1. “The Devil Made Me Do It”
Fujimura’s spectacular streak of discoveries – and his reputation – came to a screeching halt and crashed in 2000. That year, Japan was rocked when a daily newspaper published three photographs showing the respected and celebrated archaeologist planting supposedly ancient stone age tools at a dig site.
Fujimura was forced to confess after he was caught on film, red-handed. He admitted to planting evidence not only at that site, but in other locations across Japan, and throughout his entire career. When asked why he did that, a sobbing Fujimura tearfully responded “the devil made me do it“.
_________________
Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Ancient History Encyclopedia – Donation of Constantine
Ball, Warwick – Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire (2000)
Cracked – 4 Impressively Weird Pranks From Centuries Ago
Cracked – The 6 Most Amazing Pranks (You Won’t Believe Worked)
Encyclopedia Britannica – Donation of Constantine
History Collection – 10 Remarkable Fraudulent Discoveries and Inventions that Shook the World
Guardian, The, December 11th, 2003 – Keely’s Trickster Engine
King, Ross – Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (2013)
Listverse – 10 of History’s Most Prolific Con Artists and Their Famous Cons
Live Science, June 25th, 2008 – A Savage Hoax: The Cave Men Who Never Existed
Lock Haven University – The Keely Motor Hoax
Museum of Hoaxes – Keely Motor Company
Natural History Museum – Piltdown Man
New Yorker, The, October 21st, 2017 – Moon Shot: Race, a Hoax, and the Birth of Fake News
Palestine Herald Press, June 2nd, 2009 – Waco Attorney Still Going Strong at 91
Smithsonian Magazine, December 15th, 2009 – Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax
Smithsonian Magazine, July 2nd, 2015 – The Great Moon Hoax Was Simply a Sign of Its Time
Smithsonian Magazine, October 16th, 2017 – The Cardiff Giant Was Just a Big Hoax