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Hoaxes In Sweden
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. Some hoaxers intend to eventually unmask their representations as having been a hoax so as to expose their victims as fools; seeking some form of profit, other hoaxers hope to maintain the hoax indefinitely, so that it is only when skeptical people willing to investigate their claims publish their findings, that the hoaxers are finally revealed as such. History Zhang Yingyu's ''The Book of Swindles'' ( 1617), published during the late Ming dynasty, is said to be China's first collection of stories about fraud, swindles, hoaxes, and other forms of deception. Although practical jokes have likely existed for thousands of years, one of the earliest recorded hoaxes in Western history was the drummer of Tedworth in 1661. The communication of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreadnought Hoax Larger Photo (cropped)
The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as Pre-dreadnought battleship, pre-dreadnoughts. Her design had two revolutionary features: an "all-big-gun" armament scheme, with an unprecedented number of heavy-calibre guns, and steam turbine propulsion. As dreadnoughts became a crucial symbol of national power, the arrival of these new warships renewed the naval arms race between the Anglo–German naval arms race, United Kingdom and Germany. Dreadnought races sprang up around the world, including South American dreadnought race, in South America, lasting up to the beginning of World War I. Successive designs increased rapidly in size and made use of improvements in armament, armour, and propulsion throughout the dreadnought era. Within five years, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hocus
Hocus-pocus is an exclamation used by magicians, usually the magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. Hocus Pocus, Hokus Pokus, or variants may also refer to: Books * ''Hocus Pocus'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut * ''Hocus Pocus: A Tale of Magnificent Magicians'', a 2007 book by illusionist Paul Kieve * ''Hokus Pokus'', the 2007 book in the ''Sisterhood: Rules of the Game'' series by Fern Michaels Film, television, and plays * ''Hokuspokus'', a 1926 German play by Curt Goetz ** ''Hokuspokus'' (film), a 1930 German film adaptation of the 1926 Curt Goetz play, directed by Gustav Ucicky ** ''Hocuspocus'' (1953 film), a West German film, starring Curt Goetz himself, directed by Kurt Hoffmann ** ''Hocuspocus'' (1966 film), a West German film in color, directed by Kurt Hoffmann * ''Hokus Pokus'' (1949 film), the 115th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges * Hocus Pocus, the rabbit who turns on his magician owner, Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Museum Of Hoaxes
The Museum of Hoaxes is a website created by Alex Boese in 1997 in San Diego, California, as a resource for reporting and discussing hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...es and urban legends, both past and present. In 2004, PC Magazine included the site as one of the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without", and Sci Fi Weekly named it "site of the week" for the week beginning 7 February 2007. Boese has published two books on hoaxes: ''Museum of Hoaxes'' and '' Hippo Eats Dwarf: A Field Guide to Hoaxes and Other B.S.'' A third book by Boese, ''Elephants on Acid'', focuses on unusual scientific experiments, with the follow-up ''Electrified Sheep'' published in 2011. His latest book ''Psychedelic Apes'', about the weirdest theories in science and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji Mermaid
The Fiji mermaid (also Feejee mermaid) was an object composed of the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish. It was a common feature of sideshows where it was presented as the mummified body of a creature that was supposedly half mammal and half fish, a version of a mermaid. The original had fish scales with animal hair superimposed on its body and pendulous breasts on its chest. The mouth was wide open with its teeth bared. The right hand was against the right cheek, and the left tucked under its lower left jaw. This mermaid was supposedly caught near the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific.Boese, Alex (2014). "The Feejee Mermaid." Several replicas and variations have also been made and exhibited under similar names and pretexts. P. T. Barnum exhibited the original in Barnum's American Museum in New York in 1842, but it then disappeared—likely destroyed in one of the many fires that destroyed parts of Barnum's collections. History Barnum, in his auto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Stock Exchange Fraud Of 1814
The Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814 was a hoax or fraud centered on false information about the Napoleonic Wars, affecting the London Stock Exchange in 1814. The du Bourg hoax On the morning of Monday, 21 February 1814, a uniformed man calling himself Colonel du Bourg and claiming to be aide-de-camp to William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart, Lord Cathcart, arrived at the Ship Inn at Dover, England, bearing news that Napoleon I of France had been killed and House of Bourbon, Bourbon rule restored. Requesting this information to be relayed to the Admiralty in London via semaphore line, semaphore telegraph, "Colonel du Bourg" then travelled to London, stopping at inns on the way to spread the news. Three men posing as French officers dressed in Bourbon uniforms were also seen celebrating in London, proclaiming the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Effects on the stock market Rumours of Napoleon's defeat had been circulating throughout the month. When the news from Dover bega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, 1874, in Elko, Nevada. The university is classified as a Doctorate, doctoral, R1 research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Carnegie Classification. In 2018, the university spent $144 million on research and development according to the National Science Foundation. Among its several schools and colleges, the unversity has a University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, medical school and is home to the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism from which six Pulitzer Prize winners have graduated. History The Constitution of Nevada, Nevada state constitution established the State University of Nevada in Elko, Nevada, Elko on October 12, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is an American retired folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah. Brunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, a form of modern folklore or story telling. Urban legends are "too good to be true" stories that travel by word of mouth, by print, or by the internet and are attributed to an FOAF: friend of a friend. "Urban legends," Brunvand says, "have a persistent hold on the imagination because they have an element of suspense or humor, they are plausible and they have a moral." Though criticized for the "popular" rather than "academic" orientation of his books, ''The Vanishing Hitchhiker'' and others, Brunvand felt that it was a "natural and worthwhile part of his job as a folklorist to communicate the results of his research to the public." For his lifetime dedication to the field of folklore, which included radio and television appearances, a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklorist
Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the Cultural artifact, folklore artifacts themselves. It became established as a field across both Europe and North America, coordinating with (German language, German), (Norwegian language, Norwegian), and (Swedish language, Swedish), among others. Overview A 1982 UNESCO document titled "Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore" declared a global need to establish provisions protecting folklore from varying dangers identified in the document. UNESCO further published the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. The American Folklife Preservation Act (P.L. 94-201) passed in 1976 by the United States Congress in conjunction with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchcraft
Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witches has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used Apotropaic magic, protective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. Anthropologists use the term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful occult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English. Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from #Ancient Mesopotamian religion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Ady
Thomas Ady (floruit, fl. 17th century) was an English physician and humanism, humanist who was the author of two scientific skepticism, sceptical books on witchcraft and witch-hunting. His first and best known work, ''A Candle in the Dark: Or, A Treatise Concerning the Nature of Witches & Witchcraft'', was used unsuccessfully by George Burroughs, formerly the Puritan minister of the parish, in his defense during the Salem witch trials.''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692'', p. 251, by Mary Beth Norton Ady's second publication, published in 1661, was a reprint of his first, with a new title, ''A Perfect Discovery of Witches''. The work could have been re-named in honour of Reginald Scot's ''Discoverie of Witchcraft'', the first book of its kind in the English language. But pamphlets about cases of witchcraft tended to use 'Discovery' in their titles (''The most strange and admirable discouerie of the three witches of Warboys'', ''The vvonderfull discouerie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Candle In The Dark By Thomas Ady
A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. Candles have been used for over two millennia around the world, and were a significant form of indoor lighting until the invention of other types of light sources. Although electric light has largely made candle use nonessential for illumination, candles are still commonly used for functional, symbolic and aesthetic purposes and in specific cultural and religious settings. Early candles may be made of beeswax, but these candles were expensive and their use was limited to the elite and the churches. Tallow was a cheaper but a less aesthetically pleasing alternative. A variety of different materials have been developed in the modern era for making candles, including paraffin wax, which together with efficient production techniques, made candles affordable for the mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hocus Pocus (magic)
Hocus-pocus is a reference to the actions of magicians, often as the stereotypical magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. It was once a common term for a magician, juggler, or other similar entertainers. In extended usage, the term is often used (pejoratively) to describe irrational human activities that appear to depend on magic. Examples are given below. History The earliest known English-language work on magic, or what was then known as '' legerdemain'' (sleight of hand), was published anonymously in 1635 under the title ''Hocus Pocus Junior: The Anatomie of Legerdemain''. Further research suggests that "Hocus Pocus" was the stage name of a well known magician of the era. This may be William Vincent, who is recorded as having been granted a license to perform magic in England in 1619. Whether he was the author of the book is unknown. Conjectured origins The origins of the term remain obscure. The most popular conjecture is that it is a garbled Latin r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
