22. Fact or Fiction: Was North America Once Inhabited by Giants?
Fiction. There is no evidence to support that theory. The internet is unbeaten when it comes to purveying and popularizing bizarre ideas and beliefs, and presenting them as fact. A recent meme cropping up with growing frequency in the internet’s dumber corners – the same ones that believe the Earth is flat – has it that there was a time when giants roamed North America. In support, advocates of that notion often post old-timey nineteenth-century photographs of a fossilized giant being dug up from the ground. Is there any credible evidence to support that?
Of course not. However, although America was never inhabited by giants, the photos upon which the meme is based are authentic – and there is an authentically fascinating story behind them. It began on October 16, 1869, when workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. Newell, in Cardiff, New York, struck stone about three feet down. Clearing the soil around the obstruction revealed a huge foot. With mounting excitement, the workers continued digging and were astonished when they finally unearthed the petrified remains of a 10-foot-tall man.