(quotes originate from Wikipedia): Apparently a man named Herbert Morrison first used the phrase during a news report on the Hindenburg zeppelin crash. The "humanity" was his way of describing the large number of people watching from the ground. The reporter was ridiculed for being overly emotional during his broadcast and the quote has become an idiom "most often used in a satirical way to ridicule, diminish and trivialize emotional displays the speaker deems overly sentimental. It is also used to satirize heinous acts of world leaders. This phrase is most often used today to exaggerate the impact of an insignificant event. For example, if a person became very upset there was no more milk in the refrigerator, his roommate may mock him with a sarcastic, emotional "Oh, the humanity!".