For this month's Book Tuesday we have a reminder that 'Fake News' isn't a modern thing 😁
From Wikipedia
The "Great Moon Hoax", also known as the "Great Moon Hoax of 1835", was a series of six articles published in The Sun (a New York newspaper), beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel and his fictitious companion Andrew Grant.[1]
The story was advertised on August 21, 1835, as an upcoming feature allegedly reprinted from The Edinburgh Courant.[2] The first in a series of six was published four days later on August 25. These articles were never retracted; however, on September 16, 1835, The Sun admitted the articles were in fact fabricated.[3]
The hoax came at a time when readers looked for entertainment as much as information from penny press newspapers, which would later change with the development of ethical journalism.[4]
If you would like to have a gander at what all the fuss was about the book containing all six articles is available as a PDF file from the Internet Archive.
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| A pleasant afternoon on the Moon. |
Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta
