History Trivia / TheWarOfTheWorlds

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Not as massive as we've been led to believe]], but [[https://books.google.com/books/about/Broadcast_Hysteria.html?id=pGMGCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false not entirely faked or over-reported, either]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out. CBS got an unusually high volume of calls, as did police and fire stations, so people were trying to verify one way or the other. Caches of letters to CBS, Welles and the FCC have been found, from people who had believed it -- many congratulating Welles for a job well done. The listening audience size was six million, and it's estimated that about a million of those, however briefly, believed the program. (Because it was Halloween, some stupid things were bound to happen anyway; a lot of extreme reactions came from people who hadn't heard the show, but heard ''of'' a "Martian invasion", or a "deadly meteor crash, from friends or neighbors. Others who thought it was real simply tuned in late, heard "invasion" and "poison gas", and thought "Nazis".)

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Not as massive as we've been led to believe]], but [[https://books.google.com/books/about/Broadcast_Hysteria.html?id=pGMGCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false not entirely faked or over-reported, either]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out. CBS got an unusually high volume of calls, as did police and fire stations, so people were trying to verify one way or the other. Caches of letters to CBS, Welles and the FCC have been found, from people who had believed it -- many congratulating Welles for a job well done. The listening audience size was six million, and it's estimated that about a million of those, however briefly, believed the program. (Because it was Halloween, some stupid things were bound to happen anyway; a lot of extreme reactions came from people who hadn't heard the show, but heard ''of'' a "Martian invasion" (or a "deadly meteor crash") from friends or neighbors. Others who thought it was real simply tuned in late, heard "invasion" and "poison gas" and thought "Nazis".

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who'd switched over late from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was "lowbrow" comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assumed that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change, plus an erroneous newspaper listing that Welles and co. were doing "The Pickwick Papers" that night, didn't help.[[/note]] Still others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* Welles was deeply involved in producing a theatrical play at the time and was only peripherally involved with the preparation for ''War of the Worlds''; but he emphasized that it must be as realistic as possible because the story was an old classic and he feared listeners would be bored and tune out.

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Not as massive as we've been led to believe]], but [[https://books.google.com/books/about/Broadcast_Hysteria.html?id=pGMGCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false not entirely faked or over-reported, either]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out. CBS had unusually high calls, as did police and fire stations, so people were trying to verify one way or the other. Caches of letters to CBS, Welles and the FCC have been found, from people who had believed it -- many congratulating Welles for a job well done. The listening audience size was six million, and it's estimated that about a million of those, however briefly, believed the program. (Because it was Halloween, some stupid things were bound to happen anyway; a lot of extreme reactions came from people who hadn't heard the show, but heard ''of'' a "Martian invasion" (or a "deadly meteor crash") from friends or neighbors. Others who thought it was real simply tuned in late, heard "invasion" and "poison gas" and thought "Nazis".
* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who'd switched over late from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was "lowbrow" comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assumed that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change, plus an erroneous newspaper listing that Welles and co. were doing "The Pickwick Papers" that night, didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over late from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was "lowbrow" comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assumed that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change, plus an erroneous newspaper listing that Welles and co. were doing "The Pickwick Papers" that night, didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was "lowbrow" comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assumed that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change, plus an erroneous newspaper listing that Welles and co. were doing "The Pickwick Papers" that night, didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assumed that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change; plus a newspaper misprint, that ''Mercury Theatre'' was doing "Pickwick Papers" that night; didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie [=McCarthy=], so researchers assume that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change; plus a newspaper misprint, that ''Mercury Theatre'' was doing "Pickwick Papers" that night; didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie Mc Carthy, so researchers assume that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]The fact that ''Mercury Theatre'' had just had a time-slot change; plus a newspaper misprint, that ''Mercury Theatre'' was doing "Pickwick Papers" that night; didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations and could only hear parts of what happened. Many heard "invasion" without the "Martians" which would have told them it was a play. Others heard "meteor crash" and thought it was a natural disaster. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie Mc Carthy, so researchers assume that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters and telegrams revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted.[[note]]A newspaper misprint, that ''Mercury Theatre'' was doing "Pickwick Papers" that night, didn't help.[[/note]] Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Not as massive as we've been led to believe]], but [[https://books.google.com/books/about/Broadcast_Hysteria.html?id=pGMGCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false not entirely faked or over-reported, either]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out. CBS had unusually high calls, as did police and fire stations, so people were trying to verify one way or the other. Caches of letters to CBS, Welles and the FCC have been found, from people who had believed it -- many congratulating Welles for a job well done. The listening audience size was six million, and it's estimated that about a million of those, however briefly, believed the program. (Because it was Halloween, some stupid things were bound to happen anyway; a lot of extreme reactions came from people who hadn't heard the show, but heard ''of'' a "Martian invasion" from friends or neighbors. Others who thought it was real simply tuned in late, heard "invasion" and "poison gas" and thought "Nazis".
* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie Mc Carthy, so researchers assume that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters to Welles, the FCC and CBS revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted. Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations. Brad Schwartz in his book ''Broadcast Hysteria'' writes:

* The idea that a lot of the panic came from people who switched over from ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'' is based on the fact that ''Chase & Sanborn'' was lowbrow comedy with Creator/EdgarBergen and Charlie Mc Carthy, so researchers assume that anyone who believed in a Martian invasion must be [[ThisLoserIsYou dumb or naive]]. Letters to Welles, the FCC and CBS revealed listeners who'd had CBS on as background noise; others were fans of ''Mercury Theatre'' who had tuned in late or didn't hear the first couple of minutes and thought ''Mercury Theatre'' was being interrupted. Others were listening on faraway static-ridden stations.

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Fake]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out, and while the station had unusually high calls, they were all just calling for information, praising or complaining about a particular show. And the listening audience size was six million, there were bound to be people doing stupid things anyway (though it's likely anyone that thought it was real simply tuned in late, only heard "invasion" and "poison gas" and assumed the Nazis were invading).

* TechnologyMarchesOn: The awe that the humans experience upon seeing the Marian flying machine is somewhat dated, especially considering that human flight would be achieved ''within the next 5 years''. In contrast, every other piece of technology the Martians use has aged surprisingly well, as walking machines and directed energy weapons, though beginning to appear in real life, have yet to become subject to the industrial precision and mass-production shown in the novel.

* [[Trivia/WarOfTheWorlds See here]]

!![[Film/WarOfTheWorlds The 2005 Film]]:

* AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains:
** #27 Villain, Martians
* HeyItsThatSound: The sound effect of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUY1KYEABz0 green disintegrator rays]] would later be reused for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FsrucOOBY photon torpedoes firing]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

** While preparing to make the 1953 movie, producer George Pal talked to military representatives who let him know in no uncertain terms the tripods of the original novel would be cut to pieces by modern weaponry before their drivers would suffer so much as a sniffle. Hence the movie Martians came equipped with nuke-proof force fields.
*** In some ways that makes our technological advancement over the last 100 years or so quite scary. These machines were pretty much the most deadly things that the author could think up, and yet put them against modern weapons and they would be obliterated in seconds.
*** In the book, the Martians' main advantage is that their weapon is point-and-shoot accurate, whereas artillery of the day required that the target be 'bracketed' in order to reliably place fire on the target. So the artillery would open up with their initial shots to try and find the range, and the Martian Heat-Ray would immediately and accurately destroy them. The ''Thunder Child'' was so effective because it closed to point-blank range before opening fire.
**** Also because it was by no means clear to the Martians that this iron ship was anything to do with the humans, or had any aggressive intent.
** The 1953 movie opens with the narrator explaining why none of the solar system's ''other'' planets were suitable for invasion, and getting most of his information completely wrong. Which is kind of a shame, because the shot of erupting volcanoes on Jupiter is pretty well done for the time.

* The mass panic associated with the radio broadcast? [[http://books.google.ca/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC&lpg=PP1&dq=Little+Green+Men,+Meowing+Nuns+and+Head-Hunting+Panics:&pg=PA219&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Fake]]. Most people would have reacted as most probably would today: call the police or friends and find out, and while the station had unusually high calls, they were all just calling for information, praising or complaining about a particular show. And the listening audience size was six million, there were bound to be people doing stupid things anyway (though it's likely anyone that thought it was real simply tuned in late, only heard "invasion" and "poison gas" and assumed the Nazis were invading).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ray Harryhausen apparently always wanted to take on the story, but never got the chance to do so.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Film/TopGun "Maverick"'s old RIO "Merlin"]] offers him and his daughter shelter in his basement. [[Film/DragonballEvolution Goku]] is Robbie.
** [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat]] is divorced from [[LordOfTheRings Eowyn]] and they have a daughter who is in the [[{{Twilight}} Voltari]].
* HeyItsThatVoice: MorganFreeman does the opening and closing narration.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Film/TopGun "Maverick"'s old RIO "Merlin"]] offers him and his daughter shelter in his basement. [[Film/DragonballEvolution Goku]] is Robbie.
** [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat]] is divorced from [[LordOfTheRings Eowyn]] and they have a daughter who is in the [[{{Twilight}} Voltari]].
* HeyItsThatVoice: MorganFreeman does the opening and closing narration.

* HeyItsThatVoice: MorganFreeman does the opening and closing narration.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TopGun "Maverick"'s old RIO "Merlin"]] offers him and his daughter shelter in his basement. [[DragonballEvolution Goku]] is Robbie.

** [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat]] is divorced from [[LordOfTheRings Eowyn]] and they have a daughter who is in the [[{{Twilight]] Voltari]].

** [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat]] is divorced from [[LordOfTheRings Eowyn]] and they have a daughter who is in the [[{{Twilight Voltari]].