The Great Moon Hoax

From Slackerpedia Galactica

The moon people from Delle Scoperte Fatte Nella Luna del Dottor Giovanni Herschel, Napoli, 1836 (Italian edition of the Moon Hoax) [1]

In 1835, The New York Sun newspaper ran a six-day hoax about discoveries made by William Herschel Jr., son of the famous astronomer William Herschel, using a groundbreaking telescope design. Chief among them were discoveries of active wildlife and intelligent creatures on the Moon, including villages with huts and chimneys.

It is widely believed that the hoax was a publicity stunt and the degree of its success is debated among newspaper historians. Although there is evidence that students and professors at Yale were duped [2], leading to much mocking during Harvard-Yale chess matches and Warhammer tournaments.

External Links

Slackerpedia Galactica April Fools Day audio podcast reading (abridged)

Museum of Hoaxes with complete text and images

Wikipedia