This Day in the History of Hoaxes (and Pranks): June 8

June 8, 1958: The Rooftop Austin Seven
Residents of Cambridge woke to find an Austin Seven parked on the 70ft-high rooftop of Senate House. The student ringleader of the prank later explained that he felt the roof "cried out" to be made more interesting. It took police and firefighters over a week to figure out how to get the car off the roof. [The Telegraph]

June 8, 1992: Pregnant Man Debunked
A Filipino male nurse, Edwin Bayron, who had received worldwide media attention when it was announced that he had become the first ever man to become pregnant, was exposed as a fake. He had initially fooled health officials by claiming to be a hermaphrodite, strapping on a fake belly, and doctoring his urine tests. He concocted the hoax in order to support a court application to legally change his gender so that he could marry his Army officer lover. [top.net.nz]

This Day in History

Posted on Sun Jun 08, 2014


Comments

In what way was "The Rooftop Austin Seven" a hoax?
Posted by Lawrence M  on  Sun Jun 08, 2014  at  10:23 AM
>>In what way was "The Rooftop Austin Seven" a hoax?

I thought to myself, as I posted that, that it wasn't really a hoax. It's a classic prank. And then I thought 'surely no one will call me on that!!!'

Let's just say that I slipped it in there because it seemed like an anniversary worth remembering in the general history of mischief.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Tue Jun 10, 2014  at  04:52 PM
Just changed the title, for the sake of accuracy!
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Tue Jun 10, 2014  at  04:54 PM
There's a thorough account of the Austin Seven prank, written by two of the pranksters, here:

http://babylon.acad.cai.cam.ac.uk/college/past/legend/index.php
Posted by Beanolini  on  Wed Jun 11, 2014  at  07:13 AM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.