These days, the trust that the public have in the mainstream media is so low that a graph would show such conviction equalling
that of confidence in a clumsy child handling a rattlesnake.
But back when US President Andrew Jackson was staring at the misfired pistol belonging to an unemployed house painter from
England, it seemed we'd doubt that the regular Press -who were seen as trustworthy, would sully themselves with the base act
of deception.
...................................................................
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835
At twenty years-old, Benjamin Day of Springfield -Massachusetts, decided to take his trade as a printer to the hustle and bustle
of New York. He had saved enough money to start his own printing press and yet Mr. Day's company soon evolved into newspaper
publication when a city-wide panic from the cholera epidemic of 1832 threatened to destroy his business.
Launching his newspaper titled 'The Sun' on September 3, 1833, Day knew that most of the city's mediums sold for six cents
and realising that working-class New Yorkers -including newly arrived immigrants, would read any newspaper if they could
afford it, Benjamin Day decided to sell each of his paper for one cent.
Benjamin Day also came up with the idea of repackaging the news from out of town newspapers for the city residents, an act that
still exists today. To stay competitive he also hired a reporter, George Wisner, who ferreted out news and wrote articles and paid
newsboys to hawk his newspaper on street corners.
Enjoying the benefits from his competitive creation, Day had inadvertently caused the era of newspaper competition to commence,
with James Gordon Bennett's Herald and later, Horace Greeley's New York Tribune also lowering their respective price to one cent.
But Benjamin Day's sun hadn't set with just his marketing practices, something that occurred in the summer of 1835 set into motion
a venture that still endures to this day and this quick-thinking North-Easterner could be deemed the originator.
Fake news.
During the coverage of a sensational courtroom trial, Ben Day met Richard Adams Locke, who claimed to be a Cambridge educated
reporter. Locke was working for another penny paper -possibly The New World, when Day approached him to cover the same trial
for him.
The ambitious Reporter agreed to provide The Sun a series of articles, as long as his name wouldn’t appear as their author since he
was still employed elsewhere.
Public interest in Locke’s articles on the trial were so popular with Sun readers that Benjamin Day published them in a pamphlet which
sold thousands of copies. Realizing he could make good money from long sectional stories re-published in pamphlets, Day urged Locke
to write more serial articles and took on Locke as co-editor of The Sun.
Sadly, judging the readers' hunger for intriguing hyperbole, Locke brainstormed the concept of an astronomical spoof proclaiming that
life had been found on the moon! On August 25, 1835, The Sun published the first of six articles titled “Great Astronomical Discoveries"
and declared that a renowned British astronomer Sir John Herschel was the luminary of the startling findings.
Herschel was reported in the article to have made his discovery through the use of a super telescope, a at-the-time modern device that
had assisted the stargazing Baronet to re-calculate orbits of planets within certain solar systems and affirm the claim that he had solved
or corrected nearly every leading problem of mathematical astronomy.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=5938]](http://rogue-nation3.com/attachment.php?aid=5938)
In a trick also used today, Locke's article ambiguously proclaimed that Herschel had discovered life on the moon and left the rest to the
imagination of the reader. Of course, to enhance the vaguely-explained mentioning of living beings on the moon, the information-hungry
readers would have to invest a penny in tomorrow's edition for their antiphon.
By the way, Sir John Herschel wouldn’t know about the article until much later -as at the time, he was the Cape of Good Hope in South
Africa recording information of the stars, nebulae, and other objects of the southern skies.
Using purported excerpts from the Edinburgh Journal of Science, Richard Adams Locke's articles built the story around the scientists’
creation of a new telescope so powerful it could study insects on the moon. Purchasing the ongoing series, avid readers were led through
many fanciful accounts, of lunar of trees, oceans, and beaches.
To add to the fascinating explanation, the alleged Reporter wrote of Herschel's discoveries of other life on the moon, like Bison, goats,
and even bat-like winged humanoids who built temples.
The author credited for the articles was a fictitious Dr. Andrew Grant, who was alleged to be a former student of Sir William Herschel,
discoverer of the planet Uranus, and John Herschel’s father.
Adding that Grant was also the travelling companion of John Herschel, The Sun articles offered that the series was in conjunction with a
more scientific account submitted by Herschel to the Royal Society and ergo, the readers were also fooled into believing they were in on
the breaking academic news.
Alleged Herschel quotes:
With this latest reveal being the talk-of-the-town, other competitive newspapers and magazines were quick to offer their audiences
extensive coverage. The proceeds from this deception continued to pour in for The Sun newspaper through the immediate selling of
the series in pamphlet-form along with various lithographic prints showing artists depictions of the lunar scenes.
The prints -commissioned from Wall Street lithographers Norris & Baker, were purported to decorate the 60,000 pamphlets sold.
Alas, only sixteen of them exist today as collectors items.
But as we know, such fakery must come to an end and with a multitude of skeptics in the media, the competing newspaper companies
delved into the backgrounds of the characters and took The Sun's articles to task. But just as we saw with the 'Trump-Russia' conspiracy,
Benjamin Day's editorial crew doubled-down on the calls for it all being a hoax and continued its successful publishing until 1950.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=5939]](http://rogue-nation3.com/attachment.php?aid=5939)
Benjamin Day, Richard Adams Locke and Sir John Herschel.
During this media inquisition, it was debated who the true author of the series should be credited too, as Locke initially denied writing it.
Of course, it didn't help that Locke’s claims of attending Cambridge were also false.
In 1836, Locke left The Sun and started working for the latest penny paper, The New Era and shortly after joining the publication he added
“Author of the Moon Hoax” to his byline. During his time at the Era, Locke allowed -through his writings, that the outlandish lunar narrative
was really just satire, designed to be against the unchecked influence of religion upon science.
When Richard Adams Locke died in 1871, his obituary ran on the front page of The Sun, which said in part:
There's a lesson for all of us here as Messrs. Day and Locke can attest to. Don't just automatically believe what you read.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=5940]](http://rogue-nation3.com/attachment.php?aid=5940)
that of confidence in a clumsy child handling a rattlesnake.
But back when US President Andrew Jackson was staring at the misfired pistol belonging to an unemployed house painter from
England, it seemed we'd doubt that the regular Press -who were seen as trustworthy, would sully themselves with the base act
of deception.
...................................................................
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835
At twenty years-old, Benjamin Day of Springfield -Massachusetts, decided to take his trade as a printer to the hustle and bustle
of New York. He had saved enough money to start his own printing press and yet Mr. Day's company soon evolved into newspaper
publication when a city-wide panic from the cholera epidemic of 1832 threatened to destroy his business.
Launching his newspaper titled 'The Sun' on September 3, 1833, Day knew that most of the city's mediums sold for six cents
and realising that working-class New Yorkers -including newly arrived immigrants, would read any newspaper if they could
afford it, Benjamin Day decided to sell each of his paper for one cent.
Benjamin Day also came up with the idea of repackaging the news from out of town newspapers for the city residents, an act that
still exists today. To stay competitive he also hired a reporter, George Wisner, who ferreted out news and wrote articles and paid
newsboys to hawk his newspaper on street corners.
Enjoying the benefits from his competitive creation, Day had inadvertently caused the era of newspaper competition to commence,
with James Gordon Bennett's Herald and later, Horace Greeley's New York Tribune also lowering their respective price to one cent.
But Benjamin Day's sun hadn't set with just his marketing practices, something that occurred in the summer of 1835 set into motion
a venture that still endures to this day and this quick-thinking North-Easterner could be deemed the originator.
Fake news.
During the coverage of a sensational courtroom trial, Ben Day met Richard Adams Locke, who claimed to be a Cambridge educated
reporter. Locke was working for another penny paper -possibly The New World, when Day approached him to cover the same trial
for him.
The ambitious Reporter agreed to provide The Sun a series of articles, as long as his name wouldn’t appear as their author since he
was still employed elsewhere.
Public interest in Locke’s articles on the trial were so popular with Sun readers that Benjamin Day published them in a pamphlet which
sold thousands of copies. Realizing he could make good money from long sectional stories re-published in pamphlets, Day urged Locke
to write more serial articles and took on Locke as co-editor of The Sun.
Sadly, judging the readers' hunger for intriguing hyperbole, Locke brainstormed the concept of an astronomical spoof proclaiming that
life had been found on the moon! On August 25, 1835, The Sun published the first of six articles titled “Great Astronomical Discoveries"
and declared that a renowned British astronomer Sir John Herschel was the luminary of the startling findings.
Herschel was reported in the article to have made his discovery through the use of a super telescope, a at-the-time modern device that
had assisted the stargazing Baronet to re-calculate orbits of planets within certain solar systems and affirm the claim that he had solved
or corrected nearly every leading problem of mathematical astronomy.
In a trick also used today, Locke's article ambiguously proclaimed that Herschel had discovered life on the moon and left the rest to the
imagination of the reader. Of course, to enhance the vaguely-explained mentioning of living beings on the moon, the information-hungry
readers would have to invest a penny in tomorrow's edition for their antiphon.
By the way, Sir John Herschel wouldn’t know about the article until much later -as at the time, he was the Cape of Good Hope in South
Africa recording information of the stars, nebulae, and other objects of the southern skies.
Using purported excerpts from the Edinburgh Journal of Science, Richard Adams Locke's articles built the story around the scientists’
creation of a new telescope so powerful it could study insects on the moon. Purchasing the ongoing series, avid readers were led through
many fanciful accounts, of lunar of trees, oceans, and beaches.
To add to the fascinating explanation, the alleged Reporter wrote of Herschel's discoveries of other life on the moon, like Bison, goats,
and even bat-like winged humanoids who built temples.
The author credited for the articles was a fictitious Dr. Andrew Grant, who was alleged to be a former student of Sir William Herschel,
discoverer of the planet Uranus, and John Herschel’s father.
Adding that Grant was also the travelling companion of John Herschel, The Sun articles offered that the series was in conjunction with a
more scientific account submitted by Herschel to the Royal Society and ergo, the readers were also fooled into believing they were in on
the breaking academic news.
Alleged Herschel quotes:
Quote:"[Dr Herschel] classified nine species of mammalia and five of ovipara.
Among the former is a small kind of reindeer, the elk, the moose, the horned bear and a biped beaver.
The last resembles the beaver of the earth in every other respect than in its destitution of a tail and its
invariable habit of walking upon only two feet.
It carries its young in its arms like a human being and moves with an easy gliding motion. Its huts are
constructed better and higher than those of many tribes of human savages, and from the appearance
of smoke in nearly all of them, there is no doubt of its being acquainted with the use of fire."
Quote:"The wings seemed completely under the command of volition, for those of the creatures whom we saw
bathing in the water, spread them instantly to their full width, waved them as ducks do their to shake off
the water and then as instantly closed them again in a compact form.
[The creatures] then almost simultaneously spread their wings and were lost in the dark confines of the
canvas before we had time to breathe from our paralyzing astonishment. We scientifically denominated
them as Vespertilio Homo, or ‘man bat’, and they are doubtless innocent and happy creatures."
With this latest reveal being the talk-of-the-town, other competitive newspapers and magazines were quick to offer their audiences
extensive coverage. The proceeds from this deception continued to pour in for The Sun newspaper through the immediate selling of
the series in pamphlet-form along with various lithographic prints showing artists depictions of the lunar scenes.
The prints -commissioned from Wall Street lithographers Norris & Baker, were purported to decorate the 60,000 pamphlets sold.
Alas, only sixteen of them exist today as collectors items.
But as we know, such fakery must come to an end and with a multitude of skeptics in the media, the competing newspaper companies
delved into the backgrounds of the characters and took The Sun's articles to task. But just as we saw with the 'Trump-Russia' conspiracy,
Benjamin Day's editorial crew doubled-down on the calls for it all being a hoax and continued its successful publishing until 1950.
Benjamin Day, Richard Adams Locke and Sir John Herschel.
During this media inquisition, it was debated who the true author of the series should be credited too, as Locke initially denied writing it.
Of course, it didn't help that Locke’s claims of attending Cambridge were also false.
In 1836, Locke left The Sun and started working for the latest penny paper, The New Era and shortly after joining the publication he added
“Author of the Moon Hoax” to his byline. During his time at the Era, Locke allowed -through his writings, that the outlandish lunar narrative
was really just satire, designed to be against the unchecked influence of religion upon science.
When Richard Adams Locke died in 1871, his obituary ran on the front page of The Sun, which said in part:
Quote:"Richard Adams Locke died on Staten Island on Thursday, in his 71st year.
Mr. Locke was the author of the ‘Moon Hoax,’ the most successful scientific joke ever published, which
originally appeared in The Sun. The story was told with a minuteness of detail and dexterous use of
technical phrases that not only imposed upon the ordinary reader but deceived and puzzled men of
science to an astonishing degree."
There's a lesson for all of us here as Messrs. Day and Locke can attest to. Don't just automatically believe what you read.
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.
