This Day in the History of Hoaxes

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 6

June 6, 1944: D-Day
Allied forces landed on the beaches at Normandy. The invasion was preceded by Operation Fortitude, one of the largest campaigns of military deception ever undertaken, which involved the creation of fake field armies consisting of inflatable rubber tanks and planes. The Operation succeeded in convincing the Axis powers that the invasion was going to occur somewhere other than Normandy. [wikipedia]

June 6, 2011: Gay Girl in Damascus Kidnapped
It was reported that popular blogger Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari, author of the blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus," had been captured and detained by armed men in Syria. But as a result of the media attention generated by this news, questions started to be raised about her identity, leading to the revelation that Amina was actually Tom MacMaster , a 40-year-old American man studying for a masters at Edinburgh University. [wikipedia]

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 5

June 5, 1961: Piotr Zak
On this day, the highbrow BBC radio show network Third Programme presented an "avant-garde work" titled "Mobile for Tape and Percussion" by the Polish composer Piotr Zak, who was said to be one of the youngest and most controversial figures in modern music. Two months later, the BBC confessed that Piotr Zak didn't exist. A company BBC spokesman explained, "We dragged together all the instruments we could and went around the studio banging them… It was an experiment to demonstrate that some contemporary compositions are so obscure as to be indistinguishable from tapes of percussion played at random." [wikipedia]

June 5, 2000: Shades for Men Lipstick
Ads appeared on the side of Toronto buses announcing the launch of a men's lipstick line called "Shades for Men." However, this product never went on sale. It turned out to be a hoax campaign used to test the effectiveness of bus advertising as a vehicle for launching new products.

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014.   Comments (3)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 4

June 4, 1872: The Great Diamond Hoax
Two prospectors arrived with a group of investors at a field in Colorado that appeared to be full of diamonds lying close to the surface — just as the prospectors had promised it would be. The investors enthusiastically paid a large finding fee, but later discovered (after the prospectors had disappeared) that the field had been artificially salted with diamonds. [Smithsonian]

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 3

June 3, 2002: The Retractable Capitol Dome
On this day in 2002, the Beijing Evening News ran a story alleging that the U.S. Congress was hoping to construct a new Capitol building that included a retractable dome roof. When critics mocked the newspaper for having mistaken a satirical story in The Onion for real news, the paper's editor denied this, saying "How can you prove it's not correct? Is it incorrect just because you say it is?" More …

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014.   Comments (0)


This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 2

June 2, 2001: Dave Manning Exposed
Newsweek reporter John Horn revealed that movie reviewer Dave Manning, whose positive blurbs often appeared on ads for movies put out by Columbia Pictures, didn't actually exist. He was a fictional person created by a marketing executive at Sony, the parent company of Columbia Pictures, entirely for the purpose of making it appear as if their movies were getting good reviews. More…

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: June 1

June 1, 1997: Wear Sunscreen!
Mary Schmich published a humorous column in the Chicago Tribune on June 1 advising college grads that her best advice for the future was to "wear sunscreen." Two months later, the text of her column began circulating widely via email, but attributed to Kurt Vonnegut and said to be a commencement speech he had given at MIT. Even Vonnegut's wife reportedly received the hoax email and, believing it to actually be the work of her husband, forwarded it to family and friends. [about.com, Chicago Tribune]

June 1, 2007: De Grote Donorshow
The premise of the Dutch reality TV show De Grote Donorshow (The Big Donor Show) was that a terminally ill woman with an incurable brain tumor would decide which of 25 "contestants" in need of a kidney transplant would get to have her organ. Despite widespread condemnation, the show went ahead as planned, airing on June 1, 2007. But minutes before the end, the entire thing was revealed to be a hoax designed to publicize the urgent need for more organ donors. [wikipedia]
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014.   Comments (1)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 31

May 31, 1725: The Lying Stones of Dr. Beringer
On this day, Dr. Johann Beringer, a University of Würzburg professor, was given three unusual fossils that showed images (the sun and several worms) in three-dimensional relief. Beringer thought he had made a remarkable discovery and grew even more convinced of this when many more, similar stones turned up. He eventually authored a book about the stones. At which point, he found out that two fellow professors had created the stones to hoax him. More…

May 31, 2003: The Cesky Sen Hypermarket
Lured by ads throughout Prague promoting a new hypermarket called Cesky Sen ("Czech Dream") that would sell products at unbelievably low prices, hundreds of people showed up at the Lethany Fairgrounds for the grand opening. But all they found was a giant Cesky Sen banner. There was no hypermarket, nor plans to build one. Several student filmmakers had set out to record what would happen when consumer's expectations collided with reality, and so had launched a marketing blitz to promote a non-existent, too-good-to-be-true store. More…

Posted: Sat May 31, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 30

May 30, 2000: spud server revealed to be a hoax
It was purported to be a web server powered entirely by potatoes, and it served up web pages at an appropriately slow, potato-powered speed. After gaining international media exposure — both USA Today and the BBC reported about it — the makers of Spud Server admitted it was all a joke. There was no giant potato battery powering their site. More…

Posted: Fri May 30, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 29

May 29, 1947: Sea Monster Attacks Tokyo
The armed forces radio station in Tokyo interrupted its evening broadcast to report that a 20-foot sea monster had emerged from Tokyo Bay and was making its way inland. A series of bulletins provided updates on the progress of the creature as it derailed trains and smashed buildings. The report caused widespread panic. Military police were put on alert, and Japanese police were told to stand by to fight the monster. But after an hour, the announcer admitted the news flashes had just been a joke in honor of the station's fifth anniversary. More…

Posted: Thu May 29, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 28

May 28, 1952: The Cornell War Broadcast Hoax
On the night of May 28, 1952, a group of Cornell students disguised by halloween masks raided the campus radio station, WVBR, and began broadcasting news flashes claiming that Russian planes had bombed Paris, Marseilles, and London. The reports initially caused hysteria in the dorms, although most people soon realized they were fake. The Dean of the University later described it as a "lunatic stunt." The students involved were suspended for a year. [Cornell Archives]
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 27

May 27, 1959: SINA makes Today Show debut
Actor Buck Henry, in character as G. Clifford Prout, president of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, appeared on NBC's Today Show. As Prout, he urged Americans to promote decency by putting clothes on naked animals. SINA continued its unusual campaign for four years until it was revealed to be a hoax masterminded by Alan Abel. More…
Posted: Tue May 27, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 26

May 26, 1930: Hugo N. Frye Sesquicentennial
U.S. politicians, including the Vice President, received letters inviting them to a May 26 party at Cornell University in honor of the sesquicentennial birthday anniversary of "Hugo N. Frye," who was said to have been the founder of the Republican party in New York State. None could attend, but most replied with letters expressing their sincere admiration for Hugo N. Frye. Unfortunately for them, Frye did not exist. The invitation was a student prank, and Frye's name was just a gag ("You Go and Fry!"). More…
Posted: Mon May 26, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 25

May 25, 1933: Norman Jefferies, author of the Jersey Devil hoax, dies
Norman Jefferies was a Philadelphia publicist and theatrical booking agent, who was best known for the stunt he engineered in January 1909 while working at the Ninth and Arch Street Museum. He announced that the legendary "Jersey Devil" (aka "Leeds Devil") had been captured and would be exhibited at the museum. Thousands came to see it. Although what they actually viewed was a kangaroo painted with green stripes and outfitted with fake wings.

Posted: Sun May 25, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 24

May 24, 1976: Abducted by Bigfoot
After going missing while searching for Bigfoot in Humboldt County, 23-year-old Sherie Darvell showed up screaming outside a Bluff Creek resort on May 24, 1976, claiming she had been abducted by a Bigfoot. She said the creature had scooped her up and carried her off, but that it had abandoned her unharmed during the night, after which she had wandered through the woods for several days. Sheriff Gene Cox dismissed her claim as a hoax, noting that she didn't appear to have spent any time in the wilderness. Her clothes were clean and she smelled of perfume. [Wildman of the Woods, Eugene Register-Guard]

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014.   Comments (2)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 23

May 23, 1926: Mencken confesses to bathtub hoax
On May 23, 1926, eight years after publishing an article in which he had detailed the curious history of the bathtub in America, the journalist H.L. Mencken confessed that his history was entirely false. His history had claimed that Americans had been slow to accept bathtubs, believing them to be a health risk, until President Millard Fillmore popularized them by installing one in the White House in 1850. But in 1926, Mencken admitted this was all "a piece of spoofing to relieve the strain of war days." His confession had little effect. His faux history of the bathtub continued to circulate widely and to be accepted as fact. [More…]

Posted: Fri May 23, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 22

May 22, 1981: Cockroach Pills
Dr. Josef Gregor held a press conference in New York to announce he had developed a pill that could cure colds, acne, anemia, and menstrual cramps. And it could even make people immune to nuclear radiation. The key ingredient in the pill, he said, was a hormone extracted from cockroaches. Over 175 newspapers published articles about the discovery. However, Dr. Josef Gregor was really long-time media hoaxer Joey Skaggs. Upon revealing the hoax, Skaggs commented, "I guess no one reads Kafka anymore." [joeyskaggs.com]

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 21

May 21, 1977: The Loch Ness Muppet
Anthony 'Doc' Shiels claimed that he took this picture of the Loch Ness Monster on May 21, 1977 while camping beside Urquhart Castle. The creature in the photo soon came to be known as the "Loch Nes Muppet" because it looked like a puppet. Shiels was a showman, "wizard," and psychic entertainer who was developing a side business as a professional monster hunter. [See Loch Ness Monster Hoaxes]

May 21, 2011: End Times Prediction
Evangelist preacher Harold Camping predicted that the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011. This was supposed to involve massive earthquakes and the ascension of some 200 million chosen people up to heaven. Camping said the world itself would end five months later. When none of this happened, Camping first claimed that a "spiritual" day of judgement had indeed occurred, but eventually admitted he had been mistaken. [wikipedia]

Posted: Wed May 21, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 20

May 20, 1775: The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence
On May 20, 1775, so it is said, Mecklenburg County in North Carolina declared independence from Great Britain, more than a year before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia did so. This would have been the earliest American declaration of independence, if it actually happened. But no original copy of this Declaration survives. Nor do any credible contemporary references to it, leading most historians to conclude that the Mecklenburg Declaration was invented years later. [wikipedia, New River Notes]

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 19

May 19, 1951: Young Ladies Seeking Adventure
Police had to be sent to downtown London to control an unruly crowd of over 500 women who had gathered in response to a newspaper ad that read, "Well set-up young gentleman with honorable intentions invites young ladies seeking adventure to meet him on the steps of the Criterion restaurant, Lower Regent St., 7:15 p.m., May 19. Identified by red carnation and blue and white spotted scarf. Code word: 'How's your uncle?'" The ad turned out to be a hoax run by BBC DJ Brian Johnson who had been hoping to find a few young women to interview on his Saturday night program. He said, "I never expected more than a few girls." [Spokane Daily Chronicle]

May 19, 2000: Charles de Jaeger Dies
Charles Theophile de Jaeger died on May 19, 2000. He had worked as a cameraman for the BBC, but he was most famous as the creator of the 1957 Swiss Spaghetti Harvest April Fool's Day hoax, which involved the news show Panorama reporting that Swiss farmers were experiencing a bumper spaghetti crop. The segment included footage of Swiss peasants pulling spaghetti from trees. The idea for the hoax grew out of a remark one of De Jaeger's school teachers had once said to his class: "Boys, you're so stupid, you'd believe me if I told you that spaghetti grows on trees." More…

Posted: Mon May 19, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: May 18

May 18, 1864: The Civil War Gold Hoax
New Yorkers read in their morning papers that President Lincoln had issued a proclamation ordering the conscription of an additional 400,000 men into the Union army on account of the "general state of the country." The news sent the stock market plummeting. But within hours the news was revealed to be false, planted by a rogue newspaper editor who had sent a forged Associated Press telegram to the papers, planning to profit from a decline in stock prices and a consequent rise in the price of gold, which he had heavily invested in. More…

May 18, 1926: The Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
Popular evangelist preacher Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared while swimming off Los Angeles. It was feared she had drowned, but she turned up unharmed five weeks later in Arizona claiming to have escaped from kidnappers. But it was widely suspected that she had actually spent the time in a seaside cabin having a romantic affair with a married man. [smithsonian.com]

May 18, 1996: The Sokal Hoax
A front-page article in The New York Times revealed that an article by physicist Alan Sokal, recently published in the cultural studies journal Social Text was actually intended to be a parody "thick with gibberish." This had gone unrecognized by the journal's editors. Sokal argued that the publication of his parody demonstrated "an apparent decline in the standards of rigor in certain precincts of the academic humanities." More…

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014.   Comments (0)

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