Fooled the World: Famous Hoaxes Through History

About Fooled the World: Famous Hoaxes Through History

From faked fossils to forged diaries, history is full of elaborate deceptions that had the whole world fooled — test your knowledge of the most audacious hoaxes. Fooled the World: Famous Hoaxes Through History packs 15 multiple-choice questions aimed at mixed difficulty into a relaxed session of roughly 7 minutes — no sign-up, no timer pressure. An explanation appears after every answer, and finishing once a day keeps your streak alive.

A few sample questions

1. 1. The Piltdown Man was a 'missing link' fossil discovered in England in 1912 that convinced scientists for decades — until it was exposed as a fake. In what year was the fraud finally revealed?

   Answer: 1953

   In 1953, scientists used chemical testing and microscopic examination to prove that the Piltdown skull was a cleverly assembled forgery, finally solving one of science's most embarrassing mysteries more than 40 years after the hoax began.

2. 2. The Cardiff Giant was a 10-foot stone 'petrified man' supposedly dug up on a New York farm in 1869 — actually carved from gypsum and planted there as a prank. Who masterminded this elaborate hoax?

   Answer: George Hull

   George Hull, a New York tobacconist, had a block of gypsum quarried in Iowa and secretly carved into a giant in Chicago, then shipped it to his cousin William Newell's farm in Cardiff, New York, where it was buried in 1868 and 'discovered' by well-diggers about a year later — partly as a prank aimed at people who believed in the biblical giants described in Genesis.

3. 3. In 1917, two young English cousins produced photographs they claimed showed real fairies dancing in their garden. Which famous author became one of the most vocal believers in the photographs' authenticity?

   Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle

   Arthur Conan Doyle — creator of the supremely logical Sherlock Holmes — was a devoted spiritualist who wrote enthusiastically about the Cottingley Fairies in Strand Magazine in 1920, giving the hoax worldwide attention and credibility.

4. 4. In 1983, Germany's famous Stern magazine paid millions of marks for what were claimed to be 62 volumes of Adolf Hitler's personal diaries — but they were quickly exposed as forgeries. Who had faked them?

   Answer: Konrad Kujau

   Konrad Kujau, a Stuttgart antiques dealer and accomplished forger, produced all 62 volumes; forensic tests revealed almost immediately that the paper, ink, and even the polyester binding thread were all post-World War II materials.

5. 5. In August 1835, millions of Americans thrilled to newspaper reports claiming a famous astronomer had spotted winged creatures, blue-tinted goats, and forests on the moon. Which newspaper ran this 'Great Moon Hoax'?

   Answer: The New York Sun

   The New York Sun ran six sensational front-page articles falsely crediting the lunar 'discoveries' to the respected astronomer Sir John Herschel; the series briefly made the Sun the highest-circulation newspaper in the world.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Friends Doug Bower and Dave Chorley demonstrated to journalists exactly how they flattened grain using wooden boards and rope, revealing that the worldwide crop circle craze began as a simple prank dreamed up over a pint at their local pub.
• ✓Originally crafted by Japanese fishermen, the Fiji Mermaid was a monkey's torso attached to a fish tail and dried; Barnum promoted it with beautiful mermaid illustrations on his handbills, so audiences paying to see it were often shocked by how grotesque the real specimen looked.
• ✓Taken in April 1934 and long attributed to a respected London physician, the photograph was revealed in 1994 to be a toy submarine fitted with a sculpted head, created by hoaxer Marmaduke Wetherell and his stepson Christian Spurling.