We've all fallen for an April Fool's joke before, despite our best efforts to be impervious to shenanigans. At worst, we look silly at the office for an afternoon. In the case of these hoaxes, however, much more was at stake. Take a tour through some of history's most outrageous science hoaxes!
10. The Nacirema tribe
The Nacirema were supposedly a tribe of people living in North America, as described by Horace Miner in his anthropological paper "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," published in 1956. It was actually a satire of everyday American life as it revolves around personal grooming, bathroom habits and body image. Nacirema is American spelled backward. 9. The disappearing blonde gene
Every generation or so, an alarm is sounded over a report that natural blondes will soon go the way of the dodo due to the shrinking number of people carrying the recessive blonde gene. Often attributed to the World Health Organization, or WHO, these reports have appeared in the media as far back as 1865 and as recently as 2006 when the story was featured on "The Colbert Report." The WHO has never conducted such a study, and most geneticists would agree that blondes are in no danger of going extinct. 8. "Say no to cake"
In 1995, British faux news show "Brass Eye" conducted an "investigative report" on a street drug they invented called "cake," claiming it affected an area of the brain called "Shatner's Bassoon." Members of the media lashed out against cake, and the British government even took the matter to Parliament.
The Nacirema were supposedly a tribe of people living in North America, as described by Horace Miner in his anthropological paper "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," published in 1956. It was actually a satire of everyday American life as it revolves around personal grooming, bathroom habits and body image. Nacirema is American spelled backward. 9. The disappearing blonde gene
Every generation or so, an alarm is sounded over a report that natural blondes will soon go the way of the dodo due to the shrinking number of people carrying the recessive blonde gene. Often attributed to the World Health Organization, or WHO, these reports have appeared in the media as far back as 1865 and as recently as 2006 when the story was featured on "The Colbert Report." The WHO has never conducted such a study, and most geneticists would agree that blondes are in no danger of going extinct. 8. "Say no to cake"
In 1995, British faux news show "Brass Eye" conducted an "investigative report" on a street drug they invented called "cake," claiming it affected an area of the brain called "Shatner's Bassoon." Members of the media lashed out against cake, and the British government even took the matter to Parliament.
7. Alien autopsy
English cameraman Ray Santilli claimed to own footage of an alien autopsy performed after the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. FOX aired a portion of it on television in 1995, but in 2006, Santilli confessed that the film was a "reconstruction." It had been shot in a London flat using fabricated alien bodies filled with animal entrails and raspberry jam. 6. The Turk
It was nearly impossible to beat this chess-playing automaton of 1770, named for its exotic, turban-clad appearance. It was even toured across Europe and North America. Many decades passed before it was revealed that the Turk was actually operated by a human chess whiz concealed amongst the complicated clockwork machinery that supposedly powered the Turk from the cabinet below. 5. The Fiji mermaid (aka "Feejee mermaid")
This artifact in P.T. Barnum's museum was advertised as a gorgeous topless siren, but was actually the mummified corpse of an ape sewn to a fish. 4. Rabbit mother
In 18th-century England, Mary Toft convinced doctors she had given birth to 16 rabbits. "A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets [sic]" was written by King George's surgeon about her case. People stopped serving rabbit stew. Once the hoax was discovered, the medical community suffered great embarrassment.
English cameraman Ray Santilli claimed to own footage of an alien autopsy performed after the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. FOX aired a portion of it on television in 1995, but in 2006, Santilli confessed that the film was a "reconstruction." It had been shot in a London flat using fabricated alien bodies filled with animal entrails and raspberry jam. 6. The Turk
It was nearly impossible to beat this chess-playing automaton of 1770, named for its exotic, turban-clad appearance. It was even toured across Europe and North America. Many decades passed before it was revealed that the Turk was actually operated by a human chess whiz concealed amongst the complicated clockwork machinery that supposedly powered the Turk from the cabinet below. 5. The Fiji mermaid (aka "Feejee mermaid")
This artifact in P.T. Barnum's museum was advertised as a gorgeous topless siren, but was actually the mummified corpse of an ape sewn to a fish. 4. Rabbit mother
In 18th-century England, Mary Toft convinced doctors she had given birth to 16 rabbits. "A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets [sic]" was written by King George's surgeon about her case. People stopped serving rabbit stew. Once the hoax was discovered, the medical community suffered great embarrassment.
3. Dihydrogen monoxide
In 1989, a group of college students circulated flyers around the University of California, Santa Cruz campus warning of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide contamination. The movement later spawned a Web site noting the widespread use of this hazardous compound despite being known to cause severe burns, corrosion of metals and even global warming. Many people have signed petitions urging the government to ban dihydrogen monoxide -- obviously unaware that this is just another term for plain old water. 2. Archaeoraptor
Unearthed in China in 1997, this creature was heralded as the "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds in a 1999 National Geographic article. The magazine later had to retract the article when it was discovered that the archaeoraptor specimen was a forgery, composed of fossilized bones from a known species of bird's upper half and a dinosaur's lower half. 1. Piltdown man
The skull and jawbone fragments collected from a gravel pit in Piltdown, England in 1912 were believed to represent the "missing link" between humans and apes, and were even introduced as evidence of human evolution in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. Although the Piltdown man's authenticity was questioned by several leading scientists from the time of its discovery, it was not until 1953 that it was revealed as a forgery, consisting of an orangutan jaw and a modern human skull. Considered one of the greatest anthropological hoaxes of all time, the Piltdown man significantly influenced the study of human evolution for more than 40 years.
In 1989, a group of college students circulated flyers around the University of California, Santa Cruz campus warning of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide contamination. The movement later spawned a Web site noting the widespread use of this hazardous compound despite being known to cause severe burns, corrosion of metals and even global warming. Many people have signed petitions urging the government to ban dihydrogen monoxide -- obviously unaware that this is just another term for plain old water. 2. Archaeoraptor
Unearthed in China in 1997, this creature was heralded as the "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds in a 1999 National Geographic article. The magazine later had to retract the article when it was discovered that the archaeoraptor specimen was a forgery, composed of fossilized bones from a known species of bird's upper half and a dinosaur's lower half. 1. Piltdown man
The skull and jawbone fragments collected from a gravel pit in Piltdown, England in 1912 were believed to represent the "missing link" between humans and apes, and were even introduced as evidence of human evolution in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. Although the Piltdown man's authenticity was questioned by several leading scientists from the time of its discovery, it was not until 1953 that it was revealed as a forgery, consisting of an orangutan jaw and a modern human skull. Considered one of the greatest anthropological hoaxes of all time, the Piltdown man significantly influenced the study of human evolution for more than 40 years.
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