an overdose of prescription drugs.prescription drugs.

Severalarticlesfrom 1910 reported on Professor Walter F. Wilcox of Cornell University's studies. He predicted American women would stop having babies by 2015, and by 2020, the country would import infants from France.

People continue to reproduce. With ongoing government fights over contraception, the population does not seem likely to drop soon.

On July 3, 1981The New York TimesThe New York Times ran an article on a "rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals." This condition is AIDS, yet no one knew what it was or how to stop it. This fact is tragic looking back.

December 1956The New York TimesThe New York Times ran an item claiming Fidel Castro was one of the 40 revolutionaries the Cuban government killed. Castro actually died onNovember 25, 2016.

TheSaint Paul GlobeIn 1905, the Saint Paul Globe bemoaned the natural world's state. It warned that species like sea otters, elephants, kangaroos, and giraffes faced extinction soon. Most animals mentioned remain, but species still vanish quickly.

Dungeons & Dragons caused a stir in 1985 after several D&D playing teenagers took their own lives. This article from theLakeland LedgerLakeland Ledger reports this alarmed parents and conservative Christians. One psychiatrist even blamed the game for encouraging violence among players.

Mental illness and self-harm are not new issues. D&D is not the chosen scapegoat anymore; that role belongs tovideo games.

In 1912, theSalt Lake TribuneThe Salt Lake Tribune published ideas about Mars that raised eyebrows. They theorized thatMars had canals made by some giant biomass, this article suggested they resulted from a giant eyeball growing up from the planet's surface. No evidence supports this theory.