HISTORY’S 20 GREATEST HOAXES
The origin of the word ‘hoax’ comes from the verb ‘hocus’ as in ‘hocus pocus’, meaning magic, trickery and flimflam.
It’s appropriate, then, that the masterminds behind the various hoaxes that have been committed throughout successive centuries have employed all manner of wizardry and artistry to pull them off. Whether committed for money, notoriety or simply for the hell of it, society’s fascination with hoaxes and the minds that created them continues to this day. Indeed, in this era of ‘fake news’ and internet scandals our obsession with hoaxes seems more prevalent than ever. Here, we examine 20 of the most successful and outlandish hoaxes throughout history.
CONNING WITH THE COTTINGLEY FAIRIES
1917 In 1917 in Yorkshire Elsie Wright, 16, and Francis Griffiths, nine, produced numerous photographs of what appeared to be fairies. Investigated by members of the Theosophical occult movement, they claimed them to be authentic and proof of vast metaphysical changes in the earth. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Coming Of The Fairies, a nonfiction tome in which he speculated upon what the results would be “if we have actually proved the existence… of a population which may be as numerous as the human race, which pursues its own strange life in its own strange way”. Unfortunately, he died before the truth was revealed. The fairies were in fact beautifully drawn cardboard cutouts that the girls had made and intricately staged before photographing them.
SCAMMING WITH SHAKESPEARE
The Bard has been the target of numerous hoaxes, none greater than that of William Henry Ireland, a 19-year-old, was staged. By this time doubters had surfaced, chief among them the period’s foremost Shakespeare expert, Edmond Malone. As the play ended, the actors were booed and fighting broke out between believers and non-believers. Soon after, Ireland confessed. Tragically, he had conceived the stunt to impress his father but the old man could not be convinced that his son possessed enough literary talent to pull off the ruse and died still claiming they were genuine.
