On this day, a New York newspaper The Sun started publishing a series of six articles about the supposed discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. The discoveries, which were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel and a fictitious companion Andrew Grant, were probably written by one of The Sun‘s reporters, Richard Adams Locke. The articles described animals on the Moon, including bison, single-horned goats, mini zebras, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids who built temples. The discoveries were supposedly made with an immense telescope, transported to South Africa from New England, which was said to be many times larger than any other telescope in the world. The mathematician and astronomer, Sir John Herschel, was initially amused by what was to become known as the “Great Moon Hoax“, but he soon lost his patience when he had to answer questions from people who believed the hoax was serious.
