"War of the Worlds": how a radio show plunged the United States into a panic. Radio show based on the novel by HG Wells "The War of the Worlds". Interesting Herbert Wells war of the worlds radio play

The birthday number 7 symbolizes mystery as well as knowledge. The line of this contradiction can be continued. Here arise such personality traits as diligence and a poetic soul, albeit with some oddities, a penchant for analytical thinking and strong intuition, a rich imagination, a lively, vivid imagination.

With this number, composers and musicians, writers and poets, philosophers and recluses, thinkers and hermits are born and brought up. Their inspiration requires solitude and solitude.

People of this number usually become philosophers and thinkers. As a rule, they are immersed in their own thoughts and therefore somewhat detached from others. They also have a love for all kinds of travel. The undertakings of these people usually end successfully.

Lucky day of the week for the number 7 is Saturday.

Your planet is Saturn.

Advice: The weaker ones are drawn into the swamp of despondency and pessimism, the stronger ones become bright personalities, people of world renown.

Important: Science, meditation, occultism.

Seven inspires mystics and philosophers, but makes a person fussy, a little gloomy, sometimes irritable and non-contact. The number, on the one hand, calls for loneliness and creative seclusion, exposes barriers and restrictions. On the other hand, patronizes marriage, cooperation and partnership.

Love and sex:

It is not easy to maintain harmonious relations with these people, especially if they are people with opposite characters: a sensitive and sensual man and a less emotionally excitable woman, or a strong-willed woman and a man who allows her to take over him.

A happy marriage with these people is facilitated by loyalty, a sense of duty, common interests and a responsible approach to raising children.

Birth number for a woman

Birth number 7 for a woman Such a woman has a strange attraction that fascinates or frightens her admirers. She is smart, courteous, tactful, knows how to show the best in herself. A touchy princess in her youth, dreams of strong and romantic feelings. Looking for a solid and respectable partner. Values honesty and professionalism, prestige and social position. She needs support, but while maintaining personal independence. Strives for legal relationships. The breakup is painful for her. Her fear of losing love is stronger than her hope of finding her ideal. Often underestimates the true intentions and qualities of a partner, becomes a catalyst for his fears and complexes. She should rely on intuition and analysis of information about the chosen one. The idealization of personal relationships can lead to the fact that, choosing a partner, she will make an unforgivable mistake. She needs care and understanding, while she wants to dominate both physically and emotionally. Far from a leader by nature, she can play a dominant role in the family. She is ambitious and lives at such a pace that it is difficult for her to form any serious relationships. Prefers to lead an independent life and rely only on himself. If she allows her partner to make decisions and take the initiative, moderate her control, she will gain a stable relationship and the inner confidence that she always strives for.

Birth number for a man

Birth number 7 for a man Self-sufficiency and independence define such a man. Inner strength and a serious attitude towards life and love make him seem cold and insensitive. Through endurance, he achieves most of his goals. Intimacy is stimulated by his intellectual interest. To many, he seems prudent and wise in matters of love. Sometimes he thinks only of himself, but in close relationships he can soften and be a gentle and passionate lover. He has a chivalrous idea of love, sublime and noble. When living together, it is better for him to have a separate room, as he needs privacy. Life in different cities is possible, and meetings at a certain time, agreed in advance. He doesn't like surprises. For a woman who respects his enterprise and is able to withstand his immersion in himself, he becomes a faithful and devoted partner. Perhaps, having met his ideal, he never dares to get to know each other better. He is distinguished by sensitivity and tact in relation to the feelings of a partner. Mutual understanding is very important to him, perhaps more than love. He firmly follows the chosen path, and if a woman does not want or cannot go with him, he is able to part with her without hesitation.

Birth number 30

These people are bold, aggressive, power-hungry, do not like to obey. Must control the actions of other people, without power feel a sense of frustration. They themselves are strictly subject to discipline and demand the same from their subordinates, but dominating, they do not really consider the opinions of others, are firm, do not refuse to implement their plans. Strong and hardy, although women want to appear weak.

The partner should be soft and weak, and at least outwardly be content with second place. Hunters with natural instincts: those they are interested in have little chance of escaping. They have an attractive appearance and a huge sexual appeal, they attract people of the opposite sex against the desire and will of the latter. In sex, they are strong and aggressive, they take advantage of the opportunity.

They can get along with those who are able to obey them. Friends and partners should complement them, but not encroach on their freedom, not try to compare with them.
Pay attention to the skin and joints.

Pythagorean square or psychomatrix

The qualities listed in the cells of the square can be strong, medium, weak or absent, it all depends on the number of digits in the cell.

Deciphering the Square of Pythagoras (cells of the square)

Character, willpower - 4

Energy, charisma - 1

Cognition, creativity - 2

Health, beauty - 0

Logic, intuition - 1

Diligence, skill - 0

Luck, luck - 1

Sense of duty - 1

Memory, mind - 2

Deciphering the Pythagorean Square (lines, columns and diagonals of the square)

The higher the value, the more pronounced the quality.

Self-assessment (column "1-2-3") - 7

Making money (column "4-5-6") - 1

Talent potential (column "7-8-9") - 4

Purposefulness (line "1-4-7") - 5

Family (line "2-5-8") - 3

Stability (line "3-6-9") - 4

Spiritual potential (diagonal "1-5-9") - 7

Temperament (diagonal "3-5-7") - 4

Chinese zodiac sign Tiger

Every 2 years there is a change of the Element of the year (fire, earth, metal, water, wood). The Chinese astrological system divides years into active, stormy (Yang) and passive, calm (Yin).

You Tiger elements Earth of the year Jan

Birth hours

24 hours correspond to the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. The sign of the Chinese horoscope of birth, corresponding to the time of birth, so it is very important to know the exact time of birth, it has a strong impact on the character of a person. It is argued that according to the birth horoscope, you can accurately find out the features of your character.

The most striking manifestation of the qualities of the hour of birth will take place if the symbol of the hour of birth coincides with the symbol of the year. For example, a person born in the year and hour of the Horse will show the maximum of the qualities prescribed for this sign.

Rat - 23:00 - 01:00
Bull - 1:00 - 3:00
Tiger - 3:00 - 5:00
Rabbit - 5:00 - 7:00
Dragon - 7:00 - 9:00
Snake – 09:00 – 11:00
Horse – 11:00 – 13:00
Goat – 13:00 – 15:00
Monkey - 15:00 - 17:00
Rooster - 17:00 - 19:00
Dog – 19:00 – 21:00
Pig - 21:00 - 23:00

European zodiac sign Scorpio

Dates: 2013-10-24 -2013-11-22

The Four Elements and their Signs are distributed as follows: Fire(Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) Earth(Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) Air(Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) and Water(Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces). Since the elements help to describe the main character traits of a person, by including them in our horoscope, they help to get a more complete picture of a particular person.

The features of this element are cold and humidity, metaphysical sensitivity, feeling, perception. There are 3 signs of this quality in the Zodiac - a water trine (triangle): Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces. The trine of water is considered the trine of feelings and sensations. Principle: the constancy of the internal with external variability. Water is emotions, inner peace, preservation, memory. It is plastic, changeable, secretive. Gives such qualities as uncertainty, daydreaming, imaginative thinking, softness of manifestation. In the body, it slows down the metabolism, manages fluids, the work of the endocrine glands.
People whose horoscopes express the element of Water have a phlegmatic temperament. These people have great sensitivity, are very receptive and impressionable, thinking, living more of an inner life than an outer one. People of the trine of Water are usually contemplative, they think both about their own good and about the good of their loved ones, however, at times they are indifferent, lethargic, lazy, with the exception of people of the Scorpio sign. Their external manifestation of feelings is not as pronounced as among the representatives of the trigons of Fire or Air, but they experience internal feelings with great strength and depth.
For people of the trigon of Water, businesslikeness, practicality, sobriety of thought, objectivity are not a strong point, but they do not hold fantasies, they have a rich and lively imagination, great internal and external strength, especially among Scorpios.
Thanks to the richness of their inner world and the refinement of perception, people of the water trine achieve the greatest success in professions related to the world of arts, they especially shine as artists and performing musicians. Water signs can also be great workers in service and food related areas. And Scorpios are also great detectives because of their subtle intuition.
The plans and moods of the people of the trigon of Water can change both from external circumstances and from the internal state of the soul. An insignificant detail, sometimes not even tracked by consciousness, can radically change their state of mind, which can lead to a complete loss of interest either in business or in a partner.
People of the element of Water have great spiritual sophistication, are kind, polite, courteous, very pretty and attractive. They are usually not aggressive, with the exception of the Scorpio.
Of the signs of the trigon of Water, Scorpio is the strongest in body and spirit, the most meaningful, the most aggressive, not amenable to undesirable influence from the outside and exerting strong resistance to everything that his soul does not agree with. His patience, endurance, tenacity and perseverance are simply amazing.
The weakest of the zodiac signs of the Water trine is Pisces. The middle between hardness and instability is occupied by the third sign of this trine - Cancer. Although his spiritual sphere is also very receptive and impressionable, he is distinguished by noticeable perseverance, endurance and purposefulness, therefore, of all the water signs, it is Cancer who most often achieves success in life.
The feelings of all three signs of the trigon of Water are approximately equally strong and, as a rule, prevail over the mind. These people are always ready to make self-sacrifice for the good of a dear person, as they always have deep and pure feelings towards loved ones and loved ones. If they are not appreciated, they leave their partner forever, which is a real drama of life for them. They are looking for a partner who is worthy of them. Love and marriage are of paramount importance to them in life, especially for women.
An excessive tendency to daydreaming and fantasies, too vivid imagination can lead to an internal contradiction - a collision of their illusions with reality. If a person does not see a way out of this state, depression, addiction to alcohol, drugs, other stimulants, even mental illness can occur.

Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius. A fixed cross is a cross of evolution, stability and stability, accumulation, concentration of development. He uses the experience of the past. It gives stability, hardness, strength, durability, stability. A person in whose horoscope the Sun, Moon or most of the personal planets are in fixed signs is distinguished by conservatism, inner calmness, steadfastness, perseverance, perseverance, patience, endurance, and prudence. He fiercely resists what they try to impose on him, and is able to rebuff anyone. Nothing irritates him so much as the need to change something, no matter what area of \u200b\u200blife it may concern. He loves certainty, consistency, requires guarantees of reliability in order to be protected from any surprise.
Although he does not have sharp impulses, ease in making decisions that are inherent in other signs, he is distinguished by constancy of opinions, stability in his habits and life positions. He is attached to his work, he can work tirelessly, "till you drop." He is also constant in his attachments to friends and relatives, firmly and steadfastly clings to someone or something, whether it be material value, social status, a faithful friend, a devoted like-minded person or a close and beloved person. The people of the fixed cross are faithful, devoted and reliable, they are the knights of the word. You can always rely on their promises. But it is worth deceiving them only once, and their trust is lost, maybe even forever. People of the fixed cross have strongly expressed desires, passions, they act only from their own motives and always rely on their own instincts. Their feelings, sympathies and antipathies are unshakable, unshakable. Adversity, failures and blows of fate do not bend them, and any obstacle only strengthens their perseverance and perseverance, as it gives them new strength to fight.

This is the last sign of the zone of stability, the sign of the element of Water, which is formed mainly under the vibrations of the planets Pluto and Mars. Elements Water is presented here in its most stable form.

As a rule, you are closed on the inner level, suspicious, distrustful, constantly looking inward, jealous, often you go deep into introspection and self-condemnation. Quite often you tend to moonshine and hidden self-destruction. For you, this may be a way of transforming yourself with subsequent restoration and conversion to life, to restoration at a new, qualitatively different level. It should be noted that you have a very difficult transformation and severe deep self-destruction, which is characteristic of any representative of the sign of Scorpio. But you are not afraid of these destructions - this is a means of development and realization for you.
It is good if this restoration after another destruction is used for the benefit of the evolution of one's soul and the souls of others. Because in the worst case, this destruction can be used to destroy your very personality and the people around you. In a sense, you are guided by the slogan: "The worse, the better!". When you feel bad, then you have energy and strength to deal with circumstances, with the surrounding negative environment. You need constant shake-ups for development: if everything is calm, then you feel bad, you are devouring yourself. Therefore, you subconsciously strive for actions that are associated with risk, or you are drawn to the knowledge of the secret and occult, to magic.

In general, you are very constant and stable, because you are an immovable cross. You are stable in everything: in love and passion, in your attachments, as well as in hatred. You are very terrible in your hatred. You can sacrifice yourself, easily destroy your life and the lives of the people around you.
Among the terrible lower Scorpios we find the Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Goebbels, the sadistic doctor Mengele. However, among the Scorpios there were many excellent psychologists and hypnotists, people with abilities up to a magical effect on people. This also applies to cases of a strong manifestation of the sign of Scorpio. You think up and create schemes with great ease and clearly use your schemes, you know how to subtly influence others and subordinate them to yourself. A developed magical Scorpio is able to subjugate a huge crowd to itself, to its magical influence.
In the lowest case, you are an individual who sees and notices only negative aspects in others. You are not even a Scorpio anymore, but a spider, a tarantula. Then you are mainly engaged in self-discipline, and unconstructive, and, of course, bite others.

What is your development dynamics? To some extent, it is similar to the dynamics of the development of Taurus, but Taurus has a slow, smooth development: slow accumulation and transition to a new quality. You have a build-up of tension, and then a sharp transition to another level, a flash, almost an explosion. No wonder all nuclear research is connected with Pluto and, of course, with Scorpio, where his home is located. If we talk about your problems, then one of the most important problems is the sublimation of sexual energy. In a way, Scorpios are the sexiest sign in the zodiac. At worst, this is expressed in perversions, at best, sexual energy is sublimated into various types of creativity.
I must say that the average Scorpio is very difficult to get along with each other. The life of two Scorpios was observed, which “lasted” only two years, that is, experience has shown that “average” Scorpions “in one bank” do not get along for a long time, they bite themselves and each other to the point of insanity, and then crawl in different directions. In evolutionary development, you definitely need to solve the problem of your subconscious, because literally Shakespearean passions often rage there. One of the main problems is to organize passions and direct them in a constructive direction, to use them “for peaceful purposes”. Your karmic task as a Scorpio is very responsible and somewhat unpleasant. It lies in the fact that you karmically have to “bite” yourself and those around you, but these “bites” are aimed at purifying yourself and those around you from filth. You “bite” only those who are afflicted with filth, and you choose the most vulnerable and rotten place and apply your stinging “bite” there. In the high case, you always know when, whom, where and where to bite.

Scorpio countries - Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan. The people and peoples of Scorpio are characterized by internal contradictions, from the energy that overwhelms and tears them apart, internal conflict between the Spirit of the people and the ideology and religion imposed on them.
In the highest case, you are like an eagle that soars above the ordinary and shows people the way to the highest spheres of spirituality. You are capable of self-denial, altruism and great enlightenment. Such was F.M. Dostoevsky, among whose heroes we also find many typical Scorpios (Raskolnikov, for example). These are often writers of the sarcastic type, very caustic thinkers - Voltaire, Rabelais, A. Bely. Clairvoyant Scorpio was the artist Hieronymus Bosch, as well as Camus, Picasso, John of Kronstadt. Of the politicians can be called Trotsky. Among the artists Scorpions was Arkady Raikin. Old Man Makhno was a rather bright Scorpio, the violinist Paganini was a magical Scorpio. Scorpions were the famous occultist Papus, the founder of "magnetism" Mesmer.

Famous Scorpios: Abramovich, Viktyuk, Vishnevskaya, I. Gandhi, Herschel, Gates, Gurchenko, Goldanskaya, Whoopi Goldberg, Dassin, Delon, Dibrov, Dostoevsky, Erofeev, DiCaprio, Karachentsov, Columbus, Lombroso, Lomonosov, Lindgren, Magellan, Makhno, Maradona, Milyavskaya, Vanessa May, Demi Moore, Chris Norman, Paganini, Primakov, Plisetskaya, Picasso, Ryazanov, Ramazzotti, Raikin, Rodin, J. Roberts, E. Rotterdamsky, Seleznev, Sisley, Talkov, Ted Turner, Trotsky, Tokareva, Turgenev, Ulyanov, Peta Wilson, Khlebnikova.

Watch a video:

Scorpio | 13 signs of the zodiac | TV channel TV-3

The site provides concise information about the signs of the zodiac. Detailed information can be found on the respective websites.

Today, millions of people have no idea what happened on American radio on October 30, 1938. But that evening there was a radio show by the 23-year-old director Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater based on the novel by HG Wells "The War of the Worlds", recognized as "the most grandiose hoax in the history of the mass media." Never before had a radio broadcast caused such a storm, both indignation and fun. Although Orson Welles himself for a long time claimed that everything happened by chance and that there was no question of any intentional deception, at the end of his life he admitted that he wanted to play the listeners.

“Don't forget that it was October 30, the eve of All Saints' Day,” Wells said. “In the Midwest, where I spent my childhood, various jokes were played out this evening: they smeared glass with soap, rang bells, and we, children, wrapped in sheets and put pumpkins scraped inside on our heads, wandered under the windows, scaring the neighbors with ghosts.”

Orson Welles decided to modernize the novel about the invasion of the Martians, first published in 1897. He considered that the book was hopelessly outdated and that the hackneyed theme of "aliens from Mars" might scare off listeners. Inspired by his ideas, screenwriter Howard Koch wrote the radio play War of the Worlds.

The action from England was transferred to modern America. The first Martian ships, from which combat tripods appeared, landed on the outskirts of the village of Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Finally, the idea arose to stylize the performance as a live report on real events.

In order to give the production an emphatically reportage character, the scenes were to be interspersed with weather forecasts, information on stock quotes and "news" releases containing a summary of developments in connection with the landing of the Martians.

Even more sophisticated seemed the idea to interrupt the radio signal from time to time, create “interference” on the air and fill the gaps with minor piano music. The sound engineer masterfully coped with all these tasks, having collected a whole library of special sound effects.

So, December 30, 1938. Eight o'clock in the evening New York time. On the air of the American radio station "Columbia Broadcasting Systems" ("CBS"), the broadcast of the radio play "War of the Worlds" begins.

Mercury Theater director and star Orson Welles gave a short prologue. He speaks on behalf of a man of the future who looks back to 1939 (!) when the Martians allegedly attacked the Earth. “The end of October is approaching. Things have gotten better in the world. The fear of war was left behind. More and more people got jobs again. Trade strengthened. That evening, October 30, Crossley's office estimated that approximately thirty-two million people were sitting at their radios.

The program switches to the announcer reading the weather report. The listener is then transferred to the Meridian room of the Park Plaza Hotel in downtown New York, where Ramon Racchello's orchestra was playing that evening. Finally, the announcer broadcasts an emergency announcement that at 8:50 p.m. a huge, engulfed in flames object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm near Grovers Mill, New Jersey, twenty-two miles from Trenton. A mobile radio installation, commentator Carl Phillips and Professor Pearson from the Princeton Observatory rush to the scene.

Events begin to unfold with kaleidoscopic speed. It turns out that it was not a meteorite that fell, but an alien ship. The noise of the crowd, police sirens can be heard on the air. The Martians use heat rays. “From this mirror, a stream of flame breaks out and rushes straight into the approaching people,” Philipps chokes. - He hits them in the head! Dear God, they flare up like torches! Screams and monstrous screams and screams. Now the entire field is on fire. (Explosions.) Forests... stables... car gas tanks... flames spread everywhere. The beam is coming over here, about 20 yards to my right…” Microphone drop… Then dead silence.

Here it is necessary to make a small digression. The rating of radio shows "Mercury Theater" was low - only 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, on the next wave at eight o'clock in the evening, the most popular comedy show of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy began, which collected 35 percent of the radio audience.

At 8:12 p.m., the host of the show announced a break, light music began to play, and McCarthy fans turned the knobs of the receivers to find out what other radio stations were broadcasting. And suddenly they heard the voice of the announcer: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been handed a dispatch that came by telephone from Grovers Mill ... Wait a second ... At least forty people, including six policemen, are lying dead in a field near the village of Grovers Mill. Mill. Their bodies were charred and disfigured beyond recognition. The next voice you hear will be Brigadier General Montgomery Smith, Commander of the National Guard in Trenton, New Jersey."

Smith: “The Governor of New Jersey has required me to declare martial law in Mercer and Middlesex counties from Princeton in the west to Jamesburg in the east. It is forbidden to enter this area without a special pass issued by state or military authorities. Four formations of State Guards have been sent from Trenton to Grovers Mill and will assist in the evacuation of residents from the war zone.

Frank Readick, who played the role of the announcer, thoroughly studied the recordings of Herbert Morrison's famous radio report on the sinking of the giant German airship "Hindenburg" on May 6, 1937 and reproduced the tone, vocabulary, and excitement of a witness to a real disaster.

Perhaps it was the next few minutes of the dramatization that were most responsible for the fact that some of the listeners, who had just tuned their receivers to the CBS wave, were seized by panic. They were sure they were listening to the latest news.

The announcer continued to escalate the tension. The Martians are in control of the middle part of New Jersey. Lines of communication destroyed from Pennsylvania to the Atlantic Ocean. Railroad tracks have been destroyed and communications between New York and Philadelphia have been interrupted. The highways are full of refugees. The Secretary of State addresses the nation from Washington on this national catastrophe...

Actor Kenny Delmar from "Mercury" perfectly imitated the voice of the President of the United States, which was a sin not to use. The Secretary of State, in the voice of Franklin Roosevelt, urged Americans to act calmly and deliberately and not to panic: "... trusting in the Lord, each of us must do our duty so as to meet this merciless enemy as a single brave nation dedicated to maintaining the superiority of people on this Earth" .

"Speech of the Secretary of State" gave a chilling authenticity to the whole picture. It was at that moment that thousands and thousands of people rushed into the street.

“We felt something was wrong when the studio from which the transmission was broadcast began to fill with policemen,” Wells recalled. “The cops were confused because they didn’t know how to arrest an entire radio program… So the transmission continued.”

The commentator was already reporting from the roof of the Radio House in New York: “All means of communication with the coast of Jersey closed ten minutes ago. There is no more protection. Our army is destroyed ... artillery, aviation - everything is lost. This may be the last broadcast. We will stay here until the end… Below us… in the cathedral… people are praying…”

Later, Orson Welles, not without pride, noted: “I must say that not a single radio commentator telling about true catastrophes was as convincing and eloquent as our actors, who listed the mythical horrors associated with the appearance of Martian aliens throughout the country.”

Finally, real announcer Dan Seymour interrupted the radio show and reminded him that CBS was airing Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater in a radio play based on H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

The announcement is clearly too late. By this point, after about half an hour of transmission, the worst has already happened. The consequences were the most unexpected.

Five million listeners quickly realized that they were not broadcasting the latest news, but a radio play. However, more than a million Americans believed in the reality of what was happening. They themselves completed the picture in their imagination. One saw from the window a cluster of cars on the street and immediately decided that a mass evacuation of the population was taking place. Another saw an empty street and thought the police had cordoned it off. Ordinary movement was regarded by the third as the absence of an immediate threat - the Martians, they say, are still only on the way to the city. The fact that within two minutes of the Princeton interview, Professor Pearson was eleven miles from the university, at Grovers Mill, was explained by some as "the commentator was too nervous and misspoke" or "perhaps the broadcast was rebroadcast or something." something."

Thousands of terrified Americans prepared to evacuate or fervently prayed for salvation. Some believed that the country was attacked by the Germans or the Japanese and called on their relatives and friends to tell them the last goodbye. Others simply ran like mad, sowing panic. The police phone didn't stop. “We can already hear shooting, I need a gas mask! shouted a Brooklyn resident into the phone. “I pay my taxes carefully.”

Radio listeners were in a panic, police stations were under siege, telephone exchanges throughout the east of the country were hopelessly packed. Thousands of people reported supposedly seeing Martian ships. Others asked how to save themselves from the heat rays. The men demanded that they be given weapons in order to enter into a final battle with the damned Martians.

In the state of New Jersey, tens of thousands of people abandoned their homes, the roads were clogged with refugees. In order to escape from the gas attack, many wrapped their heads in towels. Some took with them gas masks from the First World War. Useful!

All this was reminiscent of scenes from a radio play: a distraught crowd, the howl of police sirens, cries for help ...

From fear, people often lose their common sense. The tenants of one of the houses poured out into the street and, with their heads up, did not take their eyes off the man on the roof - armed with binoculars, he commented on the movement of the Martians, sneaking through Manhattan towards the Bronx. Many heard gunfire, and even smelled gas or smoke. A man called the Bronx police and said that "he saw the smoke from the bombs that hit New York."

Information about the invasion of the Martians came from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City ... A woman in a tattered dress burst into the San Francisco Police Department and, with the words: “This is indescribable,” she swallowed poison to avoid shameful consequences. Fortunately, she was saved.

Hollywood actor John Barrymore also listened attentively to the program. He finished his whiskey and soda, staggered out into the yard and made his way to the kennel where his magnificent Great Danes lived. With a cry: "Save yourself as you can" - he opened the gate, releasing the dogs to freedom. The celebrated and venerable film director Woody Van Dyke, a retired naval officer, jumped into the car and rushed to the Naval Office to report that he was ready to do his duty. By the way, about the fleet. At the Port of New York, all shore leave was immediately cancelled.

In New Jersey itself, huge queues of people thirsting for the sacrament and absolution lined up in front of confessionals. In all the temples of Harlem, parishioners fell to their knees.

A huge wedding procession scattered across Staten Island. In the synagogues of Brooklyn, the hour of Armageddon was proclaimed. In Indianapolis, a certain woman ran into the church, calling on the parishioners: "Repent, for the end of the world has come!"

Years later, a member of the Red Cross told Wells that it was his job to reassure fellow citizens to return home, but it took exactly six weeks to get everyone back.

It was not until about ten o'clock in the evening that the radio stations began to speak with explanations of what was happening. By this time, a huge crowd had gathered in front of the CBS building, in which there were calls to blow up the radio station and lynch Wells by hanging him from a nearby lamp.

Mounted police had to be called in to guard the building. Meanwhile, Wells, who was in the studio, calmly ended his transmission, reminding radio listeners of the Halloween holiday, “All Saints Day”: “We destroyed the world before your eyes and completely destroyed the Columbia Broadcasting Systems. I hope you will take comfort in knowing that we did it for fun and that both the world and CBS are unscathed. So, I wish you all the best, and please don't forget, at least for the next day, the terrible lesson you learned today. Even if the grinning, glowing, round creature that invaded your living rooms today lives in a pumpkin patch, and it was not a Martian who called at the door, but a mummery neighbor who wanted to entertain you on a holiday.

The next day, all the newspapers came out with huge headlines on the front pages: "Orson Welles caused a panic in the country." Analysts noted that there had not been such mass hysteria in the United States since 1898, when the Spanish fleet bombarded New England.

Many had no doubt that Orson Welles took up the dramatization of the "War of the Worlds" only in order to cause a scandal. The director had to make excuses. At a press conference, he stated that it was not his intention to cause a panic and that he deeply regretted what had happened. In any case, the 23-year-old hoaxer became famous throughout America.

Passions simmered for many more weeks. The indignant press accused Wells of playing unworthily on the gullibility of the public and, most importantly, using the radio for this, "that mechanical device, which in itself strikes in some measure the consciousness of the common man." The Iowa Senator called for censorship of radio. Of course, the Mercury radio theater was closed.

Since that evening, every second person who saw Wells invariably called out to him: “Hey, Orson, what's new with the Martians? When are you going to scare us again? Ha ha ha…”

Orson Welles claimed that the fantastic rumors about flying saucers that later spread around the world were born after his famous radio broadcast.

On October 30, 1938, panic gripped the eastern United States: the region was attacked by aliens, destroying everything in their path. This is how people perceived the innocent radio show "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells.

75 years later, "RG" tells this and other stories, when a joke in the media plunged the masses into a real shock.

Wells scares America with Wells

The story of how a radio show in 1938 on the eve of Halloween scared a large part of Americans and Canadians is perhaps the most famous example of a joke that provoked mass panic. The unknown radio director Orson Welles decided to make a very original radio play based on the work "War of the Worlds" by his famous namesake - H. G. Wells.

What did radio listeners from the east coast of the USA hear on the evening of October 30, 1938? First, the announcer announced the upcoming dramatization of the "War of the Worlds", but the rest at first resembled a standard radio broadcast: a weather forecast, a concert. The listeners had already forgotten about some kind of radio show, and those who had just turned on the receiver did not even know about it. But gradually the concert began to be interrupted by reports: first about an unusual outbreak on Mars, then about a meteorite that fell on an American farm, about aliens that got out of it, about massacres of people and the mobilization of the army. And then - the sound of an explosion in a report from the "scene" and a theatrical pause.

What happened next is eloquently indicated by the fact that the telephone lines that evening were loaded five times more than usual. Frightened people called the police, clinics - anywhere where they could be protected from the threat. Realizing the senselessness of these actions, people grabbed things, got into cars and got up in huge traffic jams, trying to leave and hide at least somewhere. Passions subsided only in the morning, and Orson Welles, although he was attacked by outraged Americans, became famous throughout the country - he became a man who scared half of America in less than an hour!

Croatian aliens

Stories of alien invasion, as it turns out, can have the same effect today as they did seven decades ago. In 2008, the Croatian radio station Antenna decided to repeat the joke of Orson Welles. "A bright light spot was found in the sky over Zagreb, a UFO is landing," the announcer said during the broadcast, after which the listeners were bombarded with eyewitness accounts and comments from "specialists".

Surprisingly, this time, too, people believed and succumbed to panic: first, frightened earthlings from Croatia rushed to call their relatives and friends, and then, exactly according to the 1938 scenario, to the police, the mayor’s office and the fire department, demanding something to be done and save citizens from an impending extraterrestrial threat. During the day, representatives of the radio station admitted that it was just a hoax, the purpose of which was to test the abilities of the police, for whose needs a lot of money was allocated from the city budget.

Predators in the "stone jungle"

Even in an era when television and radio were only the subject of scientific fantasies, there were not very successful jokes in the print media that were able to raise the ears of an entire metropolis. In 1874, the editor of the New York Herald decided in his own way to criticize the local zoo, the level of safety in which, according to the journalist, was unacceptably low.

Readers of the publication in 1.5 million New York were shocked: four pages of the newspaper they opened were filled with an article entitled "Saturday's Carnival of Death." Its contents turned out to be much more terrible than the name: journalists from the New York Herald reported that all animals had escaped from the zoo, including the most dangerous predators, whose victims had already become 49 people. Rhinoceros, leopards and Bengal tigers allegedly continued to roam the city.

Until the end of a long article, which indicated that this is only a possible scenario, the frightened townspeople did not finish reading. After all, it was necessary to urgently pick up children from schools and buy weapons to protect against ferocious animals. According to rumors, even the editor of The New York Times succumbed to panic, and when it became clear that his colleague was joking, he was the first to publish an angry refutation. Angry townspeople even tried to recover compensation for moral damage from the "Herald", but soon the passions subsided and everyone forgot about this story.

Weather Forecast (“No temperature changes expected in the next 24 hours”), “La Cumparsita” performed by the Ramon Racchello Orchestra - October 30, 1938, the evening broadcast of CBS radio followed a long-run-in scenario. But then the tango stops, and the announcer says: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are interrupting our dance music program for a special message ...” A series of powerful explosions was recorded at the Chicago Observatory on the surface of Mars. Scientists observe "streams of flame" moving towards the Earth.

But it doesn't seem to be a big deal. Professor Pearson from Princeton goes on the air, who, although he cannot explain the phenomenon, has no doubt that Americans have nothing to fear: Mars is far away, and theories about a hostile race inhabiting the Red Planet are anti-scientific nonsense. Let's get back to our tango. But wait, another message: an unidentified object crashed into a farm in New Jersey, triggering an earthquake and a massive fire. A meteorite must have hit the Earth! CBS correspondent Philips urgently leaves for the scene.

Everyone who at that moment was listening to the radio half-heartedly turned on their attention to the full. The audience of the station grew every minute. It is unlikely that reporter Phillips has seen many meteorites in his life, but even it became clear to him that this instance is one of the strangest: some kind of huge metal cylinder with legs, more like ... God, an alien ship! Yes, here they themselves climb out of the opened hatch, but here is some kind of installation that emits light rays. Onlookers gathered at the crash site flare up like matches! We all will die!

As it turned out later, about six million people listened to the broadcast. Wild reports that the Martians, who had already landed in St. Louis, Chicago and New York, were once again destroying the forces of the National Guard and poisoning the air with toxic gases, completely tore down the towers for people. And when the secretary of state (for some reason speaking in the voice of President Roosevelt) came out with a radio address and asked the citizens to “keep calm”, the panic reached its peak. While the telephones were still working, the police were attacked with calls demanding to distribute gas masks and weapons to the population. Abandoning their homes, sometimes right in their pajamas, the Americans jumped into cars and drove aimlessly - traffic jams from cities reached hundreds of kilometers. The familiar world was crumbling before our eyes.

When, at the fortieth minute of Doomsday, the CBS announcer reminded listeners that a radio play based on H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds was on the air, no one paid any attention to him. At the end of the hour, Professor Pearson went on the air again, who for some reason congratulated everyone on Halloween. His role was played by Orson Welles, the future great director and actor, and at that time - the 23-year-old director of the Mercury Theater, who, in fact, started all this mess. When the public realized that all these reports from hell were just a prank on the eve of All Saints' Day, they went berserk. Before the start of the show, a notice sounded that the radio theater was on the air, but who listens to this boom?

The performance itself was made so authentically - not only thanks to the acting, but also the sound effects, innovative for those times - that people took fiction at face value. The scandal did not subside for a long time: tons of newspaper articles, rumors, unsuccessful attempts to bring CBS and Orson Welles to justice for the suicides of desperate listeners. Wells seriously thought that "War of the Worlds" would become a bright point in his not really started career, but he made the right bet. Three years later, his great Citizen Kane was released, which, it is believed, would hardly have seen the light of day without the hype that arose around the radio farce about the Martian invasion.

Life after divorce

The most respectable public has more than once fallen for the bait of the media. Here are three more of the most famous such media farces in history.

Ecuador Syndrome

Ten years after the Orson Welles show, the radio show "War of the Worlds" was carried out in the Ecuadorian city of Quito. The effect was even more shocking: even the police and firefighters believed in the message about the attack of the Martians. The anger of the Ecuadorians was terrible: having learned about the hoax, people went to smash the radio station and the editorial office of the newspaper El Comercio, which reported on the eve of the broadcast about the appearance of a UFO. Six died.

dangerous connection

A much smaller, but, given the harsh times, an extremely dangerous prank was arranged in his youth by actor Nikolai Rybnikov. On April 1, 1951, he called friends to his room in the hostel of VGIK, hid in a closet and, imitating the voice of the announcer Levitan, read out a "government decree" on reducing food prices by five times, and for wine and vodka products - seven times. The students rejoiced and, glorifying Comrade Stalin, carried the news around. Only a miracle saved Rybnikov from severe punishment.

Mushroom pickers near Lenin

On May 17, 1991, the Leningrad television program aired the Fifth Wheel program, in which journalist Sergei Sholokhov and musician Sergei Kuryokhin, with absolutely serious faces, reported to the then Soviet citizens that Vladimir Ilyich Lenin abused hallucinogenic mushrooms and eventually turned into a mushroom. Those who had at least some idea of the activities of the avant-garde artist Kuryokhin choked with laughter, but many viewers traumatized by perestroika television believed.

The phenomenon of October 30, 1938 is a phenomenon of social psychology. On this day, a dramatization of "The Struggle of the Worlds" by G. Wells was broadcast on US radio. It was taken as a real report from the scene and caused a massive panic that swept over a million residents.

- This avenue is located in the former village of Mozhaisk. It stretched from Red Commanders Avenue along the railway line...
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"The Phenomenon of October 30, 1938" in books

034 To Stanley Unwin October 13, 1938

From the book by John R. R. Tolkien. Letters author Tolkien John Ronald Reuel

034 To Stanley Unwin October 13, 1938 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford Dear Mr. Unwin!... For a month now I have been working tirelessly (since the doctors tell me to distract myself with something pleasant!) on a sequel to The Hobbit. The text has advanced to chapter XI (although it can be parsed with

From the book About Marina Tsvetaeva. Daughter's memories author Efron Ariadna Sergeevna

<9 октября 1938 г.>

From the book My mother Marina Tsvetaeva author Efron Ariadne

<9 октября 1938 г.>Heureux anniversaire maman aimee = Alia________ On her visit to Lila in the summer of 1955, Nyutya recalled how her mother and father met. Then he fell ill with tuberculosis, and we sent him to Koktebel for treatment. Came back from there

Telephone message from Riga dated October 10, 1938

From the book The Baltic States and Geopolitics. 1935-1945 Declassified documents of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation author Sotskov Lev Filippovich

Telephone message from Riga dated October 10, 1938 Telephone message from Riga MESSAGE By telephone message from Riga dated October 10, 1938 Rumors are persistently circulating here that soon after the capture of Teszyn, Poland demanded that Latvia join Latvian territory with Polish

59) TO L. M. KAGANOVICH October 20, 1938, Moscow

From the book Letters on Science. 1930-1980 author Kapitsa Peter Leonidovich

59) TO L. M. KAGANOVICH October 20, 1938, Moscow To the Deputy Chairman of the SEC of the USSR L. M. Kaganovich Comrade Kaganovich, Novikov said that the NKTP was going to

15. Sholokhov - Stalin I.V., October 16, 1938

From the book Writer and Leader. Sholokhov's correspondence with I.V. Stalin. 1931-1950 author Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich

15. Sholokhov to IV Stalin, October 16, 1938 Dear Comrade Stalin, I have come to you in great need. Please accept me for a few minutes.* I beg you.M. Sholokhov.16. X.38 Ibid. L. 85.

October 26, 1938

From the book of Yezhov. The history of the "iron" Stalinist people's commissar author Polyansky Alexey Ivanovich

October 26, 1938 “Only personally to the People’s Commissar Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov, I want to explain to you in this letter how it could happen that after 19 years of impeccable service to the Party and Soviet power, after the difficult years of the underground, after my most active and complete

Prague, October 5, 1938

author

Prague, October 5, 1938 This morning, President Benes came to his office for the last time. He sat down at his desk and tried to remember what thoughts he had when he first entered this office and found himself at this table. But they constantly climbed into my head