15 Iconic Newspaper Covers That Went Down in History

Men Land on Moon

In this case, the original headline for the first edition of The New York Times on July 21, 1969, read “Men Land on Moon” when it went to press at 9.30 p.m.

It was then updated at 10:58 p.m. to read “Man Walks on Moon,” at which point Neil Armstrong actually made it onto the moon, but Buzz Aldrin hadn’t yet. Finally.

When the late city edition went to press at 12:46 a.m.—and both astronauts had walked on the moon—the headline was changed again to “Men Walk on Moon.”

“[This] shows how newspapers can reconsider and perfect their headlines for even the most momentous events,” Levinson explains.

“Also, in this case, it shows how headlines bring events of cosmic importance literally down to Earth.”