5. “Houston, we have a problem”
The real Apollo 13 crew – Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise. Source: Wikipedia
It’s a famous real-life line that turned into one of the most recognizable quotes in cinema history. It’s a little wrong, though. What was actually said in the mission was “Houston, we’ve had a problem”, but that’s not the real issue here. This is actually a case of misattribution.
Most of us know the line from the Apollo 13 movie where Tom Hanks played Commander Jim Lovell and, since he’s the main character, he delivers the line. However, in real life, the line was initially said by backup Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert, played by Kevin Bacon in the movie.
6. The War Of The Worlds
This can’t possibly backfire. Source: NPR
We’ve all heard the story of how Orson Welles once did a radio show covering H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds”. Supposedly, people thought that it was real and that Earth was being invaded and mass panic ensued. Well, there is some truth to that.
Some people did mistake the show as a genuine report, but the extent of the problem was greatly exaggerated because not that many people were listening to the show in the first place. The broadcast didn’t have a large audience and it was in a very competitive time slot, going against much more popular shows. Furthermore, several CBS affiliates chose to replace the broadcast when it originally aired and there were also notices proclaiming the story to be fictional during each commercial break.
In other words, very few people were actually fooled, but the event still received a ton of coverage and the myth is widely believed to this day. Why? Because of newspapers. Back then there was a fierce rivalry between newspapers and radio (old and new) and many journalists jumped at the opportunity to make radio seem foolish, even dangerous.
