Every once in a while I notice this little anniversary as it rolls around. It was on this day, the 25th of August, in 1835 that the New York newspaper, The Sun, began a series of six articles that reported the discovery of a civilization on the moon by the renowned astronomer Sir John Herschel.
It was quickly revealed this was a hoax.
While the true authorship has never been conclusively determined, and various names have been floated, as well as co-conspirators, in all likelihood it was the work of an English journalist Richard Adams Locke.
A couple of years ago when I noted this I commented how this puts contemporary Facebook hoaxes to shame. Considering so many things, including Donald Trump’s notorious tenure at the White House and his amazing super power to just lie and lie in the face of well, pretty much anything we used to call “facts,” says too much.
Whatever. Worthy as a footnote for our times, and a pointer to something…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In