This Day in the History of Hoaxes: August 9

August 9, 1962: The Hastings Rarities Fraud
Taxidermist George Bristow had a reputation for being able to find rare birds, which he stuffed and sold at high prices to collectors. But on this day (Aug. 9) in 1962 (15 years after Bristow's death) the journal British Birds published a study arguing that it was statistically impossible for anyone to have found that many rare birds in one small area, Hastings, of southern England. It's suspected that Bristow had imported frozen birds from abroad, then he had claimed to have found them in England, where their presence was unexpected, which allowed him to sell them at high prices. [Hastings Museum]