JANUARY 27, 1932

Full News Archive

• Headline: Wrigley's Massive Advertising Investment. Impact: Wrigley's $100M ad blitz set a precedent that made every marketer think, 'If they can waste that much on gum, I can blow my budget on cat memes!'. Fact: Did you know that this spending spree was so immense, it could have funded an entire year's worth of avocado toast for hipsters? Can you imagine the uproar?.
• Headline: Children's Craft Boat Show in 1932. Impact: The obsession with boating in the 1930s led to the creation of yacht clubs and the phrase 'I can't afford it, I'm a yachtie' which is still used by trust fund babies today.. Fact: Puddle Ducks? Sounds like the perfect name for a children's book about overzealous parents trying to live vicariously through their kids..
• Headline: Violence Erupts in Spain Amid Strikes. Impact: Three deaths in Spain turned into a global rallying cry for leftist movements, leading to a series of protests that eventually made 'protest chic' a thing.. Fact: Fun fact: The phrase 'Reds try to seize town' sounds like a plot from a low-budget action movie. Spoiler alert: It doesn't end well for the Reds..
• Headline: STEEL DIVIDEND CUT FROM $1 TO 50 CENTS; Put on $2 Basis as 1931 Income Deficit Reaches $49,236,88 -- Future Payments in Doubt. SLIGHT UPTURN IS NOTED Recent Steel and Auto Output Gains Cited by Reserve Board as Indicating Improvement. U.S. STEEL DIVIDEND 50 CENTS A QUARTER. Impact: The cut in steel dividends caused investors to panic, which led directly to a nationwide shortage of metal lawn flamingos years later. Priorities, people!. Fact: Cutting dividends is like cutting your own hair; at first, it seems like a great idea until you realize you've made a huge mistake..
• Headline: PROGRESS ON PEACE ENCOURAGES SOVIET; Initialing of Non-Aggression Pact With Poland Viewed With Moderate Satisfaction. LITVINOFF EXPLAINS POLICY Foreign Commissar, Off for Geneva, Says Rumanian Treaty Is Near -- Bessarabian Issue Reserved.. Impact: The Non-Aggression Pact with Poland was the diplomatic equivalent of saying, 'Let’s not fight until we both have better weapons!' Spoiler: It didn't work out.. Fact: It's funny how a 'non-aggression' pact can be signed while plotting future aggression. Makes you rethink the concept of friendship, doesn’t it?.
• Headline: WHITE MAN ARRESTED IN ILSLEY SLAYING; Laborer Is Held in Leesburg, Va., After He Takes a Blood-Stained Shirt to Be Laundered.. Impact: The blood-stained shirt incident led to a series of true crime podcasts, inspiring a generation of amateur detectives who would later binge-watch documentaries instead of solving crimes.. Fact: Taking a blood-stained shirt for laundering? That's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off!.
• Headline: Aurora Business Moratorium Hailed as Success as It Ends. Impact: The 5-day business moratorium in Aurora became a model for future corporate retreats, where employees pretend to work while actually just staring at their screens in silence.. Fact: Five days of doing nothing is a dream come true for many workers. Who needs a vacation when you can just sit around and call it 'moratorium'?.
• Headline: KINGS HOSPITAL HEAD MISSING STRANGELY; Dr. Claymor H. Magna Jr., Gone Since Monday, Hunted by Po- lice and Institution's Officials. EMERGENCY SQUAD CALLED Huge New Annex and Grounds Searched in Vain-Left Home for Manhattan on Business. HEAD OF HOSPITAL MISSING STRANGELY. Impact: Dr. Magna's mysterious disappearance inspired a slew of conspiracy theories, leading to the creation of a cult following that believed he was abducted by aliens or just needed a vacation.. Fact: Nothing says 'trust me' quite like a hospital director going missing. I mean, where could he possibly be? A spa day?.
• Headline: Buttons Boosting 'Franklin D.' Are Sent Out by Mayor Curley. Impact: Mayor Curley's campaign buttons for FDR made 'buttons' the new fashion accessory for political wannabes everywhere, leading to the eventual rise of ugly political merch.. Fact: Sending out campaign buttons is like giving someone a participation trophy, but with more flair and less dignity..