On the evening of February 15, 1898, a massive explosion tore through the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba. The explosion sank the vessel, killed over 260 sailors and shocked the American public. Days later, William Randolph Heart’s newspaper, The New York Journal, ran a sensational headline: “MAINE DESTROYED BY SPANISH.” How could Hearst have known it was Spain? He didn't. | American Experience | PBS