14 Historical Hoaxes People Believed For Years

Here's a look at 14 of history’s most convincing hoaxes that fooled scientists, governments, and the public for years.

Alyana Aguja
October 28, 2025
4 min read

14 Historical Hoaxes People Believed For Years — Chris Lawton from Unsplash

History is filled with hoaxes that captured imaginations and tricked people into believing the unbelievable. From the Piltdown Man to the Tasaday tribe, these deceptions spread because they tapped into cultural hopes, fears, or scientific curiosity. Each one serves as a reminder of how easily truth can be distorted when skepticism is set aside.

1. 1. The Piltdown Man

In 1912, fragments of a skull and jawbone were presented as the “missing link” between apes and humans. Scientists hailed the discovery as groundbreaking evidence of human evolution. It wasn’t until 1953 that the remains were revealed to be a deliberate forgery made from a medieval human skull and an orangutan jaw.

2. 2. The Cardiff Giant

In 1869, workers digging a well in Cardiff, New York, uncovered what appeared to be a massive petrified man. Crowds paid money to see the “giant,” believing it was proof of biblical stories about giants walking the earth. The hoax was later revealed to be a carved gypsum statue planted to fool the public.

3. 3. The War of the Worlds Radio Panic

In 1938, Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on H. G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds. Many listeners who tuned in late believed Earth was truly being invaded by Martians. Panic spread across the United States, though the scale of hysteria has since been debated.

4. 4. The Cottingley Fairies

Two young girls in England photographed themselves with what looked like real fairies in 1917. The photos captivated the public, and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle supported their authenticity. Decades later, the girls admitted the fairies were paper cutouts, though one insisted a final photo was real.

5. 5. The Great Moon Hoax

In 1835, The New York Sun published articles claiming astronomers had discovered life on the moon, including bat-like creatures. Readers eagerly devoured the reports, believing them to be true. The series boosted newspaper sales dramatically before it was revealed as pure fabrication.

6. 6. The Feejee Mermaid

In 1842, showman P. T. Barnum exhibited a strange creature that looked like half-monkey, half-fish. Crowds were amazed, thinking it was evidence of mythical sea beings. The “mermaid” turned out to be a grotesque taxidermy creation stitched together from different animals.

7. 7. The Loch Ness Monster Photographs

In 1934, a famous photo appeared to show the long neck of a monster rising from Scotland’s Loch Ness. For decades, it fueled belief in a hidden prehistoric creature. The “surgeon’s photograph” was eventually revealed to be a staged hoax using a toy submarine with a sculpted head.

8. 8. The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin has long been claimed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, showing an image of his face and body. For centuries, believers treated it as sacred proof of the resurrection. Modern testing has suggested it originated in the Middle Ages, raising doubts about its authenticity.

9. 9. The Hitler Diaries

In 1983, German magazine Stern announced it had obtained Adolf Hitler’s secret diaries. Historians and collectors were stunned, believing they had uncovered priceless insights into the dictator’s mind. Within weeks, forensic testing proved the diaries were fake.

10. 10. The Tasaday Tribe

In the 1970s, a supposedly “Stone Age” tribe called the Tasaday was discovered in the Philippines. They were portrayed as a living link to prehistoric humans, untouched by modern life. Years later, evidence showed the tribe had been coached into posing as primitive for political and media attention.

11. 11. The Turk Chess Machine

In the late 18th century, a machine called “The Turk” amazed audiences by playing chess and defeating human opponents. People believed it was an early form of artificial intelligence. In truth, a hidden human chess master operated the machine from inside.

12. 12. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

First published in Russia in 1903, this document claimed to expose a Jewish plot for world domination. For decades, it was circulated as evidence of a conspiracy. It has since been thoroughly proven to be a forgery, yet it fueled dangerous antisemitism.

13. 13. The Museum of the Holy Cross Relics

During the Middle Ages, many churches claimed to own splinters from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Pilgrims traveled long distances to venerate these relics, believing them to be sacred. Critics later pointed out that the sheer number of “cross fragments” could have built several ships.

14. 14. The Calaveras Skull

In 1866, miners in California discovered a human skull buried deep beneath volcanic deposits, seemingly millions of years old. Scientists hailed it as proof that humans had existed alongside ancient animals. It was later exposed as a planted skull meant to trick researchers.