Moments That Made The World Stand Still

Ajouté : 2026-05-08

[00:00:05]We tend to take everything we read in history textbooks as fact while we're at school. But the reality is that some previously believed historical facts have been proven untrue as time passed by. But since most of us don't continue to study history once we graduate from high school, we continue to believe the information that we're taught when we're younger and might only learn the truth through happen stance. many years later, if at all. Number 10.

[00:00:34]On the 28th of February, 1858, Queen Victoria announced the institution of the Victoria Cross Medal. It was also revealed that British soldiers who'd fought in the Crean War, which started in 1853, would also be eligible to receive the medal. But it would likely never have been created if it weren't for a specific reporter. William Howard Russell, who was working for the Times at the time, started reporting on the hardships that were being faced by troops during the war. He felt that their needs were being overlooked by their superiors, who were far more interested in making ground in the war than in the interests of their own men.

[00:01:11]Thanks to his reporting, members of the public became aware of the fact that officers had made serious errors during the campaign, that they were unwilling to change their very outdated approach to wartime, and that they had shown prejudice towards some of their own men.

[00:01:25]Furthermore, many of the soldiers who were expected to risk their lives in defense of their country had not been supplied with the right clothing. They didn't have access to the equipment they needed and in many cases contracted diseases such as chalera and typhoid which wre havoc as far as their numbers were concerned. But Russell didn't just focus on the negative aspects of the war. He also reported on the astonishing bravery shown by some of these men under the worst of circumstances despite all the affformentioned factors. When it came to rewarding British soldiers for their bravery, the Order of the Bath was the most distinguished at the time, and it was only awarded to senior officers, not the average soldier. The best that these men could hope for was a promotion in the field or a mention in the general's dispatches. But even these rewards were usually reserved for staff officers who served directly under generals. Each soldier would expect to receive a campaign medal, but these were handed out to every man who fought in the war and so did not single out those who showed remarkable bravery while they were facing enemy forces under severe pressure. To rectify this, the Distinguished Conduct Medal was introduced in 1854, and anyone who received it would also receive a pension from the military. The medal was highly sought after, but still there was a need to award individual soldiers who showed bravery above and beyond that of the average soldier. After the original suggested design was slightly altered by the queen, the metal was commissioned by the jewelers Hancocks of Burton Street.

[00:02:57]It was created out of copper, but the queen thought that this metal would look heavy on a red coat. It was then suggested that copper from captured Russian cannons could be used to create the Victoria Cross, but the metal was found to be too hard and it would later come to light that the cannons were likely Chinese rather than Russian.

[00:03:15]Hence, it was decided they would be cast from bronze. But many people still believe that these crosses are made out of copper as the rumor that they were struck in copper still persists today.

[00:03:27]Number nine, Egypt is a country that's full of historical significance and intrigue as archaeologists continue to find historically significant and valuable ancient treasures in that country to this day. And they'll likely continue to do so for many more decades to come.

[00:03:43]Without a doubt, among the most intriguing landmarks in Egypt are the pyramids of Giza, which have been studied by experts for hundreds of years since the 17th century, and they're estimated to be around 4600 years old.

[00:03:56]And it's believed they were constructed during Egypt's fourth dynasty. As for their construction, most of us were taught that these massive landmarks were built under the careful watch of Pharaoh's guards who would not hesitate to assault any of the slaves who've been captured and forced to build these massive and iconic structures. It's a belief that persists today, even though this theory has been thoroughly debunked. It's believed that this misconception can be traced back to the Greek historian Herodotus, who on one occasion described the pyramid builders as slaves, and the myth was perpetuated from then on. This rumor may have persisted for many more years if it weren't for an unlikely event that took place in 1990. While visiting the site, a tourist who was traveling on horseback accidentally stumbled over a short wall, and when it was investigated, it was found to be a type of tomb. With further research, it was eventually discovered that this tomb and many others in the area were the last resting place of the pyramid builders. And the artifacts that were found after the fact proved that these laborers were not only skilled but well- paid for their hard work. The builders were recruited from poor families in Egypt, and they were held in high regard for the work that they did to construct the pyramids. Whenever one of the workers passed away, they were buried in tombs close to the pyramids to honor that was never bestowed on a normal citizen. If the pyramids were indeed built by slaves, we would likely never have found their graves, as they would have been seen as expendable. But this simply wasn't the case. The tombs were found in relatively good condition since grave robbers quickly learned that the workers were buried without any of their valuables and hence they were well preserved. Each of the workers was buried in the fetal position with their head pointing to the west and their feet pointing east. Some of the few artifacts that were found beside them were the usual jars in which supplies that would be used in the afterlife were placed.

[00:05:51]Further research has also revealed that they were wellfed as they're known to have eaten meat regularly and they were even given time off every 3 months that they worked. Each day, as many as 10,000 of these workers would toil in the sun, and together they would consume about 21 heads of cattle and 23 sheep per day. It was not an easy life, but these workers were by no means forced to carry out these difficult duties.

[00:06:19]Number eight.

[00:06:21]When we think of the Wild West, the period between 1865 and 1895, we think of immoral outlaws that harassed and robbed their way through the western United States. Firearm battles that claimed countless lives and bar brawls that would usually end with someone being thrown into a water trough. This is what we've been led to believe thanks to thousands of Western and cowboy movies that have been released over the decades. But we now know that this was a myth and that the West was not as wild as first believed. Bruce Benson is of the opinion that this myth came into being thanks to some historians who simply assumed that the Wild West was an extremely dangerous and violent place and that they then came up with their own theories as to why this was the case. Some have even gone as far as to state that the violence which is seen in the US today serves as a reflection of the country's frontier heritage. But luckily, most level-headed experts have stated that this is simply not true. The author Eugene Holland asserts that the 19th century West was far more civilized and safe than America is today. Other authors and researchers have also found that private agencies were established in the Old West to protect citizens and their property. They also made sure that disputes were handled in a civilized way and that the laws of each region were upheld, especially in certain areas where the law enforcement was lacking.

[00:07:44]These agencies were usually made up of members of land clubs, mining camps, and cattleman's associations.

[00:07:50]Laws were even established for those individuals who were traveling to the gold fields of California via wagon trades. It was often the case that food and supplies would run very low during these journeys and some desperate people would resort to crime to survive. When they were caught, they faced a detailed judicial system. But it was only on rare occasions that these criminals faced any violent repercussions. Instead, they were threatened with banishment from these groups, which would usually be enough to bring them back into line. As for the miners, who were often portrayed in films as violent and out of control, they started creating contracts among themselves to keep each other in check as far as violence was concerned. These contracts also included the plots of land that each minor was entitled to, and the details set out in these agreements were enforced by the miners themselves, which would have required a lot of self-governance and restraint. If a minor decided not to agree to these terms, they were told to move to a new area or to establish their own contracts with similar-minded miners. But if a contract was signed after being agreed to, any breach of its conditions would result in that minor's claim being forfeited, and anyone could then lay claim to it. To protect their cattle from wrestlers, ranchers established cattleman's associations that would write their own constitutions. They would also often employ protection agencies that would patrol certain areas while heavily armed, thereby ensuring that rustling did not become too lucrative of a trade. While there's no doubt that many crimes such as robberies, kidnappings, cattle rustling, and worse were being committed just as they have been throughout every era in history, we can thank Hollywood for the misconception that the Wild West was a lawless and extremely dangerous place to live. Thanks to proper research that was conducted, we now know that this was just greatly exaggerated.

[00:09:44]Number seven, most of us were told at some point in our lives that Albert Einstein, likely the most famous and most important theoretical physicist to ever live, once failed math while he was in grade school. But this has been debunked as a mere rumor. Thanks to this misrepresentation of Einstein's intellectual ability, many people believe that at first he showed little academic promise and that he only rose to fame later on in his life, becoming a famous scientist after initially being considered an underdog. It should be noted that this rumor isn't without some merit, as Einstein's own parents once believed he might be struggling with a learning disability. As a child, he developed more slowly than other children his age, and he would often fly into fits and tantrums when he didn't get his way. It's also been suggested that he suffered from dyslexia, but this has never been proven outright since its existence was only discovered in the late 19th century, and many people were misdiagnosed with the condition. While this has been widely accepted, even these details might not be true. Since we don't know a lot about Einstein's childhood, the biographers Ronald W.

[00:10:53]Clark and Abraham Pays refute these claims and have stated that while Einstein's parents were indeed worried about his development, he actually developed within normal levels and would have been considered a normal child for the most part. The physicist's son, Hans Albert, once remarked that his father was withdrawn from the world, even as a boy, and it's thought that these rumors might have stemmed from this statement, which was misconstrued by some historians. Instead, it's been suggested that as a young boy, Einstein simply didn't feel like talking, and this was seen by the adults around him as a lack of development since he would have been compared with other more engaging children around him. When it comes to definitive proof that Einstein didn't suffer from any learning disabilities, one needs to look no further than his report cards, which were remarked upon by his mother. Upon receiving his grades when he was 7 years old, she wrote that he had once again achieved the top spot academically. By the time that he was a teenager, he was already engrossed in the works of prominent philosophers, and his mother stated outright that the belief that her son was a poor student was completely speculative. As for the origin of the myth that he failed math, it likely stems from his results in an entrance exam for the federal polytenic school in Zurich, Switzerland. When he sat the test, Einstein was 2 years younger than his fellow students. And while he did well in the math sections, he fared less well in the non-scientific subsets such as languages, botany, and zoology. Hence, he was not accepted into the school. And the myth started that he was a below average student. But he would later be admitted after he completed his studies at the Canton School in Switzerland.

[00:12:32]From there he went on to become one of the most famous students in all of history and his theory of relativity is still considered to be the most accurate description of gravity and the structure of spaceime ever conceived.

[00:12:45]Number six, Ivan Pavlov, the most famous Russian neurologist and physiologist who's best remembered for his experiments on the obedience of dogs, was born in the city of Ryazen in 1849. He had nine siblings and his father was a Russian Orthodox priest. Most people don't know that he only started attending school when he was 11 years old despite having learned to read by the age of seven. This was because he suffered an injury when he fell off a high wall and landed on hard pavement and his school career had to be put on hold for several years. He eventually decided to enter a local theological seminary. But as his curiosity about science and research grew, he lost interest in theology and decided to leave the seminary before graduating so that he could focus on a scientific career. He started attending classes at the University of St. Petersburg in 1970 and started studying natural science. Once he'd graduated from there, he attended the Imperial Academy of Medical Surgery where he furthered his knowledge of physiology.

[00:13:49]Following this, he became a lab assistant at the Veterinary Institute's physiological department where he studied the body circulatory system. He spent many more years studying and working at different institutions and eventually relocated to Germany. There he started studying in lepig and became interested in the digestive systems of dogs at the highenine laboratories in Brelau. In 1890 he was tasked with developing a physiology department at the Institute of Experimental Medicine.

[00:14:17]And once that was done he started studying the correlation between the body's nervous system and digestion. At one point he started to struggle financially and was in danger of losing his physiology department. As a remedy, he started selling the gastric juices of the dogs that he was experimenting on to people in Russia, Germany, and France as a cure for indigestion.

[00:14:39]He and his assistant conducted several different experiments on these dogs in an effort to understand their digestive systems. It said that they would often become excited when the time came for the experiments to commence since they were fed minced meat. But then, Pavlov noticed something that would propel him into the upper echelons of his field.

[00:14:58]One day as his assistant started approaching the dogs to feed them, they started salivating when they noticed his white lab coat. He decided to repeat this instance without any food present.

[00:15:08]And his surprise, the same thing happened. It was then that his most famous experiments started and the well-known phrase Pavlov's dogs was born. First, he brought a metronome to the lab and would start it a short while before the dogs were fed. Before long, the dogs started associating the tick of the metronome with their feeding time, and whenever they heard it start up, they would begin to salivate. He named this the conditional reflex, and his findings were submitted to the scientific community. His work in the field was seen as groundbreaking, and in 1904, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. We now know that this was the method that he used to carry out his famous experiments. But strangely, one myth about Pavlov persists. At one point, it was stated that he used bells to check whether the dogs would start to salivate. And this misconception is still often quoted today. But the fact is he never once used a bell in any of his later experiments and only made the use of a metronome to test his theories. It's believed that this myth started in America at some point and it only grew from there. But thanks to his research notes, we know that there were no bells involved.

[00:16:19]Number five, it's easy to understand that in modern times, we believe that the armor that was used by soldiers and warriors in medieval times was uncomfortable, unyielding, and very heavy, making it almost impossible to navigate through a battlefield efficiently. But surely if this were the case, the use of plate armor would have been quickly abandoned since anyone wearing it would have been at a serious disadvantage against lesser protected but more agile enemies. With this in mind, Daniel Jacet from the University of Geneva decided to finally get to the bottom of this perception along with a few colleagues in an effort to figure out whether the myth was true or whether we simply assumed this was the case. First, they decided to follow the rigorous training regimen that was created by a French medieval knight called Jean Langra who was known as Abuso. The exact meaning of his nickname is disputed as some historians believe it meant mercenary while others have translated it to goat face or goat mantle. During this time, Langra became famous for his prowess and victories on the battlefield and he would finally meet his end after he was captured by British soldiers at the battle of Agen Court in 1415.

[00:17:30]Luckily, his training regimen was preserved, and it showed that he used to practice jumping onto horses backs, running as fast as he could, and swinging a weapon such as an axe or a sword. Furthermore, he would climb ladders from the underside and scale walls with only the use of his arms.

[00:17:48]During all of this, he was dressed in full plate armor, and it's easy to see why he became so respected among his own men. Many fellow soldiers attempted to complete the same regiment, but all but a few were able to complete it before being completely exhausted. With this information in hand, Jaket and his fellow researchers managed to get their hands on a set of accurate replica plate armor, and they recruited a willing participant to wear it while they conducted their research. The subject was asked to complete a similar regiment to that of Langra in order to test their mobility, flexibility, and strength while wearing the armor. First, the subject was told to run at speed at a pommel horse and then to jump onto it as efficiently as possible. Next, he was tasked with running through a public area in town, which drew some curious looks and reactions from locals living in the area. This was followed by the chopping of wood, rock climbing, and an attempt at climbing a ladder from the wrong side. It was quickly noted that the subject wearing the armor had little trouble moving around. And in a video that was released, they could be seen doing somersaults, forward flips, and even a few dances with no issues whatsoever. While it's now been proven that plate armor was not as restrictive as first believed, there can be no doubt that wearing the plate armor had some restrictions. Since it's heavier than normal clothing, the wearer would have used up more energy with every step they took. And during a prolonged battle, this could have had a cumulative effect on their stamina. But this is a small price to pay when arrows and other projectiles are being fired on the battlefield. And this type of armor would have saved countless lives against swords and axes that were used during battles in the medieval era.

[00:19:30]Number four, the sphinx, just like the great pyramids, is one of the most iconic structures in all of Egypt. But to be technically correct, it should actually be called an andrphin since it's depicted as a wingless male and traditionally sphinxes were female figures with the body of a lion, head of a woman, and wings of a bird. This may not matter much to most of us, but such a misunderstanding of the structure points to other myths and misconceptions about it. First, it wasn't always known as the Sphinx. One text that dates back to,400 BC describes it as a statue of the very great Ke who was an ancient scarabfaced deity that to the Egyptians of that time represented the sunrise creation and renewal. It's also said that when Pharaoh Tutmos IV decided to sleep next to the Sphinx on one occasion before he rose to power, he had a dream in which the god that represented the sunrise, midday, and sunset appeared to him and stated that he was his father.

[00:20:30]He was then told that if he cleaned the sand around the structure, he would ascend to the throne of Egypt one day.

[00:20:35]And thus, the Sphinx became known as Horam Akat or Horus of the Horizon.

[00:20:41]During medieval times, it was referred to by Arab authors as Bhib or Bilhal.

[00:20:46]But in modern times, its Arabic name is Abu Al-Hal, which means the father of terror. The name the great Sphinx was first used during the Roman Graco period when Greek travelers came upon the statue. And since it resembled a mythical creature known in Greek mythology, it was named Sphingo, which translates to the squeeze. From there, the name became the Sphinx in English, and that's how it's still known to us today. But there are many more questions about this structure that remain unanswered. While we believe it was constructed around 2500 BC and that it was likely a dedication to Pharaoh Cafra, no texts or inscriptions as to who constructed it have ever been found.

[00:21:28]Furthermore, excavations that have been carried out around the Sphinx showed that the workers who constructed it abandoned their task in a great hurry for reasons unknown, and it's believed that if this hadn't happened, it would have been even larger and more impressive. Pictures of the statue show it as a sandy color, much like the surrounding landscape, but researchers have stated that it was once painted with vibrant colors. Some of these pigments are still present on the structure today, notably on its face and parts of the body. Not many know that the Sphinx also once had a beard, which confirms that it was constructed to represent a male figure. The beard eventually fell off over time due to erosion, and it's now kept in the British Museum. Then there's the myth about the figure's missing nose. For a very long time, people believe that Napoleon Bonapart was to blame since a rumor was spread that in 1798, he ordered a group of his soldiers to fire at it during a cannon training exercise.

[00:22:24]The truth is, by the time that he and his men reached the area, the Sphinx's nose had already been missing for a long time, and it remains unknown what caused it to fall off or what became of it.

[00:22:35]Instead, it's suggested that the nose was purposefully removed by Muhammad Salim Adar in protest of idol worship.

[00:22:42]This also remains just a theory, though, and we may likely never learn what actually happened to the statue's nose.

[00:22:50]Number three, the tale of the Swiss man William Tel is well known around the world, especially the tale in which he positioned an apple on top of his son's head, after which he expertly fired an arrow through it with his crossbow, causing the boy no harm.

[00:23:06]This story has been told countless times throughout history, but it's proven problematic to historians since it's never been confirmed that Tel ever existed, let alone that he made such an impressive shot while living in Bergland, Switzerland. It's said that Tel was an experienced outdoorsman who was a crack shot with his crossbow and arrows. He's rumored to have ended the life of Albert Gestler, a 14th century baiff who carried out his duties in Habsburg. Guestler was known as a tyrant and brute who ruled over the canton of Yuri with an unyielding iron fist. He said to have oppressed the people living in that area at the time. For example, at one point he placed his hat on top of a pole in Aldorf and ordered people who walked past it to bow in submission.

[00:23:50]That's where Tel is said to have come in. He refused to submit to Guestler's tyranny and organized a rebellion against him and other foreign rulers.

[00:23:58]Hence, Tel is considered to be the father of the Swiss Confederacy.

[00:24:02]The legend of William Tel is said to have started thanks to Guestler's insistence that the residents of Outdorf bow to his hat which immediately irked the famous marksman. On the 18th of November 1307, Tel was spotted passing by the hat without bowing and he was arrested for insubordination.

[00:24:20]He was told that he would likely be executed for a supposed crime, but Guestler then approached him with a second option. Having heard about his remarkable skill with his crossbow, he was told that if he was able to shoot an apple off of his own son's head from 120 paces away, he would not only evade execution, but be set free. Furthermore, if he failed at this attempt, he and his son would both face the same fate. He decided to accept the challenge and was told that he had only one shot at the apple, but he seemed unperturbed. His son was placed in front of a tree and tell took aim with a crowd of locals watching on. The shot hits the mark perfectly, but Guestler then noticed that he had a second arrow in his jacket. When asked what it was for, he stated that if the first arrow had missed, he would have used the second to end Guestler's life. With this, Guestler broke his promise and Tel was arrested once again. He was sent to a dungeon in a nearby castle, but he managed to escape and before long started gathering followers against Guestler. It stated that he eventually ended Guestler's life with the very crossbow that was used to shoot the apple off of his son's head.

[00:25:29]And the tale is often told in countries around the world to show that tyranny can be defeated. The only issue is that tell likely never existed. Instead, the tale was likely stolen from another from the 18th century. That story states that a Viking chief who was traveling through Denmark had boasted about his marksmanship to a king and was forced to shoot an apple off of his own son's head to prove his abilities. Furthermore, the Viking had hidden a second arrow which he intended to use on the king if he failed and hence the William Tell version is probably a folk tale that was changed to fit the narrative of Switzerland's quest for independence.

[00:26:06]Number two, Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor, was born in Milan, Ohio in 1847.

[00:26:14]He started his career as a telegraph operator during a time when primitive batteries were virtually the only source of electricity. But he had also worked as a lighthouse keeper and carpenter while living in Port Huran, Michigan. He was seen by those around him as somewhat of a misfit, likely because he was hard of hearing and would often struggle to understand the information that he was working with. He would usually have to rely on continuous repetition to understand a certain concept or the way in which a machine operated, and he was known to quickly become bored. Since he didn't socialize much, he read many books despite having only attended school for about 3 months, something that was very common at the time. In 1863, he landed a position as an apprenticed telegrapher. He soon learned Morse code and was happy to have found a job in which his lack of hearing wasn't an issue. But as time went by, telegraph machines were fitted with sounding keys, which enabled the operators to read incoming messages without having to look at the coded strips of paper. He would not be deterred, though, and within 6 years, he designed a duplex telegraph, which allowed for two messages to be sent at the same time rather than just one.

[00:27:24]He also designed a printer that would decode the messages automatically.

[00:27:28]In January of 1869, he decided to move away and he relocated to New York. Here, the Edison universal stock printer was produced and he worked with competitors of Western Union who were attempting to keep up with the new telegraph technologies since he was working with chemicals during this time. He also started to gain an understanding of chemistry and this led to the invention of the electric pen as well as the mimograph which was in essence a stencil duplicator. This then led to the creation of the phonograph. In 1874 he was paid a whopping $100,000 for the designs that he had created for a quadriplex, a telegraph machine that could send up to four messages simultaneously.

[00:28:10]After marrying Mary Stillwell, the couple moved to Menllo Park in New Jersey, and there he helped refine Alexander Graham Bell's new invention, the telephone. Next, he set his sights on the light bulb, the invention that he's best remembered for. But most people are unaware that he was in fact not its inventor. In fact, the light bulb had existed for some time by that point, but they didn't last long thanks to the filaments that were being used.

[00:28:36]Most of these bulbs had to be lit by hand and they were very unreliable as they quickly burnt out. Edison spent years on a new type of filament and by 1979 he'd invented a light bulb that could burn for up to 14 1/2 hours. He was hailed as the creator of the light of the future and since then the myth that Edison was the original inventor of the light bulb has persisted. While it's known that he held many patents, as many as 1,093 in the US during his lifetime, he did not invent the light bulb as that invention is attributed to Sir Humphrey Davyy, Warren de Laroo, and Joseph Swan.

[00:29:15]Number one, it's remarkable how often a historical myth is spread by members of the media, and the hysteria that followed the radio broadcast of Orson Wells's War of the Worlds is just another example of such an instance that has lived on for many decades. On the 30th of October 1938, the CBS radio network started its broadcast of the series called The Mercury Theater on Air. Given the date, this wasn't just set to be any normal broadcast, but a Halloween version of the show. The live drama that was being acted out that night was directed by Orson Wells and called War of the Worlds, which told the tale of a full-scale alien invasion of Earth.

[00:29:56]Wells had adapted the episode from a famous novel that was authored by HG Wells. The episode started at exactly 8:00 p.m. when listeners heard the familiar sounds of a breaking news story, which was closely based on the opening of the novel. With the narrative established, the rest of the episode took on the format of a normal radio broadcast that included live music, but listeners were regularly updated on the status of the invasion. Initially, the Fox News reporter calmly stated that strange explosions had been seen on the surface of Mars. And during the second interruption, listeners were told that an unidentified object had fallen in a field in Grover's Mill, New Jersey.

[00:30:35]Next, an Oene reporter started describing what he was seeing in this field, stating that strange creatures had started to emerge from the object.

[00:30:44]It was now established that an alien spacecraft had landed on Earth, but the worst was yet to come. Next, alien creatures produced a heat ray weapon, which they used against the humans who'd gathered at the field. As this attack continued, the narrator became even more frantic in his descriptions. But then the audio suddenly cut to silence. When the show returned, listeners were told that several more of these craft had landed in different areas and that the US military was doing its best to fight back, but to no avail, as the heat rays were just too powerful and could not be stopped. By this point, it was made clear that the aliens traveled to Earth from Mars, and they had started releasing a type of poison gas from war machines that towered over the people below. Eventually, the intrepid reporter started to cough and then fell silent.

[00:31:33]This served as the end of part one of the broadcast, and during part two, Wells played the part of a survivor who was doing his best to navigate away from the Martians and their war machines.

[00:31:45]The final part ends with the revelation that the Martians have been defeated not by the military's weapons, but by a microbe that the aliens were powerless against. At the end of the show, Wells could be heard comparing the broadcast to someone dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush saying boo. The episode has lived on infamy ever since as just about everyone is aware of the panic that it caused among the American public with some running out of their houses in fear of the Martians believing that the news broadcast was genuine. But this is a common belief that has no basis in reality. Rather, several news and newspaper outlets tried to convince the public that an invasion had really taken place. But very few people were fooled. Out of 5,000 households that took part in the survey, only 2% happened to even be listening to CBS radio network. And only a small fraction of those people were fooled by the story. Thanks to the media, the myth that the War of the Worlds caused a mass panic on the streets of New York persisted for decades. But this is now known to be