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Hoaxes

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'The Automaton Chess Player', 1845. Illustration published in The Illustrated London News.

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How a Phony 18th-Century Chess Robot Fooled the World

For much of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a chess-playing automaton known as the “Turk” drew huge crowds at exhibitions across Europe and the United States.

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Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing (L) from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Beijing holds a fossil of a Archaeoraptor with Stephen Czerkas (R), director of the Dinosaur Museum in Blanding. (Credit: TIM SLOAN/Getty Images)

7 Historical Hoaxes

From Drake’s Plate of Brass to the Archaeoraptor fossil, explore seven fascinating historical hoaxes.

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The Cardiff Giant Fools the Nation, 145 Years Ago

In 1869, trickster George Hull masterminded one of the 19th century’s most sensational hoaxes: the discovery of a 10-foot-tall giant.

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Inside ‘The War of the Worlds’ Radio Broadcast

Orson Welles’ radio drama is the most famous broadcast in radio history.

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This Day in History


1912

Fraudulent “Piltdown Man” fossil discovered

European History
1835

“The Great Moon Hoax” is published in the “New York Sun”

19th Century
1700

April Fools’ tradition popularized

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