Headline

A headline is a sentence of text at the top of a newspaper article, explaining the nature of the article below it. Headlines are usually written in bold text, and in a much larger print size than the text in the actual article.

Most newspapers feature a very large headline on their front page, dramatically describing the biggest news event of the day.

Headlines are a fairly recent creation, popularized after the end of World War I.

Famous example headlines

• WAR BREAKS OUT IN EUROPE
• ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA
• PRESIDENT SHOT DEAD
• MAN WALKS ON MOON

Occasionally, the need to be brief in the headline leads to unintentionally curious results. For example, if the story is about the president of Iraq trying to acquire weapons, the headline might be "Iraqi Head Seeks Arms." Or if some agricultural legislation is defeated in the House of Representatives, the title could read "Farmer Bill Dies in House."