August 17, 1921: S.O.S. Pigeon Note Hoax
A carrier pigeon dropped at the feet of a policeman in Columbus Circle, NYC. Attached to it was a distress note, dated Aug 13, from the naturalist Edmund Heller, saying he was lost in Yellowstone Park and needed help. "Notify Dan Singer, Belleclaire Hotel," the note said. News of this pigeon that had traveled 2000 miles in four days made front-page headlines. But skeptics questioned how a pigeon could have flown so far, so fast, and the story soon was exposed as a hoax. Heller wasn't lost, nor had he sent any note. The stunt was explained by Singer as a "hotel publicity scheme."
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