The War of the Worlds (radio drama) The New Jersey Township of West Windsor, where Grover's Mill is located, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the broadcast in 1988 with four days of festivities including art and planetarium shows, a panel discussion, a parade, burial of a time capsule, a dinner dance, film festivals devoted to H. G. Wells and Orson Welles, and the dedication of a bronze monument to the fictional Martian landings. Howard Koch, an author of the original radio script, attended the 49th anniversary celebration as an honored guest. The 75th anniversary of "The War of the Worlds" was marked by an international rebroadcast with
The Orson Welles Almanac Welles brought together for the show were an important force in the revival of traditional New Orleans jazz in the 1940s. ""The Orson Welles Almanac" was a format that intrigued Welles throughout the early 1940s," wrote radio historian John Dunning. "It consisted of everything from odd facts to jazz." The idea of doing such a variety show occurred to Welles after his success as substitute host of "The Jack Benny Program", radio's most popular show. When Jack Benny contracted pneumonia on a performance tour of military bases, Welles hosted four consecutive programs (March 14–April 4, 1943) and was Benny's first