Hoaxes

Are you familiar with some of these famous/infamous hoaxes or scams?
Some of these hoaxes were practical jokes intended to amuse, others were plain old lies intended to deceive for personal gain.
Quiz by HelveticaBold
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Last updated: February 5, 2016
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First submittedFebruary 5, 2016
Times taken14
Average score25.0%
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Answer
P.T. Barnum passed off a monkey with a fish tail as the "Feejee _______"
Mermaid
The skull of a newly discovered species of human "Eoanthropus dawsoni", which turned out to be a human skull with an orangutan's jaw
Piltdown Man
Ray Santilli found old 1947 footage of this taking place at Roswell
Alien Autopsy
In fairness Robert Wilson never claimed that this photo of a toy submarine was really the...
Loch Ness Monster
This 18th century chess playing 'machine' was actually a human in disguise
The Turk
After a row with a religious extremist, a tobacconist created this famous hoax, buried it, and then dug it up again
Cardiff Giant
This word is aboriginal for 'I don't understand'
Kangaroo
A physics professor tests a scientific journal's publishing 'rigor', by sending a paper filled with nonsense
Sokal Affair
Dick Smith managed to pull one of these into Sydney harbor
Iceberg
On 1st of April, 1957, the BBC announced the discovery of this marvellous new tree
Spaghetti Tree
Jay Anson's controversial book about a paranormal house
The Amityville Horror
Did this US state get its name from a hoax?
Idaho
In 1983, this potentially lethal substance was found in the water pipes of Durand, Michigan
Dihydrogen monoxide
Probably the most famous type of hoax, signs of alien activity in fields
Crop circles
In the Pacific Northwest, this type of sea creature lives quite comfortably in trees
Octopus
This computer virus would spread via email and install Linux on your computer, that is if it existed
Tuxissa
Charles Redheffer was just one of several who invented one of these
Perpetual motion machine
A short-lived hoax that a hot-air balloon full of people made it across the Atlantic was concieved by this famous author
Edgar Allan Poe
The radio broadcast for this H.G. Wells story saying that aliens were invading wasn't the hoax, the hoax was that it caused mass panic
The War of the Worlds
This barely literate woman was head of science and research for Romania, and received hundreds of honorary diplomas and titles from universities around the world
Elena Ceausescu
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