One quick anecdote to add to Dominic’s Onion-induced (slightly misty) reminisces:

I went to Great Lakes, Il., for Navy boot camp in the spring of 2013. While I was learning how to be invisible, a friend at UW-Madison (the Onion‘s birthplace) managed to send a rolled-up copy (one of the last, apparently) of that satiric rag through the U.S. postal service using only one stamp — a miracle. Because of the obvious density of the letter, the drill instructors (RDCs) demanded to see the contents.

Out flopped an abused copy of the Onion in all its caustic glory. Five seconds later, I was face to the ground, pushing the Earth into place while the drill instructors reminded the entirety of the bay that “news was not permitted in their boot camp.”

I always thought the Onion should have put that endorsement above the fold: “The Onion, real news, according to the U.S. Navy.”