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FORGOTTEN HOAXES THAT FOOLED THE WORLD

Added on: 15th Aug 2016

 

 

WILLIAM MUMLER’S SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY

William Mumler’s Spirit Photography

William H. Mumler was an American spirit photographer who

worked mainly in New York and Boston. Perhaps his two

most famous works are the photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln

with the ghost of her dead husband Abraham Lincoln, and his

photo of Master Herrod, a medium, with three spirit guides.

After being accused of various activities, he was taken to

court for fraud, with noted showman P. T. Barnum testifying

against him. Though found not guilty, his career was over

and he died in poverty. Today, Mumler’s photos are

considered fakes.

 

 

THE WALAM OLUM HOAX

The Walam Olum of Constantine Rafinesque

The Walam Olum, usually translated as “Red Record”

or “Red Score,” is purportedly a historical narrative of the

Lenape (Delaware) Native American tribe. The document has

provoked controversy as to its authenticity since its publication

in the 1830’s by botanist and antiquarian Constantine

Samuel Rafinesque. Ethnographic studies in the 1980’s and

analysis in the 1990’s of Rafinesque’s manuscripts have

produced significant evidence that the document is a hoax.

Some Delaware people, however, believe Rafinesque

based his writing on actual Lenape stories.

 

 

THE TRAVELS OF SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

Ostensibly written by an English knight, the Travels claim to relate

his experiences in the Holy Land, Egypt, India, and China.

Mandeville declares that he served in the Great Khan’s army and

to have travelled in “the lands beyond”—countries populated by

dog-headed men, cannibals, Amazons, and pygmies.

 

 

THE SHROUD OF TURIN

The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth bearing the image

of a man that is believed by some Christians to be the burial shroud

of Jesus. Three radiocarbon dating tests in 1988 concluded that the

age of the cloth only goes back to the Middle Ages.

 

 

THE RABBIT BABIES OF MARY TOFT

The Rabbit Babies of Mary Toft

Mary Toft was an Englishwoman from Godalming, Surrey, who in

1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she

tricked doctors into believing she had given birth to rabbits.

However, when a famous London physician threatened that he

might have to surgically examine Mary’s uterus in the name of

science, she confessed she had simply inserted the dead rabbits

in her womb when no one was looking, motivated by a desire for

fame and the hope of receiving a pension from the king. She was

briefly imprisoned for fraud, but released without trial.

 

 

“THE WAR OF THE WORLDS”

Orson Welles

“The War of the Worlds” was an episode of the American radio

drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was

performed as a Halloween episode on Sunday, October 30, 1938

and aired over the CBS radio network. Directed and narrated

by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, it was an

adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1898). It became

famous for allegedly causing mass panic, although the reality of

the panic is disputed as the program had relatively few listeners.

 

 

THE PETRIFIED MAN

The Petrified Man

A report that appeared in the Territorial Enterprise (Virginia City,

Nevada’s leading newspaper) on October 4, 1862, described the

bizarre discovery of a petrified human body. It was a fascinating

little blurb. So fascinating that many other papers soon reprinted it.

However, not a word of it was true. It had been written by a young

man named Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain), who

was a new employee of the newspaper. Twain later admitted he

was surprised by how many people were fooled by his story.

 

 

THE PATAGONIAN GIANTS

The Patagonian Giants

The myth of the Patagonian Giants, like other stories about

remote, exotic places, captured the European imagination for a

long time. The first mention of this mythical race surfaced in the

1520’s in the account of Antonio Pigafetta, chronicler of

Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition. For more than 250 years

Europe was captivated by the tales of a mysterious group of

gigantic people that were called Patagonian Giants but when a

newly revised account of the voyage came out in 1773, the

Patagonians were recorded as being six feet six inches;

very tall indeed, but by no means giants.

 

 

THE NATIVE OF FORMOSA

The Native of Formosa

Have you ever heard of George Psalmanazar? No? Well, this

Frenchman’s claim to fame was his self-declaration of being the

first native of Formosa (today Taiwan) to visit Europe. For some

years he convinced many people in Britain, but he was later

exposed as a con artist. He subsequently became a theological

essayist and a friend of Samuel Johnson and other noted

figures of eighteenth-century literary London.

 


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