Twenty-five years ago today, University of Wisconsin-Madison juniors Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson published the first-ever issue of The Onion — America's self-proclaimed "finest news source," and a brilliant, incredibly consistent home for some of the sharpest satire in modern discourse. Though the first headline ("Mendota Monster Mauls Madison") isn't exactly a classic, it set the stage for a publication that has since become a national treasure and the core component of a far-reaching media empire.
How did The Onion grow from its low-rent local roots to such heights? Here, track the growth of the publication with 10 of our favorite stories from The Onion's 25-year history:
The Onion's online archives only extend back to 1996, but the publication's decision to publish on the web came, in part, when a faithful transcription of this print-only article became a viral hit online.
The Onion is famous for tricking a certain percentage of gullible readers into thinking its stories are real. (There's even a blog devoted to collecting the responses of such readers.) One early and noteworthy example: The Westboro Baptist Church's Fred Phelps, who angrily blogged about this blatantly satirical "homosexual recruitment drive" as if it were real.
4. "God Answers Prayer of Paralyzed Little Boy; 'No, Says God'" (Dec. 9, 1998)
As The Onion's writers continued to develop the paper's distinctive editorial voice, its stories took on an increasingly edgier tone. This ruthless story is one such example.
5. "Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over'" (Jan. 17, 2001)
As President Bush took office in 2001, The Onion set the tone for its Bush-era political coverage with a darkly prescient piece of satire predicting massive debt and a "250 percent boost in military spending."
6. "Not Knowing What Else To Do, Woman Bakes American-Flag Cake" (Sept. 26, 2001)
The Onion's now-legendary post-9/11 issue was the first issue published in New York City — and more than a decade later, it's still the publication's finest hour. Though it's hard to choose just one article from an issue that includes gems like "American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie" and "Hijackers Surprised To Find Selves In Hell," it's this poignant, genuinely heartbreaking article that perfectly captured the national feeling of wanting to do something without knowing what to do.
7. "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" (Feb. 18, 2004)
In a 2004 "op-ed," The Onion gleefully skewered the shaving industry's bizarre obsession with adding more blades to its razors. Once again, the paper was ahead of the curve; less than two years later, Gillette released a real five-blade razor.
8. "Black Guy Asks Nation For Change" (March 19, 2008)
The Onion successfully transitioned into the Obama presidency with a series of articles skewering American attitudes about race and the media's coverage of Obama, including this can't-miss article that turned a familiar campaign slogan on its head.
9. "Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway" (April 20, 2010)
The Onion's greatest recent triumph is the way it has single-handedly managed to invent a bizarro version of Joe Biden — a sleazy, beer-chugging, proudly redneck, self-proclaimed folk hero. The paper's hilarious string of articles — from "Biden Receives Lifetime Ban From Dave & Buster's" to "Biden To Cool His Heels In Mexico For A While" — were so widely disseminated that The New York Times eventually published a story about them.
10. "Roger Ebert Hails Human Existence As 'A Triumph'" (April 4, 2013)
As biting as The Onion's satire tends to be, its writers are equally adept at finding amusing, unexpectedly heartfelt ways to cover difficult subjects. Case in point: This beautiful tribute to Roger Ebert, which summed up his career and life philosophy better than any obituary.
Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.