1938 — Invasion from Mars, a radio play produced by actor Orson Welles, causes panic when listeners think the account of an attack from Mars is an actual news broadcast.

In other news:

• Chester Carlson produces the first xerographic copy using a modified form of inkless electrostatic printing.
• Congress establishes the House Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate Communist, Fascist, Nazi and other “un-American” activities.
• France and Britain, led by Chamberlain, give in to Hitler’s demands and sign the Munich Pact, which permits Germany to occupy Sudetenland.
• A new constitution establishes the sovereign nation of Ireland (Eire) within the British Commonwealth of Nations.
• DuPont markets the first nylon product — a toothbrush.
• A living coelacanth, a fish thought to be extinct for 60 million years, is caught off the African coast.