20 Major Events You Missed Due to Bigger Headlines

Top 20 Huge Events Completely Overshadowed by Other Events

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most significant events in history that should have been headline news but got overlooked due to other events that occurred around the same period.

#20: Black Saturday Bushfires

Overshadowed by: 2008 Financial Crisis

The Black Saturday Bushfires, which ravaged Australia between February 7th and March 14th 2009, are considered one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history. During this period, a series of around 400 bushfires were ignited in Victoria, Australia’s most densely populated state. Despite its immense impact within Australia, the disaster received limited international media attention, largely because of the concurrent global financial crisis. The worldwide economic turmoil, which began unfolding in early 2007, peaked in late 2008 and early 2009, leaving very few reporters and resources available to cover other events. Consequently, the Black Saturday Bushfires, which claimed 173 lives and destroyed thousands of homes, remained largely underreported on the global stage.

#19: The Great Halifax Explosion

Overshadowed by: U.S. Declaration of War on Austria-Hungary

On December 6th 1917, a French cargo ship carrying a vast amount of explosives collided with a Norwegian vessel at the Halifax harbor in Nova Scotia, Canada. The resulting blast devastated the city of Halifax, killing nearly 2,000 people and injuring thousands more. In any other period, this would have been the top news story, but it flew under the radar as it happened during a critical juncture of WWI. The day after the disaster, the U.S. Congress and Senate passed a resolution declaring war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on the same day. This shifted global attention away from the tragedy, despite the significant human toll and immense destruction it caused in Halifax.

#18: Soviet Union Detains U.S. Convoy

Overshadowed by: The Day the Music Died

February 3rd 1959 is often remembered as “the Day the Music Died,” because of the plane crash that killed musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. This tragic event was widely reported, and has since been referenced in various songs and movies. Due to this immense coverage, it eclipsed another significant incident on the same day. In West Germany, amid Cold War tensions, five U.S. Army soldiers were detained by Soviet officers after they refused inspection of their trucks upon crossing from East Germany. This action, perceived by the U.S. as a provocation from the Soviet Union, likely would have been a major news story, if not for the attention drawn by the plane crash.

#17: Frank Sinatra’s Death

Overshadowed by: The “Seinfeld” Finale

On the surface, Frank Sinatra and “Seinfeld” share no similarities. But in actuality, the two are linked in a rather heartbreaking way. On May 14th 1998, “Seinfeld” aired its highly anticipated series finale. However, while around 76 million people gathered around their TVs to watch the show bow out, Sinatra suffered a massive heart attack at his Los Angeles residence and was rushed to the hospital. According to the Fire Chief, Sinatra’s swift transportation was facilitated by the unusually empty streets, as millions were home tuning in to the finale. Even Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, missed the chance to spend his final moments with him, as she too was engrossed in the show. Tragically, despite medical efforts, the iconic crooner passed away at the hospital.

#16: 1989 Bay Bridge World Series

Overshadowed by: Loma Prieta Earthquake

While many of the entries on this list were overshadowed by events elsewhere, this one stands out for occurring in the same location. In 1989, the Bay Area of California was abuzz with baseball fever as two of its local teams - the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants - made it to the World Series. However, just before Game 3 began on October 17th, a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck California’s central coast, causing widespread damage and claiming 63 lives. Although Candlestick Park, the stadium for the game, remained intact, the World Series was postponed for 10 days. With attention rightfully diverted to the aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake, the championship ultimately took a back seat in media coverage.

#15: The Peshtigo Fire

Overshadowed by: The Great Chicago Fire

The Peshtigo Fire of 1871, which ravaged northeastern Wisconsin and parts of Michigan, takes its name from the city of Peshtigo, which was most heavily affected. Despite being the deadliest wildfire in recorded history, consuming over a million acres and claiming up to 2,500 lives, its significance was overshadowed by a similar calamity that befell a larger city. On the same day, Chicago suffered a devastating conflagration, resulting in significant damage and approximately 300 deaths. Although both tragic events, one might assume that the Peshtigo Fire, with its vastly higher death toll, would have garnered more media attention. However, as Peshtigo was far less developed than Chicago, its tragedy has largely been extinguished from historical accounts and public memory.

#14: The Death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Overshadowed by: Tiananmen Square Massacre

On June 4th 1989, the Chinese government sent in troops who opened fire on thousands of peaceful protesters at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. While exact figures vary, some estimates suggest the death toll reached as high as 2,600. This excessively violent reaction to peaceful demonstrations captured the world’s attention and completely overshadowed other events that occurred around that period. Just the night before, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Islamic Revolution and shaped the country’s politics for years, passed away, but this went largely under the radar. Other events that were overshadowed by the massacre include the deadly Ufa train disaster in the Soviet Union, and Poland’s first partially free elections.

#13: First Inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Overshadowed by: Lucy Ricardo & Lucille Ball Giving Birth

If you’re watching this video, chances are you probably weren’t alive when the classic sitcom “I Love Lucy” aired back in the 1950s. To illustrate its immense popularity, the famous episode in which Lucy gives birth to Little Ricky was watched by around 44 million viewers, accounting for nearly 74% of all U.S. homes with TVs. This episode, titled “Lucy Goes to the Hospital,” aired on January 19th 1953, and was made to coincide with Lucille Ball’s actual delivery of her son, Desi Arnaz, Jr. The remarkable blend of television and reality totally upstaged the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower for his first term, which took place the following day and attracted only 29 million viewers.

#12: Attack on Clark Field

Overshadowed by: Attack on Pearl Harbor

December 7th 1941 will forever live on in infamy. That day, Japanese planes launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This assault claimed over 2,400 lives and left more than a thousand others injured, while also causing significant damage to military vessels and planes. The shock and devastation of Pearl Harbor was so overwhelming that many do not know that another attack occurred the following day at Clark Field, a U.S. military base in the Philippines. The casualties in this attack were comparatively lower, with 80 killed and 150 wounded, and it got buried under the unfolding chaos of Pearl Harbor. Surprisingly, no official investigation into the Clark Field attack was ever launched.

#11: The Texas City Disaster

Overshadowed by: Jackie Robinson’s Major League Debut

The Texas City disaster of April 16th 1947 remains one of the deadliest industrial accidents in American history. A French-registered vessel called the SS Grandcamp, which was carrying over 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, detonated unexpectedly, killing at least 581 people and leaving more than 5,000 injured. Yet, the magnitude of this disaster was largely overshadowed and underreported due to the historic Major League Baseball debut of Jackie Robinson the day before. Robinson’s breakthrough as the first African-American player in the modern major leagues dominated headlines and sparked widespread debates in the public. All of this fervor surrounding Robinson breaking the color barrier tragically relegated the Texas City disaster to the background.

#10: The War on Waste

Overshadowed by: 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

On September 10, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held a press conference, announcing that the US Defense Department had been unable to trace $2.3 trillion. Rumsfeld came down on Pentagon bureaucracy, stating that wasted funds could be a matter of “life and death.” But this crackdown on misspending was stopped dead in its tracks the very next day. Tragically, two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th while a third was flown into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Compared to the thousands of deaths on 9/11, the missing $2.3 trillion suddenly seemed like an inconsequential loss. The War on Waste ultimately took a backseat to the War on Terror, which cost an estimated $5 trillion.

#9: The Death of Groucho Marx

Overshadowed by: The Death of Elvis Presley

The world lost a comedic legend on August 19, 1977 when Groucho Marx died at age 86. His death was somewhat overlooked by the media, however, as Elvis Presley had died from a heart attack three days earlier. Elvis was only 42 years old and arguably the biggest solo musical artist in the world and his death triggered a massive outpouring of emotion from fans worldwide. While Elvis had never really left the limelight, Marx had become an elder statesman of comedy and vaudeville, and as such hadn’t really been in the spotlight for nearly a decade. While both men left behind rich legacies, media attention tended to latch onto the younger, charismatic and revolutionary figure that was Elvis Presley.

#8: Beirut Terror Attacks

Overshadowed by: Paris Terror Attacks

When ISIS bombed a local refugee camp on November 12, 2015, Beirut, Lebanon suffered its most severe terrorist attack since the Lebanese Civil War. With 43 total casualties, this tragedy likely would’ve been all over the news and social media if it weren’t for another act of terror committed one day later. On November 13, ISIS bombed Saint-Denis, a northern suburb in Paris, France, leaving 130 people dead and hundreds more injured. Given the higher death toll, the Paris attacks caused many people to forget about the Beirut attacks. Nevertheless, there’s no denying these were two incredibly dark days for humanity that mustn’t be ignored.

#7: The Rwandan Genocide

Overshadowed by: The Death of Kurt Cobain

In 1994, Rwanda experienced one of the most horrific atrocities of the 20th century. The Rwandan genocide saw the mass killings of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi ethnic minority members and moderate Hutus by armed Hutu militias. Despite its rapid and brutal spread throughout the country, the genocide received scant attention in the United States. It commenced on April 7th 1994, the day before singer Kurt Cobain was found dead at his home, having taken his own life. Media coverage was largely dominated by Cobain’s death, eclipsing the ongoing tragedy in Rwanda. As the genocide unfolded over a span of three months, it remained overshadowed in international media by Nelson Mandela’s election and later, the O.J. Simpson murder case.

#6: Harriet Quimby’s Flight

Overshadowed by: The Sinking of the Titanic

In addition to being the first woman in the United States to attain a pilot’s license, Harriet Quimby was also the first female aviator to fly across the English Channel. Taking off in Dover, England on April 16, 1912, she reached her destination in 59 minutes, landing on a beach in northern France. But where Quimby successfully completed her voyage, the same couldn’t be said about the RMS Titanic. After hitting an iceberg, this passenger liner sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, claiming over 1,500 lives. Overshadowed by this disaster, Quimby never got her moment in the sun and died in an aviation accident a couple of months later, leaving many to consider her an unsung hero.

#5: The Death of Mother Teresa

Overshadowed by: The Death of Princess Diana

Mother Teresa and Diana, Princess of Wales had a great deal in common. Both were known for their charity work, helping to raise awareness of leprosy and HIV/AIDS. Princess Diana notably visited Mother Teresa at a New York convent in June of 1997. On August 31, just a couple of months after their meeting, the 36-year-old Lady Di died following a car crash in Paris. Less than a week after her untimely death, Teresa passed away due to heart failure on September 5. But with the public already coping with the sudden loss of Diana, Teresa’s death didn’t receive nearly as much media attention. Nonetheless, these two women are still remembered for their dedication and compassion, ultimately making the world a better place.

#4: Man Rowing Across an Ocean

Overshadowed by: Man Walking on the Moon

John Fairfax became the first man to row solo across an entire ocean, with the journey taking 180 days. Starting his adventure at the Canary Islands, Fairfax crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Florida on July 19, 1969. Unfortunately, this just so happened to be the day before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the moon. Armstrong’s one small step for man might have eclipsed John Fairfax’s crossing, but his incredible feat didn’t go completely unrecognized. The Apollo 11 crew themselves sent Fairfax a congratulatory message, stating, “As fellow explorers, we salute you on this great occasion” – but few others took notice.

#3: The Death of Farrah Fawcett

Overshadowed by: The Death of Michael Jackson

Following a battle with cancer, Farrah Fawcett died on June 25, 2009. Although Fawcett’s deteriorating health was among the most widely discussed topics in the news, she ultimately had to share the spotlight with Michael Jackson, who was pronounced dead the same day. While Fawcett was still heavily mourned, the King of Pop’s passing dominated popular culture: MJ’s death was front-page news, but Fawcett’s was relegated to back pages and entertainment sections. Worse still was the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” segment the following year, which featured Jackson but saw Fawcett controversially excluded.

#2: 1994 NBA Finals

Overshadowed by: O. J. Simpson’s Car Chase

The idea of a major league final getting overshadowed might seem unthinkable, but that’s exactly what happened during the telecast of the 1994 NBA Finals. On June 13, 1994, O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and friend Ron Goldman were discovered murdered in Los Angeles, and O.J. quickly became the prime suspect. Simpson was to turn himself into police custody on Friday, June 17, but instead fled in his white Ford Bronco, triggering the now infamous low-speed chase. With CNN, ABC, and CBS covering the live events, NBC followed suit— interrupting Game Five between the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks. While the game was still aired via split screen, the Juice breaking loose was clearly the bigger story.

#1: The Capture of Rome

Overshadowed by: Operation Overlord

Even if you never paid attention in history class, you’re familiar with Operation Overlord, aka D-Day. Taking place on June 6, 1944, this operation commenced the Invasion of Normandy, with Allied forces storming French shores. D-Day, however, occurred only a couple of days after American troops seized Rome on June 4. Unlike the Normandy Invasion, however, this mission wasn’t entirely successful in the long run, as it resulted in German forces escaping due to a miscalculation that later resulted in Allied casualties. The Normandy landings, meanwhile, remain the largest beach invasion ever, with that day proving to be a major turning point in the course of the Second World War.


What other events in history were completely overshadowed by something bigger? Let us know in the comments below.