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RSS FeedsDays before the end of the First World War, Canadians celebrated in the streets. But it was thanks to fake news
(The Star Movies)

 
 

4 november 2018 23:48:46

 
Days before the end of the First World War, Canadians celebrated in the streets. But it was thanks to fake news
(The Star Movies)
 


It promised to be the biggest scoop of Roy Howard’s life. The Great War was over. He had chased the rumour all day in the French city of Brest, but now he finally had it on the record from a high-ranking naval official. It was Nov. 7, 1918. The war was not over, but Howard had reason to believe that it was. As the president of the United Press wire service, he sent the good news back to New York, sending the continent into a frenzy of false joy, sealing his name in the history books forever: Roy Howard, the man who broke the false armistice — or as he liked to call it — the premature armistice.It was a fluke that it made it through the censors, but it seemed legitimate when it landed in New York just before noon. Reporters at rival agencies tried to match it in vain. Had they missed the story of the century? There was no official confirmation from the U.S. government, but once the first tentative reports hit the streets at lunchtime, people didn’t return to work. The party had begun.Toronto newsrooms received the United Press bulletin aroundthe same time. Word began to spread by telephone, telegram and word of mouth. People poured out of offices and factories and gathered in front of the Star, as they often did when news was breaking. There was no official confirmation, but “never before,” the Star wrote, “has the city been so deeply stirred.”Allen Cuthbertson grabbed his camera. The 30-year-old had taken over his family carpet company at the beginning of the war and knew downtown well. He climbed to the top floors of the city’s tallest buildings at King and Yonge. From his perch, he saw the ticker tape catch on the hydro and streetcar lines. There were horns, whistles, pots, pans, laughter, shouting, singing, every noise, all at once. People were blocking traffic and dancing on the sidewalks.“For the first time in its history,” the Star noted in its evening edition, “Toronto today might be ...


 
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