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Looking Back: World events The Daily News has witnessed and covered

The Jan. 29, 1986 issue of the Daily News. DN Archives.
The Jan. 29, 1986 issue of the Daily News. DN Archives.

Historical Events

July 16, 1926: Prohibition

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/1164/rec/200 

  • From 1920 to 1933, selling and producing alcohol was banned in the United States when the 18th Amendment was in effect. The Daily News published results from a “Literary Digest” survey in July 1926 that stated most Americans saw decreased alcohol use among college students during the Prohibition.

Aug. 14, 1931: Great Depression

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/2536/rec/432 

  • After the 1929 stock market crash, the United States economy was in disarray and millions of workers were unemployed. In August 1931, The Daily News published then-Ball State President L.A. Pittenger’s plans for campus aid during the Great Depression.

May 28, 1943: World War II

Nov. 22, 1963: President John F. Kennedy assassinated

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/11274/rec/1783 

  • The Daily News dedicated its entire issue Dec. 6, 1963, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who visited campus before the start of his presidency. The front page features the original breaking bulletins from the United Press International, with the words “president dead.”

Nov. 3, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson elected

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/16425/rec/1844 

  • Following the death of President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson assumed office. He was reelected in 1964, and The Daily News published a front page with the headline “Johnson elected,” complete with a portrait of the president in the center.

April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/12796/rec/2252 

  • Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on the same day that presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy visited Ball State’s campus — the two each received a banner headline, but the latter had top billing. Kennedy was also the only one to have a photo on the front page.

Nov. 6, 1968: President Richard Nixon elected

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/13730/rec/2346 

  • On Nov. 6, 1968, President Richard Nixon became the first Republican elected to office since President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. The Daily News announced this election with less fanfare than Johnson’s, with only a banner headline that read, “State, nation go to Nixon.”

May 4, 1970: Kent State shootings

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/19586/rec/2631 

  • The Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970, led to the death of four Kent State University students after the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a peace rally opposing the Vietnam War. The Daily News didn’t offer the shooting front page coverage, but it did run a banner headline teasing to the second page.

March 23, 1971: Congress passes 26th Amendment 

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/24510/rec/3 

  • The United States Congress passed the 26th Amendment to the Constitution March 23, 1971, which was ratified by state governments in July that year, giving citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote. The Daily News published an editorial in October 1971 stating there should be consistent voter registration practices across the country and state.

Feb. 21, 1972: President Nixon visits China

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/22026/rec/2976 

  • President Richard Nixon’s early 1972 visit to China proved to be an important diplomatic move, marking the first time an American president had visited the country. The Daily News gave complete front page coverage to the event with an Associated Press wire and a Chinese professor’s reaction.

Jan. 22, 1973: Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion

Oct. 10, 1973: Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/25927/rec/3309

  • Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned Oct. 10, 1973, following evidence of his political corruption. Agnew was only the second vice president to have ever resigned in U.S. history, and The Daily News profiled the event on the front page with two AP wires and a portrait of Agnew.

Aug. 8, 1974: President Nixon resigns

Jan. 28, 1986: Challenger Explosion

April 26, 1986: Chernobyl

Nov. 9, 1989: Berlin Wall falls

Sept. 2, 1991: Baltic States independence recognized

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/91780/rec/6982 

  • The Daily News published President George H. W. Bush recognizing Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, formerly part of the USSR, as independent nations in September 1991 on its front page Sept. 3, 1991. This meant the three Baltic states began having U.S. diplomatic authority, including trade autonomy and ability to arrange diplomatic work with the U.S.

April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City bombing

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/100166/rec/7690 

  • A domestic terrorism bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children, at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building, April 19, 1995. The next day, The Daily News ran a headline that read, “300 missing after blast.” The Daily News continued coverage of trials into 2001, when Timothy McVeigh was executed in Terre Haute, Indiana

April 20, 1999: Columbine Shooting

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/106222/rec/8393 

  • The shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 received front page coverage the next day in The Daily News. In addition to an Associated Press wire, the front page included a story detailing experts’ calls for more counselors to assist in anger management and help grieving students.

Sept. 11, 2001: 9/11 Attacks

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/107786/rec/8801 

  • The Daily News dedicated nearly its entire Sept. 12, 2001, paper to coverage of the 9/11 attacks, as well as students’ and professors’ reactions to it. With the headline “Freedom Under Fire,” this Daily News issue became one of the only 9/11 college newspaper front pages displayed in The Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Oct. 7, 2001: War in Afghanistan begins

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/107988/rec/8820 

  • Weeks after 9/11, the United States attacked a number of regions in Afghanistan because members of the Taliban group were accused of harboring al-Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden. The Daily News published Associated Press wires and an article with students’ reactions to the news of U.S. attacks in Afghanistan on the front page.

March 17, 2003: Bush issues ultimatum to Saddam Hussein 

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/83905/rec/9081 

  • President George Bush issued a statement broadcast to the American public and abroad telling Saddam Hussein he and his sons had 48 hours to flee Iraq or face a U.S. invasion. Bush also asked international journalists and diplomats to evacuate the country. Two days later, the U.S. military launched its Iraq invasion.

April 13, 2005: Indiana man taken hostage in Iraq

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/79336/rec/9493

  • When Jeffrey Ake, a businessman from LaPorte, Indiana, traveled to Iraq to repair a water-bottling plant, he was kidnapped and held hostage at gunpoint. The Daily News ran an Associated Press wire that didn’t include statements from his family because they couldn't be reached for a comment.

April 2, 2005: John Paul II dies

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/79524/rec/9483

  • Nearly the entire front page of the April 4, 2005, issue of The Daily News was dedicated to the death of Pope John Paul II. In addition to an Associated Press wire, staff reporters interviewed local Muncie priests and ran a story about a St. Francis of Assisi Parish & Newman Center reverend reflecting on meeting the pope during a 1998 visit to Rome.

Aug. 29, 2005: Katrina threatens to flood ‘Big Easy’

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/80566/rec/9529

  • The morning Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, The Daily News published a National Weather Service graphic from the Associated Press that plotted the possible path of the hurricane and the severity of its destruction leading up to Aug. 29, 2005, as well as an Associated Press wire.

April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech shooting

Nov. 4, 2008: Barack Obama becomes First Black president

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/75571/rec/1 

  • On Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected to presidential office, becoming the first Black man to hold the U.S. presidency. The Daily News unusually chose to use a horizontal design for its front page the day after, showing a landscape shot of Obama’s large campaign crowds and a quote saying “Change has come to America.” 

April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombing

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/70317/rec/1 

  • On April 15, 2013, a bomb detonated at the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds of others. The Daily News dedicated its entire front page the next day to the bombing, including interviewing a Ball State alumnus who finished the race before the explosions. 

June 12, 2016: Orlando nightclub shooting

  • https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/BSUDlyNws/id/99091/rec/1 

  • The June 12, 2016, Orlando nightclub shooting killed 49 people and wounded 53 more, which was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history until the Las Vegas shooting in 2017. The front page of The Daily News the next day featured a photo of Muncie City Hall lit up in rainbow colors in support of the LGBTQ community.

Nov. 8, 2016: Donald Trump elected to presidency

  • On Nov. 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected to office in an “unexpectedly close” election, according to an editorial published by The Daily News’ editors Nov. 9, 2016. Although the presidential election had the spotlight, the editorial looked to highlight the importance of congressional races, gubernatorial races and local elections as well.

Feb. 14, 2018: Parkland, Florida, school shooting

  • https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/bsu_3-1-2018

  • Seventeen people were killed and 17 others wounded in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Feb. 14, 2018. The Daily News published a brief in the next day’s paper and featured a story about a planned campus walkout two weeks after the shooting in memory of the students who were killed.

March 11, 2020: COVID-19 declared a pandemic

  • https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/bsu_03-12-20

  • The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic the morning before Ball State announced it would cancel in-person classes for the remainder of the spring semester starting March 16, 2020. The Daily News made the university’s plan of action its front page and continued to provide updated coverage as best it could to the campus community online and in print.

Nov. 7, 2020: Joe Biden elected president

  • https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/paper_1_21_21 

  • Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, according to a Nov. 7, 2020, race call from The Associated Press. The Daily News interviewed students about the election before and after results, and its first spring 2021 paper featured news of Biden’s inauguration on the front page.

Feb. 24, 2022: Russia invades Ukraine

  • https://issuu.com/bsuunifiedmedia/docs/paper_03-03-2022

  • The Russian military invaded Ukraine and has continued to fight to take control of cities and regions across the country. The Daily News ran a feature about the perspectives of professors and community members with ties to Ukraine in the print paper and has continued to update an online brief with additional news about the conflict.

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