Talk:1283: Headlines

"1912 is, of course, the year of the the sinking of the RMS Titanic." I don't think this is such a given fact that people know when the Titanic sank. I'm removing the "of course". And someone should add an explanation for how these titles are supposed to get more clicks, and what "getting more clicks" even means or worth. I'd do it myself, but I'm on my phone... on second thought, let me boot my laptop... 95.35.58.162 06:31, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Okay, I added a short explanation for now. Someone should fix it, add mentions to NSFW photo articles and list articles (5 easy ways to add 10 years to your life expectancy!). I'm out. 95.35.58.162 07:10, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Don’t you think the 1916 headline is a reference to the fatness of someone’s mom? Quoti (talk) 07:28, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

fat mom (married to physicist dad?) and gravity: Gravitational Mass. Perhaps he found pictures of her down in the gravity well? What do you think? 195.37.42.200 16:20, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Surely "1916 :'PHYSICIST DAD' TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO GRAVITY" is a second reference to Einstein?[1] Wwoods (talk) 07:47, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

"1986 - This video of a terminally ill child watching the Challenger launch will break your heart" - Probably has something to do with the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown as well? 212.123.0.8 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I don't think so. The child is probably American. Xhfz (talk) 12:38, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

"Jan 1st 1990: 500 signs you're a 90s kid" - Can somebody explain this one? This is the only one I, and so far explainxkcd, cannot link to a specific historical event. Or is this supposed to be an example of an attention grabbing headline on a day nothing happened?--108.17.2.71 13:05, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

I think it is making fun of sensational news - making news out of nothing. Here, on the very first day of the 90's, the newspapers already have 500 signs that you are a 90's kid. But nothing has actually happened so far. Sayno2quat (talk) 13:16, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

I changed the line about the 1929 crash being "the largest stock market crash in history" to "the most devastating stock market crash", as it wasn't the largest. By points, it's not even worth mentioning. By percentage (which is more important anyway), it ranks second to the 1987 crash. In 1929, the crash was 13% in one day, and 24% over two days. The 1987 crash was 22% in one day, and 30% over five days. JamesCurran (talk) 15:55, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

And by sticking to the formula "the most (something) in (something)" you are inadvertently falling into the sensationalist language this cartoon mocks. (At least with checked facts) 173.245.53.110 14:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

"1969 - Last peek at Naked Singularities. [NSFW]" --FbFree --128.135.70.205 15:59, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

This seems like a subtle dig at Cracked.com 76.79.82.50 17:28, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

And Buzzfeed and Huffington Post and so on... (And not so subtle.) --Jeff (talk) 17:47, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

John Gordon Mein, the United States Ambassador to Guatemala, were also assassinated in 1968. he was "the first United States ambassador to be assassinated while serving in office". --valepert (talk) 18:14, 28 October 2013 (UTC)