30th May 2012 Famous Historic Hoaxes

** Piltdown Man

Perhaps the most famous hoax was Piltdown man. In 1912, at a time when Darwin's evolutionary theory was new, and people were looking for missing links between humans and apes, someone planted two fake skulls which came to be known as Piltdown Man.

The part medieval man, part Orang-utan fossil was found, in the very English village of Piltdown in Sussex. Piltdown man's scientific name, Eoanthropus dawsoni, reflected its finder's name Dawson. To get a flavour of those times, the British Empire was still riding high, and Germany had their Heidelberg man fossil, Britain was desperate for a more important 'missing link' between man and monkey.

For 40 years Piltdown man was literally put on a pedestal and worshipped but not rigorously examined. The hoax lead a charmed life until it was unmasked in 1953. Microscopic examination, X-rays, or carbon dating would have exposed the fraud the impostor much earlier.

Urban myth has it that the fraud was only exposed when a cheeky first year student said to the Professor, 'That skull looks just like an ape's jawbone in a human skull'. When the Professor said, 'Don't be so silly', the pupil said, 'Look, you can even see where someone has filed down the molars to make them fit the jaw'. The student was of course quite correct.

** Who did it?

What makes the Piltdown fraud so interesting is that the hoaxer was never exposed, certainly during their life time. Much like horses at the nearby Plumpton race track, a whole field of suspects has been assembled for the hoax of the 20th century. The most exotically named candidate is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a friend of Dawson and later a Jesuit priest. One of the outsiders in the betting is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Homes, he came into the frame because he lived in Sussex.

Others runners, who have their backers, are Dawson's friend Smith Woodward, also Sir Grafton Elliot Smith. Lately, there has been speculation that Martin Hinton was the forger as similar material was found in his loft.

My favourite candidate to be the hoaxer is Dawson whose archaeological dig discovered the fossil. Dawson was an antiquarian, therefore had access to medieval skeleton's from which to build the two fraudulent skulls known as Piltdown I and Piltdown II. In an attempt to make the skull rust as if with age, someone had cooked it in an iron solution. Dawson had the knowledge of chemistry needed to age the unusually thick skull so that it looked like a fossil.

For me the main reason for singling out Dawson, is that he had other skeletons in his cupboard. Investigation shows that Dawson had dodgy form as the faker of other fossils, old letters indicate that the man seemed obsessed with the 'big find'. Join me and have a bet that the Piltdown man hoax was Dawson's crowning glory.

Tags: historichoaxes

Prev: 30th May 2012 Drinks & Drunks 2

30th May 2012 Drinks & & Drunks 2

** Raffle Winner ~
'Tell me, Ronan, how did you manage to get so very drunk last night?' asked the parish priest.

'Well you see, Father, it was like this. I got into very bad company after winning a bottle of whiskey at a raffle.'

'But you were with Mick McGahey, Ryan O'Toole, and Patrick McCann and they don't drink.'

'Dat's what I mean, Father...'

** Driving Test ~
You are driving in a car at a constant speed. On your left hand side there is a valley and on your right hand side there is a fire engine travelling at the same speed as you.

In front of you there is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it.

Behind you there is a helicopter flying at ground level.

Both the giant pig and the helicopter are travelling at the same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?
Get off the merry-go-round - you're drunk!

** Drinking Lesson ~
Will was trying to teach his young son the evils of alcohol. He put one worm in a glass of water and another worm in a glass of whisky. The worm in the water lived, while the one in the whisky curled up and died.
'All right, son', asked Will, 'what does that show you?'

'Well, Dad, it shows that if you drink alcohol, you will not have worms.'

Tags: drinks, drunks

Prev: 30th May 2012 Dogs, Cats, And Me

30th May 2012 Dogs, Cats, And Me

** Mutt Adopts Moggies ~
A female dog is nursing a litter of kittens which were orphaned when their mother died. Their owner, Cai, of Jiangmen, China said he has been raising cats and dogs together for more than 10 years, and they all got along together well, however, this was the first time he had ever seen kittens being nursed by a dog.

The four kittens seemed happy and content with their new mother's milk, while the dog was tending to its adopted family with love and care. 'Several days ago, the kittens' mother died after eating a poisoned rat, leaving behind a litter of kittens without a source of milk,' Cai volunteered. 'The kittens' cries may have stirred the dog's maternal nature, since it too had recently given birth. It volunteered to take over and feed the kittens Of its old friend.'

The dog's own puppies had been taken away by one of its grown-up offspring. Cai mused, 'That's perhaps another reason why the dog adopted the kittens. She lost all of her own children.'

** Sharing Offsprings ~

A dog and a cat which have recently given birth in China are taking it in turns to look after the "kids" for each other. Both animals are owned by Gao Shunhong, of Fushun, Liaoning province, China, who adopted the dog two years ago and the cat one year ago.

'They get along together incredibly well for a cat and dog,' he told the Fushun Daily newspaper. Two weeks ago, the cat gave birth to a litter of two kittens, and three days later, the dog produced a litter of six puppies. 'Both mothers put their cubs together in the same box, and rotate in nursing them,' said Gao. 'When the dog is out, the cat will lie down and nurse the kittens and puppies, and when the dog came back, the cat would go out, leaving the nursing job to the dog. If both mothers are in, the cubs can get quite mixed up, with the cat nursing the puppies, and the dog nursing the kittens. It's really odd - but a great picture of harmony.'

** Fred, March, Blackie, Rika and Me ~

Years ago I had an Afghan hound I named Rika (tall and graceful breed of hound with a long silky coat. I was given it to keep after I posed with the dog for a fashion magazine). I already had 3 kittens called Fred (street cat I saved) March (born in March, a Siamese ) Hai Zhai which means Little Blackie in Chinese (the dumbest but the cutest, with very long, curly and fluffy fur); but somehow this big and haughty (by nature) dog had taken to the helpless babies almost immediately and they, the kittens, vis-versa.

Each morning, I would wake up to find the 3 kittens snugly curled up in a neat row along the Rika's soft and warm tummy fast asleep. Rika, who used to follow me everywhere the minute I was out of bed (including into the bathroom!) but now she would just be wagging her tail gently without even getting up, in case she woke up the kittens!!

Sometimes I would be surprised to find there were only 2 kittens being circled by Mama's loving & protective paws, then discovered one of them had draped itself on the silky long furs on Rika's neck! When time permitted, I would just sit and watch them for hours, sharing the love.

Tags: cats, me, dogs

Prev: 29th May 2012 BBC & The Gurardian - Tabloids Now?