#OnThisDay 1938: Orson Welles' infamous radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds was broadcast. Did it really cause widespread panic in America? Probably not - but it makes for a great story, as this 1955 clip attests. | BBC Archive

"The War of the Worlds," Orson Welles' realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth, was broadcast on the radio on this day in 1938. Welles was only 23 years old when his Mercury Theater company decided to update H.G. Wells’ 19th-century science fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds" for national radio. Despite his age, Welles had been in radio for several years, most notably as the voice of “The Shadow” in the hit mystery program of the same name. 'War of the Worlds' was not pla