History Main / OhTheHumanity

-->'''The Professor:''' Oh, the humanity! [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Also Bender]].

* The much-lampooned ''Comicbook/{{Doom}}'' comic book's version:

* Lois Lane, on the phone to Perry White in ''Superman: War of the Worlds'' (1998) after the Martians attack, tells him "They set the train on fire! All those people! The humanity!" Since this takes place in 1938, we can presume she's quoting or thinking of Morrison's reporting.

[[folder:Literature]]
* Although it's not used ''in'' it, there's a spoof self-help book out there bearing this name.
[[/folder]]

* In the ''WebVideo/JonTron'' review of the terrible ''VideoGame/AquamanBattleForAtlantis'' video game:

* Parodied by WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} as she and Tom watch a parade float burning after a very slow-speed crash:

'''Kemo:''' Yes, but [[CatchPhrase my hair]] allows me to defy gravity!\\

"Oh, the humanity" is actually much older than Morrison. It was used in at least one [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] letter, from Samuel D. Lougheed to his wife Jenny in October 1862: Talking about all the men who had been killed or were suffering with terrible injuries, he wrote: "O the humanity. O the horrors of war. Truly it may be considered the most cruel and awful scourge which can befall a nation."

The phrase originated in 1937, when Herbert Morrison, a reporter for Chicago radio station WLS, witnessed the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg Hindenburg]]'' disaster firsthand while covering what was to be a routine landing in New Jersey, concluding the zeppelin's first transatlantic crossing of the season. Morrison kept reporting as the airship burned, although he was clearly horrified, and, overcome, exclaimed "Oh, the humanity, and all the passengers screaming around here!" ("Humanity" was apparently a term Morrison frequently employed to describe any large gathering of people – in context, immediately prior to the disaster, he had referred to the "mass of humanity" awaiting the ship's arrival, and was expressing concern that they could be injured, rather than appealing to humanity as an abstract concept.) In interviews later, he explained that he'd said it because he thought everyone on board had died.

* In the ''WebVideo/JonTron'' review of the terrible ''Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis'' video game:

* The last issue of Creator/ArchieComics' ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics]]'' mini-series]] (the four comics printed before the main series began), Sonic (disguised as a Roboticized version of himself) inputs the wrong coordinates for Robotnik's missile, causing it to strike his Buzzbomber factory. The Buzzbomber that was with Robotnik cries "Oh, the inhumanity!"

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/SupermanWarOfTheWorlds https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ohthehumanity.png]]]]

* The last issue of Creator/ArchieComics' [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic Mini-series]] (the four comics printed before the main series began), Sonic (disguised as a Roboticized version of himself) inputs the wrong coordinates for Robotnik's missile, causing it to strike his Buzzbomber factory. The Buzzbomber that was with Robotnik cries "Oh, the inhumanity!"

* The narration of the first Martian attack in the famous Orson Welles/Mercury Theater broadcast of ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' was based directly on UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg broadcast. Reportedly Frank Readick, who played field reporter Carl Phillips, listened to the original several times in order to get into character. While he didn't actually repeat the "oh, the humanity" line, this verisimilitude may have been one reason why some people found it so convincing and panicked.

* The TropeMaker: Famously spoken by Herbert Morrison, a WLS Radio announcer witnessing UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg disaster. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54rqDh2mWA Warning, extremely sobering moment.]] Morrison and his assistant Charlie Nehlsen were making an experimental audio recording; a malfunction in the recording equipment caused Morrison's voice to be recorded at a much higher pitch than it should have been.[[note]]Old-time radio expert [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070814144201/http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/hindenburg.html Michael Biel has an extremely detailed analysis of the Hindenburg Morrison recording in context.]][[/note]] It was played on WLS that night and on the NBC Radio Network the following day (in a break with network policy that banned the use of recorded material on the radio), but not dubbed onto newsreel footage until some time later. Today, the discs reside in the National Archives.

StockPhrase for whenever someone sees something particularly horrible. So horrible, in fact, that you just can't help but shout your horror to the heavens. Originated in 1937, when reporter Herbert Morrison witnessed UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg disaster first-hand. Morrison kept reporting, though he was clearly horrified, and, overcome, exclaimed "Oh, the humanities!" ("Humanity" was apparently a term Morrison frequently used to describe any large group of people; in context, immediately prior to the disaster, he'd used the word to refer to the "mass of humanity" awaiting the blimp's arrival, and was expressing concern that they could be injured, rather than appealing to humanity as an abstract concept.) In interviews later, he explained he had said that because he thought everyone on board had died.

"Oh, the humanity" is actually much older than Morrison. It was used in at least one Civil War letter, from Samuel D. Lougheed to his wife Jenny in October 1862: Talking about all the men who had been killed or were suffering with terrible injuries, he wrote: "O the humanity. O the horrors of war. Truly it may be considered the most cruel and awful scourge which can befall a nation."