Headlines for the Ages

At various points in my life, I’ve saved certain editions of newspapers for posterity. I saved them purely for the front page, which recorded something of great magnitude. The Union Flag being hoisted at Port Stanley. Thatcher leaving Downing Street for the last time. Blair walking in for the first. Smoke billowing from the twin towers in New York. Steven Gerrard lifting the Champions League trophy in 2005. Photos of buses blown to bits on the streets of London a few weeks later. 

But eventually, the papers get binned. I’m not really one for hoarding. These days, it’s an unnecessary hobby anyway. One can take a digital snap shot of the front page and keep that. It’s very space efficient. That’s quite the front page today, is it not? The Coronavirus is in every way a world changing event. Putting the British PM into intensive care just ratchets it up several degrees. I genuinely hope he recovers. If he does not, this front page will soon pale into insignificance. 

I remember the first time I saw a front page which had global significance. Someone had been shot dead. I can even provide the exact date – December 9th, 1980. The dramatic headline and the big black and white photo of the dead man grabbed my attention. I didn’t normally read newspapers, but I read that story. I’d never heard of the chap if I’m to be honest. But then, I had not long turned 8 years old. It was clear, though, that he was an incredibly important and loved figure, world over. Perhaps that front page is why he became my favourite Beatle…