The first viral video was a 1927 newsreel
Long before the internet, a grainy clip of a lone pilot taking off for Paris became the world's first true media sensation.
On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh climbed into the Spirit of St. Louis to attempt the first solo flight across the Atlantic. While most news crews were silent, Fox Movietone used a new technology to capture the deafening roar of his engine and the frantic cheers of the crowd. By that evening, the footage was playing in New York's Roxy Theatre. It was the first time an audience had ever heard the actual sounds of a major historical event as it happened.
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