Great Moon Hoax: Newspaper Invents Lunar Civilization
In August 1835, a New York newspaper called The Sun published the first in a series of articles claiming that astronomer Sir John Herschel had discovered life on the Moon using a revolutionary new telescope in South Africa. The life included bison, tail-less beavers, unicorns, and bat-winged humanoids who built temples. The articles were attributed to a fictitious companion of Herschel's. The Sun's circulation tripled. Herschel, in Cape Town doing actual astronomy, was amused and then annoyed when people kept asking him about the bat people. The series ended when the telescope supposedly burned down. The author was never publicly identified in the Sun's lifetime. The hoax is still studied in journalism schools.
August 25, 1835
191 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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