Roy Howard, the president of the United Press wire service, left Paris for Brest on 7 November 1918 to board an army transport for home. He knew that the warring parties had worked out the terms of the armistice but had not yet announced them. In Brest he found celebrations in the streets. Adm. Henry B. Wilson, the commander of the U.S. Navy in France, showed Howard a telegram from the U.S. embassy announcing the signing of the armistice. With the admiral's permission, Howard immediately filed a report to the United Press (UP).

The dissemination of the report in the United States set off furious celebrations there as well, but lacking further corroboration, many editors viewed it with caution. Later that day the Associated Press reported that the Germans had not yet agreed to the armistice terms. At about the same time a...