The Daily News: Headlines

Headlines appearing in The Daily News:

July 3, 1881: President Garfield is assassinated, and The News shares the tragedy with its readers.

Nov. 14, 1885: "A GREAT HOLOCAUST" read the headline, as a fire fanned by high winds swept from gulf to bay and destroyed one-third of the city.

Sept. 20, 1890: The News reported to a grateful citizenry that President Harrison had appropriated the funds to deepen the Port of Galveston.

Feb. 16, 1898: "THE BATTLESHIP MAINE REPORTS THAT SHE WAS BLOWN UP" was the headline on that Wednesday. The loss of the ship and its 260 sailors helped spark war with Spain in Cuba.

Sept. 10, 1900: The first attempts at reorganization after the disastrous hurricane of 1900 are made by The News; a Sept. 9 edition had listed casualties. Single sheet copies of the paper are hand-pressed with information about relief efforts and emergency information. Three days later, a full account is prepared; it was headed "STORY OF THE GREAT DISASTER AT GALVESTON LOSS OF LIFE ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 4000 AND 5000.""

Sept. 7, 1901: "PRESIDENT McKINLEY SHOT" leaped off the front page the morning of Sept. 7; the headline shared the page with a large line drawing of the slain president.

April 18, 1906: "PACIFIC COAST DEVASTATED BY EARTHQUAKE" ran the afternoon extra. San Francisco was shaken to rubble; about 80 years later, the headlines would be repeated.

April 16, 1912: The News reported the sinking of the Titanic with another extra and the caption "TEN MILLION DOLLAR STEAMER WITH CARGO, JEWELS WORTH TEN MILLION DOLLARS GREATEST MARINE DISASTER IN HISTORY OF THE WORLD."

April 7, 1917: With much of the globe mired in the first World War, the paper announced that the United States had officially entered the fracas. The headline reads in part, "STATE OF WAR EXISTS WITH DUE FORMALITY."

Nov. 11, 1918: "WORLD WAR AT AN END: ARMISTICE IS SIGNED" Blazed across the top of the front page, and Galveston joined the world in a collective sigh of relief; peace would be short-lived.

Oct. 25, 1929: The difficult times and financial decline of the Great Depression began with a series of events in New York and The News' headline "STOCK MARKET IN NEAR PANIC."

Dec. 7, 1941: In the largest, boldest type ever used by the paper, "JAPAN ATTACKS U.S. IN PACIFIC" was run in an extra, and Galvestonians saw their country become involved in another world war.

April 17, 1947: The headline said "NEW BLASTS HIT CITY." And graphic photos of destruction recorded the events of the Texas City disaster. The first blast, caused by ablaze aboard the steamship SS Grandcamp, rocked the city at 9:19 a.m. Wednesday; the second ship, the High Flyer, exploded at 1:08 a.m. as it was being towed to safety. More than 500 died.

June 9, 1957: Galveston's open city era of freewheeling gambling and prostitution came to an end under the boot of Attorney General Will Wilson; this time the shutdown proved to be permanent. The beginning of the end was announced "GAMBLING SHUTDOWN HALTS RAIDING PLANS OF STATE." Two days later, the headline read "WILSON GOES TO COURT IN CRACKDOWN AGAINST 47 NIGHT SPOTS IN THE COUNTY."

Sept. 10, 1961: "HUNDREDS EVACUATED AS CARLA NEARS," and the hurricane lived up to the warnings. Most of the island flooded as the storm came ashore with 80 mph winds and 9-foot tides; it sparked four tornadoes, destroyed 120 buildings and killed six people. Carla was the worst hurricane to hit Galveston since 1915.

Nov. 23, 1963: Three shots from a high-powered rifle stopped the presidential motorcade as it wound its way through Dallas; President Kennedy was dead. The News reported "ACCUSED SLAYER OF DALLAS POLICEMAN CHARGED IN PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION" and added in a front page editorial "SHOCK, GRIEF, AND SHAME ARE THE WORDS IN TEXAS.""

April 5, 1968: MARTIN LUTHER KING SHOT TO DEATH" ran the headline that Friday morning. The Nobel Laureate was assassinated, his life cut short by a bullet in Memphis, Tenn. King was called the father of non-violence in the American Civil Rights Movement."

July 21, 1969: "MAN LANDS, TAKES FIRST MOON WALK" and The News ran the headline across one-third of the front page, with moons in place of the two letter O's in the word moon.

Dec. 28, 1977: Less than a week after reporting a similar accident in Louisiana, the front page ran "GRAIN ELEVATOR EXPLOSION LEAVES 9 DEAD, 35 INJURED." The death count would rise over the next days; the explosion at the Farmer's Export Company grain elevator scattered debris and buried workers at the portside facility.

Aug. 18, 1983: "COAST BRACING FOR ALICIA'S ARRIVAL," and the hurricane arrived on cue. The Thursday morning paper and the storm hit the streets about the same time. Tides ran 12 feet above normal winds gusted to 130 mph, tornadoes touched down and 15 inches of rain drenched the already flooded area.

Jan. 29, 1986: The eyes of the nation were watching as the space shuttle Challenger blew into pieces shortly after takeoff, killing seven astronauts, including a civilian school teacher who was to be the first teacher in space." The headline ran "NATION STUNNED BY TRAGEDY AMERICANS REACT TO DEATH OF ASTRONAUTS WITH DISBELIEF/SORROW."

Jan. 17, 1991: After months of buildup in the Persian Gulf, the United States and its allies began an air campaign to free Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. In August 1990, Iraqi troops crossed the border into Kuwait, claiming the oil-rich country was a part of Iraq. In response, President George Herbert Walker Bush ordered U.S. to Saudi Arabia, launching the largest buildup of U.S. forces since the Vietnam War. The headline was a quote from Bush: "WE WILL NOT FAIL."

Dec. 20, 1998: On a day of history and upheaval, President William Jefferson Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice. The 42nd chief executive thus became only the second since the nation's founding to be ordered to stand trial in the Senate. The headline simply read: "IMPEACHED."

Sept. 11, 2001: The images shocked the world: two jetliners exploding in New York's World Trade Center. In the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor, terrorists flew planes into the trade center and the Pentagon. In a third plane, headed for the capital, passengers fought back and the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylania. The headlines read: "ATTACK ON AMERICA: 'OUR NATION SAW EVIL'."