

The Wall Street Crash of 1929, fuelled by uncertainty following an artificial share price boom, was the worst in U.S. Journalists at some other papers were still in denial that a ship thought to be unsinkable could have failed so catastrophically: The Daily Mirror reported, "Everyone safe", and the Daily Mail, "No lives lost".ĭaily Mail: "Greatest Crash in Wall Street's History" This was one of the few accurate headlines printed on the day following the sinking of the Titanic. New York Times: "Titanic Sinks Four Hours After Hitting Iceberg" Nevertheless, alongside headlines of war, natural disasters and murders, below you'll find headlines of hope and the overcoming of adversity. Headlines are there to sell papers, and it seems that death is more profitable to the press than hope or success. It's a sad reality of the human condition that big news is usually bad news: only five of the headlines we explore here accompany positive stories. Reading these headlines today, we are emotionally transported back to how we felt when we first heard this news.

Extraordinary headlines such as these are incredibly powerful, thanks in large part to their brevity: in just a few short words, each conveys a message of history-changing significance to a potentially huge audience. These shocking and occasionally uplifting headlines summarise but a few of the major historic events that have occurred since newspapers became popular and accessible to people worldwide.
