Some scams are so well executed and their actors so convincing that they will remain recorded in history. The Telegraph presents you with the greatest delusions from 1900 to 1929
Fraudsters and scammers all hate. In fact, all those who are deceived, while many cheaters, perceive the rest of the “fancy” as urban heroes and pranks with whom they would often be happy to trade. There are scams that, because of their inventiveness, have remained in history along with their protagonists. Introducing some of the best scams between 1900 and 1929.
10. WORCHESTER AVIATION FRAUD
Airplanes were a rarity and pilots highly regarded. Doing an interview with some of them was a real journalistic exclusivity. In the desire for glory, many misrepresented and talked about successful flights.
One of them is Wallace Tillinghast, who was vice president of the Massachusetts plant and a pilot. In December 1909, the local newspaper reported that Tilinghast had made the most modern aircraft ever, reaching a speed of 195 kilometers per hour and capable of carrying 3 passengers. Until then, the greatest achievement was achieved by the Wright brothers in 1903 and Louis Blero, who flew the English Channel in 1909.
At the end of 1909, several newspapers in the United States conveyed the news that Tilinghast had succeeded in lifting the plane and that despite the engine problem, which he allegedly resolved to 4,000 meters, he landed safely.
The reporters wanted to see a unique one-liner, but he refused to disclose any evidence or details of the flight, justifying fears that someone would steal the idea from him. He eventually agreed to show his craft in February 1910.
February has come and gone and no one has ever seen the aircraft. Although Tillinghast never admitted his fraud, the director of the New England Aero Club called the whole venture a fiasco, pointing out that Tilinghast never boarded a plane, let alone flew with it.
9. CAPTAIN OF CAPENIC (1906)
In October 1906, unemployed German shoemaker Willhem Foit made a historic fraud.
He wore a soldier’s captain’s uniform, which he bought at a used goods store, went out into the street, and blocked the way for a group of soldiers. He stopped them and marched with them to the town hall of Kepenik (Berlin suburb). He arrested the mayor and treasurer there and charged them with fraud.
He also stole 4,000 marks before disappearing. Nine days later, Foit was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released after only two years, when German Kaiser Wilhelm pardoned him.
8. FRAUD OF DREDNOT (1910)
In February 1910 the Prince of Abinissia and his wife boarded the dreadlocks of the British Navy, the most modern battleship of the time. Despite the ship’s crew being surprised by the visit, the captain of the ship managed to keep the staff at the height of the task and the Prince was honored with the Navy’s shown respect.
For the next hour, the Prince and his entourage were escorted around the ship, which surprised everyone. The prince was escorted from the ship with the sounds of the British anthem.
The next day the captain of the ship learned that the prince had not visited the ship at all. The whole suite was, in fact, a gang of upper-middle-class fraudsters dressed in authentic wardrobe. They sent a false notice of their arrival shortly before they arrived, which everyone on board believed.
The builders were future members of the Blumsberi group of artists and writers, including Virginia Woolf.
7. THE CASE OF TOAD (1926)
Austrian scientist Paul Kamerer was an advocate of a theory called Lamarckianism, which propagates that a person with a hereditary physical defect, such as limping, can have dramatic consequences on evolution.
To prove his theory, Kamerer conducted an experiment. Most toads have black, feathery lumps on their feet that help them stay on wet surfaces more easily. The cameraman stated that one type of toad does not exist because it lives only on land and therefore does not need parts that will prevent it from slipping. He believed that these growths would appear to her if she mated with other frogs that live in the water.
After several years of trying to develop a new species that would be “promoted” in relation to his relatives, he announced that it had finally come to fruition and that the scabs had sprouts that they otherwise did not have.
However, curator of the American Museum of Natural History Dr. G.K. Noble investigated Camer’s experiment and found that the new generation of toad had no black stain after all, and that Kamer had just injected ink into the frog’s skin.
Declaring himself a fraudster, he stated that he was innocent and had been placed by laboratory technicians.
Kamerer took his own life because of this ruthless incident.
6. SCHOOL OF DESUMBRATIONISM (1924)
American author Paul Jordan Smith decided to have fun after pictures of his wife came under sharp criticism. One day in 1924, he took a brush and a canvas into his hands and drew a man holding a banana. That night he lay down to sleep like Smith, and he woke up as Russian artist Pavel Jerdanovich.
In 1925, Smith exhibited a painting under a false name at an exhibition of solo artists. Critics liked the image and even compared it to Gogen. Jerdanovich soon became a very well-known and respected artist, claiming to be the founder of the Desumbration Art School.
After four pictures and a whole series of praise and support, Smith was fed up. The Times admitted to its fraud in 1927. He was declared a fraud and plagiarist.
5. CONSERVED SJU (1907)
The Hammerstein Victoria Theater on Broadway has advertised a woman named Suspect Sue, who allegedly appeared on stage in breaks of performances. An advertising challenge called on the crowd to laugh at Sue and take her home for $ 1,000.
People came from all over America to try to make Sue laugh, but no one succeeded in this end. The next season, the commercial is off. Then and only then did the advertisers admit to fraud. Constrained Sue suffered from facial paralysis and the whole set-up was designed to make people make the most interesting jokes that would later be used for the play.
4. MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY IN GLOZEL (1924)
A farmer, Emily Fradin, 17, cultivated a small piece of land in central France and one hot afternoon told his grandfather that he had found an underground chamber with mysterious artifacts. Soon local archaeologist Antonin Morle came to look at the found. There were various things inside the chamber, from glass bricks to human bones, there was also a ceramic board written in an unknown language.
The news of the invention spread throughout France. The International Archeological Institute visited the site and found the artifacts to be false. However, in a few months a group of other archaeologists determined that the artifacts were real remains of the Neolithic period. The denial and confirmation continued until 1980, during which time Fradin successfully sued officials at the Louvre Museum for defamation, and he was charged with fraud.
If found to be authentic, it could lead to a remodeling of history, since there would be evidence of the Western alphabet, which would lead to the view that central France was the starting point of human civilization.
The artifacts belonged to different epochs and it was not easy to determine whether it was fraud or not.
The truth is that experts still have divided opinions. Fradin died in 2010 at 103. He always claimed that the board and artifacts were real and legitimately found and no one ever succeeded in convincing him otherwise.
3. PANIC ON BBC RADIO (1926)
When the BBC issued a statement on the street riots on January 16, 1926, no one doubted the veracity of the notice. A disgruntled mass of unemployed smashed and crumbled through the streets of London, leaving chaos behind. The National Gallery was ransacked, the Savoy Hotel destroyed, Big Ben damaged, and the Transportation Minister hung from the badger. This was a live revolution, which was broadcast on the radio, while shouts and explosions could be heard in the background behind the presenters.
People started to panic, leaving their homes and calling authorities. However, this was actually just a joke from a BBC reporter: given that no one paid too much attention to what was happening on the streets, they believed that there were demonstrations and riots throughout the city.
2. THE WONDERFUL HERITAGE OF FRANCIS DUS
Frances Dus was a respected antiquarian, with a huge collection of books, drawings and artifacts. He worked for a short time at the Museum of Britain, but was of a difficult nature and did not get along well with his colleagues, and was said to be restricted by administrative duties.
Dus died in 1834 leaving an enviable collection behind. In his will, he demanded that a box of unfinished manuscripts and a few rare texts be donated to the museum, on the condition that they remain sealed for 66 years after his death.
The museum trustees waited all those years and only opened the box in 1900 expecting valuable rarities. It didn’t matter to anyone why Dus had insisted on waiting so long.
Except for a few sketches and torn books, there was nothing of cultural importance. The box was moved to the Bodlein Library at Oxford University in 1930.
And almost a hundred years after his death, Dus was still playing with the public.
1. CRADLE OF DEPTH
Joan Lovell had a childhood she could wish for, since she lived abroad from the first to seventeen and cruised the seas with her father. Her life was full of adventures: she caught a whale once with a harpoon, often played poker with the crew, and swam to the shores of Australia carrying three machetes on her back.
All the adventures are recorded in her autobiography “Cradle of the Depths” for which she received $ 50,000.
The book received positive comments, but there were some who did not believe in this amazing story.
It turns out that she actually grew up on Berkeley, California and was at sea several times, but only on short vacations.
Lowell always claimed that the book was 80 percent original, while allowing artistic freedom, otherwise the book would be boring.
D.M. / balkantimes.press
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