These memorable headlines capture some of the most important historical events, from John F. Kennedy’s assassination to the Titanic sinking to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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Newspaper coverage of the close George W. Bush-Al Gore presidential election in 2000, which ended with Bush’s victory.The New York Times
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Early coverage of the Chernobyl disaster in Pripyat, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. April 1986.The New York Times
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Coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis, one of the most terrifying chapters in the Cold War. 1962.The New York Times
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When Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany on Jan. 30, 1933, few predicted the widespread horrors that were to come.The New York Times
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After 27 years, anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was released from prison on Feb. 11, 1990. He later became the president of South Africa. The Daily Times
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Elvis Presley’s death shocked the world, as the singer was only 42 when he died of cardiac arrhythmia on August 16, 1977.
Daily News
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The death of President Franklin Roosevelt on April 12, 1945 marked the end of an era, as he had been in office since 1933. His vice president, Harry S. Truman, succeeded him. Chicago Daily Tribune
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Though not exactly a famous headline, the story at the bottom of the page marked one of the first times that the AIDS crisis made it to the front page of a major newspaper.The New York Times
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Initial coverage of the Titanic sinking suggested that tragedy had been averted. In reality, those reports couldn’t have been further from the truth.The World
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Coverage of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” a coordinated Nazi attack on Jews in Germany, present-day Austria, and the modern-day Czech Republic.
The Dallas Morning News
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The British shocked the world when they voted for Brexit, taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union, in 2016.The New York Times
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One of the most famous newspaper headlines of all time was an erroneous one. In 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune wrongly reported that President Harry Truman had been defeated by his challenger in the presidential election, Thomas Dewey.Public Domain
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A triumphant headline announcing the end of World War II in Europe.Library of Congress
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Though President Gerald Ford never actually said the words “drop dead,” he did deny bailout money for New York City amidst its financial struggles in 1975. And this damaging New York Daily News headline likely helped lead to Ford’s loss in the 1976 presidential election. New York Daily News
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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, was an important news event at the time. It would also lead to World War I.Library of Congress
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Early coverage of the shocking John F. Kennedy assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Serial and Government Publications Division/Library of Congress
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Coverage of the Kent State Massacre, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on college students protesting against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War on May 4, 1970. Four students were killed, and nine were injured.Library of Congress
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Richard Nixon made history on August 8, 1974, when he became the first U.S. president to announce that he would resign. Nixon’s vice president, Gerald Ford, succeeded him. The New York Times
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Barack Obama also made presidential history when he was elected the first Black U.S. president on Nov. 4, 2008.The New York Times
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This headline in Variety used a then-common idiom “lays an egg” to describe the Wall Street crash of 1929, which paved the way for the Great Depression.Public Domain
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Though most Americans had watched the 9/11 terrorist attacks unfold on television, this headline captured the shock and horror of the infamous day.The New York Times
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The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 changed American history — and brought the U.S. into World War II.Library of Congress
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33 Of The Most Famous Newspaper Front Pages From History
Some say that journalism is a first rough draft of history. And nothing shows that more clearly than famous newspaper headlines.
Some of these headlines broadcast shocking events — like assassinations — without offering a hint about what they’ll lead to. Others capture the horror of tragedies, like the 9/11 attacks or the Titanic sinking. And some stories, operating on inaccurate information, get the story wrong.
In the gallery above, look through 33 of the most famous newspaper front pages from history, headlines that capture everything from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the election of Barack Obama.
Famous Newspaper Headlines Covering Major Historical Events
As news of the Titanic sinking spread, many people heard the story from newspapers. It took time, but the magnitude of the tragedy became clear.
Public DomainCoverage of the Titanic disaster, which happened in April 1912.
It was especially shocking because the world had followed the construction of the Titanic in newspapers from the beginning — many people knew about its size, its luxurious amenities (including a gym), and the details of its maiden voyage. Then, after the ship sank, newspaper audiences read about the Titanic’s survivors, its most famous victims, and the iceberg that sank it.
By the 1920s, radio had become a popular way to report the news as well, but people around the world continued to rely on newspapers to learn about the day’s events. Famous headlines in the 20th century announced the ascension of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, the 1963 March on Washington — and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — and the historical resignation of President Richard Nixon. But these first rough drafts of history often only captured the moment. They usually didn’t reveal what would come next, or how one event could lead to another.
And, indeed, some of these drafts were very “rough.”
Newspaper Headlines That Got The Story Wrong
National Science and Media MuseumEarly reports of the Titanic sinking were upbeat, with some newspapers even reporting that no one had been killed.
When the Titanic sank in April 1912, more than 1,500 people died, including the ship’s captain, its band, and many of its passengers. But early reports about the Titanic tragedy were upbeat — at first, some newspapers reported that everyone on board the doomed ship had survived.
Other famous headlines similarly got things wrong. One of the most well-known came in 1948, when the Chicago Daily Tribune confidently declared: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” In fact, President Harry Truman had won an upset victory over his political opponent Thomas Dewey, meaning that Truman would serve another term in office. The photo of Truman triumphantly holding the newspaper is among the most famous in American history.
But while most of the famous newspaper headlines in the gallery above are accurate, they often show only a small piece of the history that they’re covering. Initial coverage of 9/11, for example, simply expresses the horror of the terrorist attacks, before more specific details about the perpetrators, the victims, and the heroes of the day emerged — and Americans had a better idea of where the attacks would lead their country in the future.
Similarly, newspaper headlines about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand certainly couldn’t have predicted how the aftermath of the murder would lead to the widespread violence of World War I, or that a “rare cancer” infecting gay men in the early 1980s would balloon into the AIDS epidemic.
Indeed, famous headlines are something of a rough draft of history. But they also capture the immediacy of a moment, the thrill or tragedy of a major world event. In the gallery above, look through some of the most famous newspaper headlines from the 20th and 21st centuries.
After reading about some of the most famous headlines in history, discover the stories of fascinating historical events that aren’t that well known. Or, look through these famous photographs that changed the world forever.
