Radio and the Phonograph have enabled us, for the first time in history, to broadcast some of the most important historical moments to the world. Here are ten of the most famous or historically important broadcasts in history. The items in the list are not numbered for importance as it is too subjective to rate recordings of this type.
1. The Hindenburg Disaster Wikipedia
The Hindenburg was a German Zeppelin built in 1935 in order to carry passengers between Europe and the United States. Due to a military embargo by the US, the Germans, who normally used helium in their Zeppelins, chose to use flammable hydrogen. In 1937, it met with disaster when landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station. It is particularly interesting to note the tone of voice being used by the reporter in this recording – you can truly appreciate the horror he felt witnessing the event – something which has virtually vanished from modern reporting. This is particularly evident when he cries the now famous phrase: “Oh the humanity!”
Play / Download the mp3 (2.5mb)
2. War of the Worlds Wikipedia
Directed by Orson Welles, this broadcast was an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds (1898), and was performed as a Halloween special on October 30, 1938. The live, 60 minute broadcast, presented mostly as a series of news bulletins, frightened many listeners into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in progress. There was public outcry against the episode, but it launched Welles to great fame.
Play / Download the mp3 (13.6mb)
3. Einstein – e=mc2 Wikipedia
Albert Einstein was a great physicist born in Germany in 1879. In this recording, Albert Einstein discusses his relativity theory, probably his most famous work. Einstein started out as a child with speech difficulties and was considered by many to be a dullard. Little did they know the impact he would have on the future of science.
Play / Download the mp3 (112kb)
4. Winston Churchill – We shall fight on the beaches Wikipedia
As well as being prime-minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill was a master orator and author of many books (including a four volume “History of the English Speaking Peoples”). As an orator, he is most famous for his wartime speeches (during the second World War). Perhaps the most well known of these is the speech recorded here and broadcast on June 4, 1940. You can also read the full text of the speech here.
Play / Download the mp3 (812kb)
5. Martin Luther King – I have a dream Wikipedia
The “I have a dream” speech is probably King’s most famous speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In this speech he speaks of his dream for blacks and whites to live together in harmony as equals. This speech marked the defining moment for the American Civil Rights movement.
Play / Download the mp3 (6.6mb)
6. Adolf Hitler – Declaration of war Wikipedia
Hitler came to power in Germany during the period of confusion which followed World War I (the Weimar Republic in which the Kaiser was ultimately replaced by a government) and became very popular through his use of propaganda appealing to the lower and middle classes. He sparked off World War II when he invaded Poland. This recording is a broadcast of Adolf Hitler declaring war on Poland (“we shall meet bomb with bomb”) – the American reporter translates as he goes. Most interestingly, the reporter is interrupted twice to announce that the governments of France and Great Britain were summoning emergency councils.
Play / Download the mp3 (1.0mb)
7. Gandhi – Soldier of peace Wikipedia
Mohandas Gandhi (who was referred to by the people as Mahatma) was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement. He founded the concept of Satyagraha (causing change through mass civil disobedience). This is Gandhi’s famous Soldier of Peace speech. Mohandas was not without his share of controversy – particularly in the comment he made when asked about the situation in Palestine: “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs.”
Play / Download the mp3 (360kb)
8. John F. Kennedy – Cuban Missile Crisis Wikipedia
John F. Kennedy was the US president from 1961 – 1963, when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. During his time as president, the US installed nuclear facilities in Turkey which were within range of parts of Russia. In retaliation, the Soviet government began installing nuclear facilities in Cuba which put the USA in direct threat. President Kennedy warned that if they were not removed, they would possibly invade Cuba, and that it could be seen as a direct act of aggression that might lead to a nuclear retaliation on the part of the US. In this speech, JFK describes the situation and mentions the threat of nuclear war. The crisis was averted when both sides agreed to dismantle their installations.
Play / Download the mp3 (428kb)
9. Lord Hawhaw – off the air Wikipedia
William Joyce (or Lord Hawhaw has he more well known) was a fascist politician who worked for the Nazi’s during the war as a propagandist. His distinctly “posh” English accent is the cause of him receiving his mocking nickname. Joyce broadcast propaganda from radio stations in Berlin, Hamburg, and Luxembourg. Whilst it was not illegal to listen to his broadcasts in England, it was frowned upon. Nevertheless his recordings were very popular with the public as a source of amusement. He became a hated and ridiculed figure. He escaped after the war but an English soldier overheard him talking at a cafe and recognised his voice. He was arrested and executed for treason. This is the last broadcast made from Hawhaw’s radio station – it is made by a British Soldier and it announces that Lord Hawhaw has gone and will not be back.
Play / Download the mp3 (1.5mb)
10. Sylvia Plath – Daddy Wikipedia
Born in 1932, Sylvia Plath is one of the greatest female American writers of all time. In this recording she reads her most famous poem “Daddy”. Eerily, within a month of reading this, she had committed suicide. Her life was wracked with depression and attempts to kill herself (she even mentions this in Daddy: “At twenty I tried to die [...] But they pulled me out of the sack, And they stuck me together with glue”). Plath had been married to Ted Hughes (whose second wife also killed herself and their children) who was, at one time, the UK Poet Laureate. You can read the full text of Daddy here.
Play / Download the mp3 (5.2mb)
“Mohandas Gandhi (who later changed his name to Mahatma)”
Sorry you are wrong m8 he did not change his name,people called him that he always wrote mohandas karanchand gandhi as his name.Im indian and i know this,so please check your facts properly.Thnaks
Doomkultus: thanks for the clarification. I will correct it.
I may add that word 'Mahatma' means a 'great person'.
“Mahatma” is an honorific given to Gandhi by his followers. Loosely translated, it means “Great Soul.” It is a title of great honor.
very interesting recordings. i’d love to see a second list.
Jim: Thanks for posting. I modified the original post based upon that fact when Dooomkultus pointed it out.
Phil: I am working on it
The problem is that I want the second one to be better than the first and finding the mp3s is not easy as at least one (to my knowledge) has not been released. I spent two days (all day both days) finding and converting these files to mp3s. Any suggestions for other items are welcome.
some recommendations:
roosevelt’s infamy speech (declaration of war on japan)
eisenhower’s d-day speech
churchill’s “iron curtain” speech
Phil: Thanks – keep your eyes on this thread as I will mention the new list when I have made one.
Do you have the dates for these broadcasts? Some of them are obvious enough, and the rest can easily be found, but still it would be nice if they were just listed right next to the title of each broadcast, no?
(an idea for round two, also)
Thanks.
Hi Dave, I will see if I can find the missing dates and add them. A few of the items do have the dates in the text already (at least the year).
Yeah and Martin Luther King was actually a racist. I know this because im black.
Cargasjs: huh?
Carasjs: Most people have some level of racism even if they will not admit it. This does not negate the eloquence, truth and vision Martin Luther King conveyed in that speech. That speech lead to the liberating of the American heart and soul from the tyranny of segregation and the Jim Crowe laws.
That speech deserves it’s place not only in US history, but world history as one of the greatest wake up calls in history.
Ronald Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987 should at least get a honorable mention. Let me quote the most famous line from the speech.
“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Two years later on November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall collapsed and four years after this speech the Soviet Union collapsed on December 25, 1991 when Gorbechev resigned.
This speech was a shot in the arm for freedom and Democracy in Eastern Europe. It signaled the beginning of the end of the Soviet Empire and the Cold War.
soonerproud: Thanks for mentioning the Reagan speech – I haven’t heard it but I agree it would make a nice addition.
soonerproud: I hate it when people say that reagan single-handedly stopped the cold war. revolutions in eastern europe had been going on before his speech. see the singing revolution and Prague Spring. mostly why the USSR fell was because of gorbachev’s non-interventionist policy when the soviet republics were seceeding.
this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev could explain alot better than I can.
phil:
No where did I say that Reagan single handedly stopped the cold war. I am very much aware of the events that happened after Reagan left office that he had nothing to do with.
What that speech did do was to inspire people all across eastern Europe in their bid for freedom. That inspiration for freedom was one of the sparks that lit the flames of revolution in the Eastern Block.
Phil, are you going to deny that Reagan’s handling of the Soviets helped hasten an end to the Cold War? The enormous financial and political strain the arms race put on the Soviets was the largest reason for the collapse. The massive spending on weapons lead to economic instability and had a domino effect into all other areas of Soviet society. Reagan forced them to increase this spending at a time when it was economic suicide to do so. This drastically weakened the Soviets domestically and led to efforts like glasnost and perestroika. It was during Reagan’s second term that the Soviets softened their stance on the Cold War and began to negotiate an end to the arms race. One of the largest nuclear non-proliferation treaties was signed during this time period. Reagan got pretty much all the terms he wanted in that treaty.
No, Reagan did not single handedly end the cold war. But he was one of the Major players in the Soviet Unions collapse.
How do u download it?
ash: try right-clicking the link and see if you get a download option.
Good Lord, the recording of Sylvia Plath chills my blood. I’m simultaneously excited and a bit anxious to play it for my students…Thank you for including it here.
Hi, very interesting list
I have myself a respectful collections of historical moments and speeches on audio MP3 format,over 100, including JFK, Apollo 11, Castro, Che, Churchill, Lindbergh, and so many more… I would be more then happy to share with anyone interested.
Can I upload in this website?
Are you all teachers? scary, im just doing a project on adolf hitler:P
hi: the majority aren’t teachers (as far as I know) – just cool people who are interested in history and other topics
Good luck on your project!
Thank you for the Sylvia Plath recording! She has been a favourite of mine since I was about 15 and read The Bell Jar. It was beautifully read and I never knew she had such a musical quality to her voice.
Knew War of the Worlds would be there.
for some reason it wont let me download any of these on THIS list, but it lets me download other recordngs on this site. I’ve tried right clicking, there is no download option (On my computer at least.) if anyone knows anything I can do to play these please tell me!
I can’t listen to or download any of the sounds on this list either.
Brillo, good job! You might want to add Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech that he made on the eve on India’s independence from British Rule.
The links on this page are broken. Someone should fix it, this is a damn good list.
it´s a pity that the links continue broken… somebody could fix them, please???
thankS!
PS. looking forward for the 2nd part too ,)
btw, if somebody already have these audio files and would be so kind to share them with me, it would be very much appreciated. I am preparing a mixtape/audio collage devoted to radio and I would like to include some of these.
leave me a message here, please… thanks
20020: I have fixed the links
YOU need to figure out what the heck is going on, because AGAIN, none of the links work!
thank U!!
Awesome, I had never actually heard the war of the worlds broadcast.
i’m listening to the war of the worlds broadcast, its so believable, i can see why it caused panic when it was first broadcasted.
winston Churchill’s speach “we shall never surrender” should of been a lil bit higher that speach is still rememberd by the brits to this day
interresting but also anxtious recordings sometimes, regards.
ohh dear, no audio?? Well at least none that my browser will link to >.< I'll try and find equivalents on youtube
Listverse.com… Piques my interest, everytime! Cool list.
ghandi did not create the concept of mass civil disobedience, it was Theroux.
Where is the audio?
The links are broken again.
Not one of the links to the records is working. That is VERY annoying considering some of these things are spectacular and would be a treat to hear. Please fix that.
To Tamz. Yes it is very frustrating, but do what I do. Just go on to YOU TUBE and type in the name of the speech and you will almost certainly get it from that source regardless of your computer set up
Please fix the links!
I don’t know if I’m the first person to discover this, but on the Hindenburg recording, Herb Morrison doesn’t say the famous but widely misheard “Oh! The humanity”. He says “All the humanity and all the passengers…” Listen to it closely. Of course “Oh the humanity!” has entered the culture, so I don’t want to ruin it for everybody since I like the quote myself, but it can go on a list of misheard quotes.
Though its not a speech, I would have put Marian Andersen’s singing at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the list. I would equate its importance for the Civil Rights movement right along with No.5 on this list and Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. And I would also like to mention Senator Ted Kennedy’s speech when he conceded the Democratic Race for presidency in 1980.