This Day in the History of Hoaxes: August 12

August 12, 1965: The Great Yak Fat Hoax
On this day, the Great Yak Fat hoax made headlines throughout the United States. Trucker Leroy Hilt had submitted plans to the Interstate Commerce commission (ICC) detailing his intention to start shipping 80,000 pound lots of yak fat from Omaha to Chicago at 45 cents per 100 pounds. This soon triggered a complaint from railroad companies that his rates were too low. The ICC concurred and informed Hilt it was illegal to transport yak fat at that price. In reality, Hilt did not intend to ship yak fat. He had submitted the plan as a protest to show that "the railroads will jump on anything the small truckers propose." [Pittsburgh Press]