– 1835
Did
you know that the best known astronomer of his time, Sir John
Herschel, discovered life on the Moon? And I'm talking really obvious
life: creatures that looked a lot like bison, goats, unicorns,
beavers without tails, and humanoids with giant bat wings. And
buildings that looked a lot like temples here on Earth.
Of
course, you know already that Herschel made no such discovery! But
did an esteemed scientist hoax everybody?
No,
no he did not.
The
six articles detailing the exciting (but false) “discovery,”
which were printed beginning on this date in 1835 in the New York
Sun, were supposed to be written by the traveling companion and
assistant of Herschel, a man named Dr. Andrew Grant. However, there
was no such person. All available evidence points instead to the
articles being written by Richard A. Locke, who worked for the
newspaper.
This
story sold a lot of newspapers, apparently. Several weeks after
publication, it had been established that the story wasn't true—but
the newspaper never issued a retraction. In other words, they never
said in print, “Sorry, guys, those articles were not true.” And
Locke never admitted writing the articles.
At
first Herschel was a bit amused by the hoax. When asked about it by
others, he remarked that his real observations of the moon could
never be as exciting. But as more and more people asked him about his
“discoveries”—and he realized that they still believed the
stories to be true—Herschel became annoyed. I bet he wished that
the paper used as many inches debunking the story as it did telling
the tall tale in the first place!
Also
on this date:
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