Famous Hoaxes Throughout History
Before 1700 |
1700-1799 |
1800-1868|
1869-1913|
1914-1949|
1950-1976|
1977-1989|
1990-1999|
After 2000LUNAR BISON AND SOLAR ARMOR
The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed wrenching social change. Thousands of people left their small farm communities to find work in the fast growing cities and factory towns spawned by the industrial revolution. Canals and railways connected these crowded metropolises together, while cheap newspapers mass produced on new steam-powered printing presses fed information to the city inhabitants. And it didn't take long before these newspapers discovered that hoaxes were great ways to produce sensational content and boost their circulation, thus launching the first golden age of hoaxes, as well as the media's love affair with sensationalism.
The Berners Street Hoax
For one day 54 Berners Street became the most talked about address in London. The Journal of Charles LeRaye
LeRaye claimed to have explored the Upper Missouri River, but was LeRaye a real person? Redheffer's Perpetual Motion Machine
Charles Redheffer invents a machine that needs no source of energy to run Princess Caraboo
A Malaysian princess arrives in England The Great Stock Exchange Hoax of 1814
When it was heard that Napoleon was dead people in London rejoiced, and jubilant investors bid up the stocks on the London exchange. Then the bad news arrived. Napoleon was still alive. The report of his death had just been a hoax. It had all been a scheme to manipulate stock prices. Sawing the Island Off
One end of Manhattan was sinking into the sea. The solution was to turn the island around. The Nondescript
The naturalist Charles Waterton makes a monkey out of an obnoxious tax collector The Journal of a British Spy
A quick-thinking English civilian spy who never existed Hoaxes of Edgar Allan Poe
The master of mystery, the macabre, and deception Joice Heth
The 161 year old, former nurse of General George Washington goes on tour The Great Moon Hoax
The New York Sun reports that the moon is inhabited by biped beavers and winged humans Maria Monk
Scandalous affairs in a Canadian convent The Fortsas Bibliohoax
An auction of unique books—each book the only known copy of that title in the world The Feejee Mermaid
Thousands flocked to see the great beauty from the sea, only to find the 'incarnation of ugliness' The Southern Conspiracy to Confederate with Mexico
Did the Southern states plot to join Mexico? The Pictographs of Abbe Emmanuel Domenech
Were these bizarre, sadomasochistic pictographs really drawn by Native Americans? The Hopkins Hoax
Was President Franklin Pierce involved in a plot to overthrow the government? A Petrified Man
A petrified man is found embedded in the side of a mountain The Miscegenation Hoax
The origins of the word 'miscegenation' The Orgueil Meteorite
How did plant seeds get into a meteorite from outer space? The Great Civil War Gold Hoax
The city editor of a New York City paper manipulates the price of gold The Calaveras Skull
Was this really a skull from the Pliocene Age?