Download or read book A Colossal Hoax written by Scott Tribble and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2008-12-16 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 1869, as America stood on the brink of becoming a thoroughly modern nation, workers unearthed what appeared to be a petrified ten-foot giant on a remote farm in upstate New York. The discovery caused a sensation. Over the next several months, newspapers devoted daily headlines to the story and tens of thousands of Americans—including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the great showman P. T. Barnum—flocked to see the giant on exhibition. In the colossus, many saw evidence that their continent, and the tiny hamlet of Cardiff, had ties to Biblical history. American science also weighed in on the discovery, and in doing so revealed its own growing pains, including the shortcomings of traditional education, the weaknesses of archaeological methodology, as well as the vexing presence of amateurs and charlatans within its ranks. A national debate ensued over the giant's origins, and was played out in the daily press. Ultimately, the discovery proved to be an elaborate hoax. Still, the story of the Cardiff Giant reveals many things about America in the post-Civil War years. After four years of destruction on an unimagined scale, Americans had increasingly turned their attention to the renewal of progress. But the story of the Cardiff Giant seemed to shed light on a complicated, mysterious past, and for a time scientists, clergymen, newspaper editors, and ordinary Americans struggled to make sense of it. Hucksters, of course, did their best to take advantage of it. The Cardiff Giant was one of the leading questions of the day, and how citizens answered it said much about Americans in 1869 as well as about America more generally.
Download or read book Great Hoaxes and Famous Impostors written by Carlson Wade and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rogue's gallery of a special breed of people who live by their wits. Carlson Wade proves there is no limit to the ingenuity of con artists, crooks, and counterfeiters. Case histories document the best hoaxes of all times. Photos.
Download or read book Hoaxes and Hexes written by Barbara Smith and published by Heritage House Publishing Co. This book was released on 2011-03-24 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a "humorous or malicious deception," and hex as "a magic spell." These stories of hoaxes and hexes illustrate our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable. Portrayed here are accomplished hoaxers and swindlers, including the flamboyant 19th-century financier known as Lord Gordon-Gordon; David Walsh, author of the horrendous Bre-X gold-mine hoax of the 1990s; and the eccentric Josef Papp, who claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade submarine. The persistent power of hexes is recorded in stories of cursed places--including a strange haunting in the Cypress Hills and a deadly Lake Superior lighthouse--and weird coincidences, such as the legendary Hollywood hex on Oscar-winning actresses. Whether humorous or malicious, real or imagined, hoaxes or hexes have entertained and ensnared us throughout history.
Download or read book The Giant and How He Humbugged America written by Jim Murphy and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a 10-foot tall purported "petrified man" is unearthed from a backyard in upstate New York in 1869, the discovery immediately turns into a spectacle of epic proportions. News of the giant spreads like wildfire, and well over a thousand people come to view him in the first five days alone!Everyone has their own idea of his true origin: Is he an ancient member of the local Onandaga Indian tribe? Is he a biblical giant like Goliath? Soon the interests of world-renowned scientists and people from around the globe are piqued as arguments flare over who he is, where he came from, and if he is real--or just a hoax. In a riveting account of how the Cardiff Giant mystery snowballed into one of America’s biggest money-making spectacles--and scams--Jim Murphy masterfully explores the power of 19th-century media and the unexpected ripple effect that a single corrupt mastermind can produce when given a stage.
Download or read book The World s Greatest Hoaxes written by Geoff Tibballs and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fakes and Hoaxes written by Sarah Levete and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best fakes and hoaxes have just enough truth to lure people into the deception. This comprehensive book showcases some infamous hoaxes as well as supposed-hoaxes that people wont stop believingBigfoot, anyone? Theres so much to explore, from ancient lore of fairies and sea monsters to modern-day hoax baseball players and superhumans! Each high-interest subject is paired with imaginative images and colorful photographs. Mysterious Facts boxes list further points of proof. Readers will especially find a chapter on Internet hoaxes and digital forgeries applicable to their lives.
Download or read book Oh Yikes written by Joy Masoff and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2006-08-24 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gross is back and viler than ever! From the author of Oh, Yuck! the perennial bestseller about science with over 610,000 copies in print, comes OH, YIKES!, an illustrated encyclopedia of history’s messiest, dumbest, grossest, wackiest, and weirdest moments. If kids think pus and gas are fun, wait until they hear the lowdown on the real Dracula, samurai, gladiators, guillotines and vomitoriums, pirates, Vikings, witch trials, and the world’s poxiest plagues. Impeccably researched, deliciously wry, and subversively educational (check out the toilet-paper timeline), OH, YIKES! covers people, events, institutions, and really bad ideas, alphabetically from April Fool’s Day to zany Zoos. Here are the Aztecs, sacrificing 250,000 people a year for the gods—and for food. Fearsome Attila the Hun, scourge of the steppes whose spinning eyes terrified his friends and whose mastery of horses terrorized his enemies (how does someone so evil die? Nosebleed!). Saur, the 11th-century dog-king of Norway (and not too bad as kings go). Henry VIII and his marital problems, the story of the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness Monster, why sailors in the old days preferred eating in the dark (hint: you can’t see what’s crawling in your food), and the answer to the question, “How did knights in armor go to the bathroom?” Topped off with hundreds of illustrations and photographs along with hands-on activities that bring the past to life, OH, YIKES! puts the juice in history in a way that makes it irresistible.
Download or read book In Truth written by Matthew Fraser and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-03-27 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From ancient Rome to the current Internet age, this sweeping history of ideas explores how different epochs wrestled with the issue of truth and lies. From the ancient Greeks and Romans to the modern era, how have people determined what is true? How have those with power and influence sought to control the narrative? Are we living in a post-truth era, or is that notion simply the latest attempt to control the narrative? The relationship between truth and power is the key theme. Moving through major historical periods, the author focuses on notable people and events, from well-known leaders like Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler to lesser-known individuals like Procopius and Savonarola. He notes distinct parallels in history to current events. Julius Caesar's publication of his Gallic Wars and Civil Wars was an early exercise in political spin not unlike what we see today. During the English Civil War and the Enlightenment, pamphleteering coupled with the new power of the printing press challenged the status quo, as online and social media does in our time. And "fake news" was already being used by German chancellor Otto von Bismarck in nineteenth-century Europe and by the "yellow journalism" of American newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer near the turn of the twentieth century. The author concludes optimistically, noting that we are debating and discussing truth more fiercely today than in any previous era. The determination to arrive at the truth, despite the manipulations of the powerful, bodes well for the future of democracy.
Download or read book The Big Con written by Nate Hendley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a broad range of infamous scams, cons, swindles, and hoaxes throughout American history—and considers why human gullibility continues in an age of easy access to information. Covering American cons and hoaxes past and present, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the controversy over "subliminal messaging" (do bands, filmmakers, and advertisers really put secret messages in their works?), the panic about "satanic" daycare operators in the 1980s, and recent Internet scams, this book provides a fascinating, fact-based look at infamous frauds across the centuries. Offering an engaging mix of history, sociology, and psychology, author Nate Hendley gives readers an appreciation of how prominent scams, cons, "confidence men," and hoaxes have impacted American society, past and present. Each entry details the scheme or hoax and the pertinent con artist/schemer involved, examining the sociological, cultural, political, and/or economic effect of the scams. Each topic is accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading selections. As the old saying goes, "There is a sucker born every minute"—and there has always been a keen-eyed swindler to take advantage of the situation. The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History explores this sordid underbelly of American civilization and invites readers to revel in the felonious experience.
Download or read book The New Zealand Dream written by Shiela and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a story and account of my life so far. This is the first book in my series. I will take you on my journey from birth, growing up in a beautiful country town. Moving to the suburbs, discovering New Zealands under ground. You will meet characters you may relate to and characters that will shock you. I will lead you into the world that surrounded me, strangled me, and nearly killed me. Then I will show you how I changed my world, escaped the traps, leading me here to tell my story.
Download or read book Hoaxes Fibs and Fakes written by Lisa Thompson and published by Blake Education. This book was released on 2003 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you heard a radio broadcast that Martians had landed on Earth, would you believe it? In 1938 many people did. Read about many famous hoaxes-plus some silly ones, too.
Download or read book A Treasury of Deception written by Michael Farquhar and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-05-31 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We may say that honesty is the best policy, but history—to say nothing of business, politics, and the media—suggests otherwise. In this infinitely citable book, the author of two bestselling treasuries of scandal recounts some of the greatest deceptions of all time. With what forged document did the Vatican lay claim to much of Europe? Who wrote Hitler’s diaries? Why do millions still believe the vague doggerel that Nostradamus passed off as prophecy? Organizing his material by theme (con artists, the press, military trickery, scientific fraud, imposters, great escapes, and more), Michael Farquhar takes in everything from the hoodwinking of Hitler to Vincent “the Chin” Gigante’s thirty-year crazy act. A Treasury of Deception is a zestful, gossipy exposé—and celebration—of mendacity. A Treasury of Deception also includes: Ten tricksters from scripture Ten great liars in literature Ten egregious examples of modern American doublespeak Ten classic deceptions from Greek mythology
Download or read book Hoaxes written by Judith Herbst and published by Lerner Books [UK]. This book was released on 2009-02 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judith Herbst looks at some of history's most famous hoaxes and publicity stunts, including fairy photographs, moon-men, lost tribes, and crop circles.
Download or read book The Old Farmer s Almanac for Kids written by Old Farmer's Almanac and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2011 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a collection of facts, figures, information, and trivia on a wide range of topics; such as weather, gardening, pets, sports, and health.
Download or read book Scams written by Andreas Schroeder and published by Annick Press. This book was released on 2004-03-06 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SCAMS! reveals 10 true tales of trickery that will mesmerize young readers. They will discover how the Germans planned to destroy the British economy during World War II by flooding the world with millions of fake British bank-notes. SCAMS! also includes: - The Tasady: Stone Age cavemen of the Philippines - The Shakespearean forgery of William Ireland - P.T. Barnum and his greatest show on earth - The creation of the Bibliotheca Phillipica - Le Grand Theresa - John Keely’s engine - Karl May’s extraordinary fiction Readers of any age will be enthralled by these stories of trickery exposed, where the strange twists and turns truly test the limits of credulity.
Download or read book The Greatest Hoax written by James M. Inhofe and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inhofer presents his perspectives and opinions on the proposed "carbon tax" and energy regulations currently part of the global warming debate among members of the Congress and the U.S. government.
Download or read book Moon Hoax Debunked written by Paolo Attivissimo and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-10-13 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A no-nonsense, fact-filled debunking of all the main "Moon hoax" conspiracy theories, collected in a single book. If you're an open-minded doubter, you'll find technically accurate but plain-English answers to your questions; if you're a space enthusiast or professional, you'll find a handy reference for dealing with the most obstinate hoax believers and for clarifying popular objections and misconceptions about the Moon landings. "Moon Hoax: Debunked!" is also an opportunity to rediscover and celebrate one of mankind's greatest voyages, which doesn't need conspiracy theories to be a fascinating adventure. For example, did you know how close to failure each flight actually came? Did you know that pictures of Playmates were smuggled to the Moon to prank the astronauts? Or that there was a secret Soviet plan to land a Russian on the Moon before the US? Paolo Attivissimo is a British-Italian science journalist, lifelong space enthusiast and contributor to NASA's Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.
