This year in history (77 years ago)
The peak of Orson Welles’ radio career was on Oct. 30, 1938, the night of his broadcast of H.G. Wells “The War of the Worlds.” The broadcast of a fictional invasion from Mars inspired fear across the country. The Michigan Daily reported, “Ushers at the Michigan Theater had to stop a hysterical woman from dashing into the theater to warn members of her family of the impending tragedy.” But most letters to the Daily praised “the superb production.”
— From the recent exhibit “Orson Welles: Beyond the Canon and into the Archives,” presented in the Hatcher Graduate Library
