An Odd History Lesson...This is the second of a potential weekly feature. The first one was read many times but there was a feeling it was too dark. So it didn't exactly go down a storm. We're going to try a few more before deciding to keep the feature. I can't promise that future installments won't take a macabre turn, however.
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835.
No, we're not talking about the idiocy of NASA faking the 1969 Moon landing on a soundstage. ("That rock has a 'C' on it! The flag is waving when it's not supposed to wave!" Moses smell the roses you're a dope.) This was an actual hoax.
In 1835, a serialized article appeared in The New York Sun boasting an incredible discovery. The periodical claimed they were reprinting findings from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. There was no such thing as the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The Sun's headline read:
GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES
LATELY MADE
BY SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, L.L.D. F.R.S.
At the Cape of Good Hope
Herschel was a real astronomer and quite well known at the time. The article claimed that through a new, extremely powerful telescope, the British scientist had discovered ... LIFE ON THE MOON!
In detail that may have made H.G. Wells envious, the screed spoke about lunar topography, huge forests, vast seas and oceans and "lilac-hued quartz pyramids."
That was just the beginning.
Through Herschel's alleged uber-telescope, bustling life was seen knocking about on the Moon. There were round, amphibious creatures rolling around sandy beaches. Herds of bison. Gangs of "blue unicorns" grazing on the rolling hills. A tribe of fire-spewing bipedal, tailless beavers that lived in huts. And the most amazing discovery; winged, bat-like humans that lived in a golden-roofed temple. The creatures were dubbed "Vespertilio-homo." The Man-Bat. This was about a hundred years before The Dark Knight graced the pages of DC Comics. Not bad. Along with the articles were detailed lithographs. Supposedly depicting this awe-inspiring Moon culture. The pictures showed the great architecture, luscious landscapes, walking beavers, and flying man-bats.
Some editors at rival papers panicked, said they too had access the original non-existent articles from the non-existent Edinburgh Journal of Science and just reran the Sun's stories.
Some reports say the Moon Hoax boosted the Sun's readership. Thousands believed the tale. And not just the common man. Almost twenty years later a reporter wrote that students and staff at Yale bought it hook, line and moon boots. It read:
Yale College was alive with staunch supporters. The literati--students and professors, doctors in divinity and law--and all the rest of the reading community, looked daily for the arrival of the New York mail with unexampled avidity and implicit faith. Have you seen the accounts of Sir John Herschel's wonderful discoveries? Have you read the Sun? Have you heard the news of the man in the Moon? These were the questions that met you every where. It was the absorbing topic of the day. Nobody expressed or entertained a doubt as to the truth of the story.
Though it was eventually discredited, the Sun never publicly admitted the hoax.
Sir John Herschel initially was amused by the story, saying he wished he could see such an unusual world, but he became increasingly annoyed when he was asked about it over and over again for years after.
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 makes the reports of water molecules on Mars seem pretty lame. Where's the blue unicorns and flying man-bats? Boring.
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Here's tip kids, lay off the acid if you're gonna look at the moon through a telescope.
Excellent story this time JW. I Ate my lunch right on through with nary a nauseous feeling.
1 for 2 ain't bad.
SP - Good advice. But remember, it wasn't called 'acid' back then, it was Miracle Tonic, or some Holy Elixir that cured that evil urge to masturbate in evil young boys.
Maybe there's no life there, but it is made out of green cheese. They were right about that.
I think Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson sold some of that magical elixir from the back of a wagon in the 80's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gWvBXS2t4A
Reverend, without looking at that link, is that the "Say Say Say" video?
Yes it is. A beauty.
Thought so. You just took me back to my curiosity in the ingredients of that elixir, that made those people start dancing so well. There's a strong market for something like that. I'd sell it at the club (with a Red Bull back) to all of the "45 is the new 25" folks who refuse to realize that they look like idiots.
VCs welcome.
If MJ was selling elixir it's probablie St Joe's Roofies For Kids.
BTW, why did Michael Jackson go to KMart?
He heard boy's pants were half off.
Thanks folks, I'll be here all week.
That's right E, Mike may have been slipping the kids a little something something... hell, that should really do well at the club then.
Take a bow, E.
Haven't commented before, but definitely keep this feature - and keep it just as macabre as you like. I can put down a sandwich before reading just fine. Keep up the good work.
It's a shame the FDA stepped in and curbed all that good stuff. What I wouldn't give for a bottle Dr. Phil's Miracle Elbow Balm and Fizzy Stomach Cleanser.
Thanks for reading Sean. Cheers.
JW
Ahhh the golden days, when heroin was a cure for alcoholism and coke was spiked with columbian nose candy.
Also, Everyone and their brother was getting lit on absinthe back then, so i guess it's no surprise that the world looked like a Nine Inch Nails video.
You could also buy laudanum - which was basically a bottle of opium - at the local apothecary. Laudanum was touted as a cure-all drug. Taking care of anything from the common cold to cardiac problems.
Mary Todd Lincoln - Honest Abe's missus - was a laudanum addict for a time. But that is another Odd History Lesson. If we keep doing them...
Prostitutes in the old west would use laudanum to induce abortions by taking almost enough to overdose. However, many prostitutes would then end up accidentally killing themselves, leading many to believe their was an epidemic of prostitutes commiting suicide.
I'll take nuclear narcotics for $1000 alex...yeesh!