The number of trials that have been called the “trial of the century” is mind-boggling. The earliest one I know of is the trial of Harry Thaw for the murder of Stanford White in 1907. But I don’t know whether it was called the trial of the century at the time, or whether the name was applied to the trial in later years.
What’s the first recorded use of the phrase, and to what trial did it apply?
Great question.
I’ve got some other contenders that predate the Thaw trial: The trials of the Lincoln assasination conspirators, the trial of the Garfield assassin, the trial of the McKinley assassin, the Henry Ward Beecher adultery trial and the Vanderbilt will trial.
Reminds me of The Daily Show’s bit on “The Crime of the Century of the Week.”
I found an 1899 headline in an Oshkosh newspaper that said about the Dreyfus trial-- but this was an isolated headline. There was no other hit on the phrase.
The Scopes trial got referred to in the immediate year or so afterwards as the trial of the Century. Thaw trial did NOT. AT least, in general press.
Trouble is, there was a play/movie? from the period before Scopes with the title “trial of the century.” That doesn’t help searches.
This paper mentions a few of the more popular “trials of the century” and talks about it’s overusage. A quick Google search on “first trial of the century” yields predictably varied results.
Did you mean first printed mention? I assume all centuries are fair game. You’re certainly right about there being alot references. I’d find it hard to believe that any trials regarding Royalty, say several centuries ago, wouldn’t be given such a title. We’ll see.
I believe the phrase “trial of the century” was originally used re the Dreyfus affair (1894 onwards). Don’t have a solid cite, I’m afraid, though there’s this .
Perhaps you’d be better off searching for whatever the french translation of “trial of the century” is.