Daily Almanac for
Oct 16, 2005
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The Hoax Files: The Truth Isn't Out There

Click on the links below to read about some of the greatest hoaxes in sports, science, art, and the Internet.

Science Experiments
P.T. Barnum's 10-foot giant, the chess automaton, and a carbon-dated Shroud of Turin...  [more]
E-mail Emergencies
Microsoft pays you, Kurt Vonnegut's faux commencement address, and crumbly cookies from Neiman Marcus...  [more]
The False, False World of Sports
The curious case of Sidd Finch, the Boston Marathon's surprise winner, and Stella the Fella....  [more]
The Art of Deception
Museum-quality forgeries of Matisse, Modigliani, and Marc Chagall...  [more]
Poetic License
Hawking Howard Hughes, Nazi nonsense, and the "Miseducation of Little Tree"...  [more]
Media Myths
The "Felicity" writer who didn't look her age, Orson Welles' infamous "War of the Worlds," and the 50s quiz show catastrophe...  [more]
Hollywood Hype
The "Blair Witch" brouhaha, Welles's "F for Fake," and Bunuel is balked...  [more]
Can't Sing, Can't Dance
Paul McCartney is not dead, Kurt Cobain is, and Milli Vanilli, well...  [more]



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Traditionally the Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece, is rekindled every two years using the sun's rays and a concave reflective mirror.

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