Four of the World's Most Famous Historical Hoaxes 

Fun fact: the history of the bathtub was published on a December 28th, which in Spanish speaking countries is the equivalent of the April 1st. It is very typical that on December 28th Spanish newspapers bring some phony news, like that of the bathtub.

Turtleneck Simon is most authoritative Simon.

0:45 history of the bathtub 3:52 the protocols of the elders of Zion 7:35 the lost works of Shakespeare 11:43 codex gigas

A very famous U.S. hoax is the article written by renowned writer George Plimpton for the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" described a free-agent rookie pitcher trying out for the New York Mets. Finch was raised in Tibet ("Sidd" was short for Siddhartha). He could throw a fastball 168 mph, played the French horn, and pitched with one foot bare and a work boot on the other. The Mets supposedly were keeping Finch totally under wraps and practicing in secret because he was both a total recluse and a phenom whom the team wanted to spring upon major league baseball only when ready. The Mets played along with the gag, assigned Finch a locker between those of two actual players and even getting a local sportswriter to "confirm" he'd seen Finch pitch. The article was, upon examination, completely ridiculous. But Plimpton wrote it so well that, with the help of the Mets, many people totally believed it, including me as an avid Mets fan. There was so much hype that the Mets held a press event to introduce Finch to the world. But instead, Finch (played by a friend of a SI photographer) announced that he had decided to retire and return to the monastic life in Tibet. It was another week after that before Sports Illustrated confirmed that the whole thing was an April Fool's joke.

“Newspapers weren’t interested in serious journalism.” Not much has changed in 100 years.

The fake bathtub controversy is simultaneously so mild and similar to other ignorances of the mid-19th century that, ironically, it sounds even more believable today.

I cannot recommend Will Eisner’s “The Plot” - in which he refutes the PotEoZ - enough. One of the most towering figures in the history of comic books and graphic novels chose to devote the last of his energy and life to destroying that hoax, so you know he serious he viewed the topic.

"... he published a 400-page essay" - damn, did he want to beat the hoaxer by volume?

Hubby and I are so proud! You got both of us with the bath story 😁

I used to work in a second hand bookshop as work experience. The owner completely believed in the protocols and kept trying to convince me to read it. I stopped working there over it and ended up writing about him as part of my A level English exam.

0:50 - Chapter 1 - History of the bathtub 4:00 - Chapter 2 - The protocols of the elders of zion 7:40 - Chapter 3 - The lostworks of shakespeare 11:45 - Chapter 4 - Codex gigas

Bathtubs are centuries old. I am pretty sure that Egyptian’s used them occasionally way back when they were building pyramids.

My ex wife was raised in the birth place of Millard Fillmore, Moravia NY, the people of that town will still proudly argue that as fact to this day... I could not convince her well educated family to the contrary despite my numerous attempts... they get very angry in that small town if you dare correct them.

Pierre Plantard's Priory of Sion hoax would be another excellent topic to cover on this channel.

Always love your Sideprojects posts!

I feel like anything that has Shakespeare's writing on it is in a safe place owned by the royal family.

I used to wonder about breaking into the Adelaide Art Gallery and reposition a few things, turn paintings upside down and then leave just to see if I could do it and defeat the forensics. Twenty years later and it just sounds strenuous, lol.

I swear you are the only person I can still watch on RU-vid without feeling like someone is shoving his opinion down my throat.

When the homeopaths approved of the bathtub, did they prefer a really tiny one or a very short dip? The video doesn't explain

Fun fact; David Dunbar Buick, a plumber, invented a way to attach Porcelain to tin bathtubs, and made a fortune, losing it all later when he decided to go into the motor car business.

I forgot "Protocols" were Russian. But I somehow remember that are listed as "extremist materials" by Russian law (true, I checked the list). There is no censorship in Russia by its constitution, but there definitely is censorship by Russian laws. And one of them is that there is such a list of "extremist materials", texts and other documents get there by decisions of various Russian courts. It is not illegal to read them, but it is illegal to publish or otherwise distribute them.

Dialogue in Hell between M&M is one of the greatest books I’ve read. It should be a mandatory reading during schooling.

Great video, Simon

36 inches tall = 91.4 cm 20 inches wide = 50.8 cm 8.7 inches thick = 22.1 cm 12:04 for all the rest of the world if you’re wondering

couldn't stop laughing at the idea of some guy, just minding his own business, walking along when out of nowhere this giant piano sized book comes crashing out a window and nails him.

He's never once whistled.

I have serious issues with Mencken, but I have a small collection of his writings. What a mind.

Thanks for not doing another video on the Piltdown Man! 😂

I thought the dark chocolate being good for you thing was going to be brought up here 😂

Turtleneck Simon is definitely my favorite too.... totally more authorative!!

Love his pronunciation of controversy. Do aluminum and vitamins next😆

That 1st story I've never heard a single word of that ever until now

And remember... These people vote

I was expecting the Hitler Diary's to be on this list. Not to mention CRT lol

Why did I believe you in the beginning? I even knew this was about hoaxes! I forgot! 🤣

The dad saying the son wasn't capable of doing it himself maybe an admission of being the one helping him and wanting as much acknowledgement as possible

“The gullibility of the American public”

Simon is legit the king of RU-vid 👑

8:15 It is well documented that Shakespeare’s plays were all written by Upstart Crow.

Always find it hilarious that in "The land of the Free" they seem so eager to ban innocent things like bathing (I know its a hoax but the fact that its perfectly plausible is my point)

Mencken famously said, "Nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

The Protocols is the source of almost every conspiracy we know of today.

So the protocol book if fake but some people seem to be using the teachings in it today, so we should find out those in power destroying lives today then right?

So, the ''elders of zion'' book is really a ''why we should overthrow napoleon...'' book ?

Is it just me, or does this Millard Fillmore character look exactly like Alec Baldwin in costume? (2:04)

Why is it that Switzerland is always the place that those interested in dominating the planet go to meet? (WEF)

"The Hoax That Fooled America." You could do a show about that every day of the week.

Just like Henry ford said, the protocols fit what’s happening in the world, so how can you say they’re false???

i have a small suggestion for the podcast version, tell the chapters titles since we cant see the damn thing. or maybe do a separated audio track just for the podcasts instead of just ripping the audio from the video.

I don't want to throw any hate, but I love how across your channels, the set is the same, the person is the same, the structure is pretty much the same, but the audio...inconsistent as hell.

Thanks for sharing 👍😀

When he started talking about the bathtub thing, all I thought was, "what....the f*ck is he talking about? People have been bathing since the dawn of time...." I thought Simon had lost his mind.

Simon: here is a good one. The story that Americans (or anyone) gave smallpox blankets to the Indians in completely false. Not a single documented case. It was an article written by a liberal college professor -Ward Churchill - (who is still alive.) He made up other garbage also. I debated this with a PhD of history of my local college - live on a radio broadcast. He lost.

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

The defense of the bathroom "hoax" has been used quite recently: I didn't expect anyone in their right mind would BELIEVE me!

Add the events of the last 3 years to this.

"The world itself is just one big hoax, spamming each other with our running commentary..." -- Rami Malek As Elliot Alderson

I assume a wordsmith like Mencken would have been aware of attributing the introduction to America of the bathtub to a President named 'Fillmore' ...

My favorite hoax is Joseph Smith and Mormonism.

3:45 I'm not sure Kia actually presented it as fact. "unheard of" is commonly used in the US as a term of incredulity or disbelief. In fact, it's probably used in this manner far more than the primary manner, which is to state that the speaker had previously not been informed on the matter at hand.

Having been born and raised in the Cincinnati area, I completely believed the first story.

My cats freak out every time they hear Simon’s theme music. Anybody else have that issue?

Simon, are you back on biographies? I'm not able to watch the other fellow

Lost my shit when it jumped to "THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION"

Piltdown man, Nebraska man, Colorado man, Australopithecus Africanus, Australopithecus Afarensis

Turtleneck Simon is my favourite indie band

2:02 at first i thought that's Alec Baldwin haha

4:25 boy that satement coveres so much still.

Honestly, fooling experts for even a little while by forging multiple documents and two full-length plays is impressive. I'm thinking William had actual literary talent.

Herman the Recluse, that’s a handle 🤣 Hit by a massive book while walking down the street, that’s really bad luck 🤣

I’m surprised you didn’t include The Donation of Constantine

QAnon is a note for note rerun of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

With all the various topics on this channel it should just be called Simon's side channel

Top ten ill take it

Enjoyed this video and others but I have one complaint. Your voice, while great to listen to is quite annoying. Your volume drops abruptly at the end of each sentence forcing us to raise the volume constantly. Can you improve this? It would be disappointing to miss what you present because of the big dip in volume.

You forgot to mention ‘The Diary of Ann Frank.’

OK fact boys writers, your challenge is to reveal the true history of the bathtub.

What about the archelogists and historians who found a videotape of everyday Roman life 101 BC?

Looking at some of these reminds me of the ship that got hit by a meteorite, the only difference is that actually happened.

As soon as Millard Fillmore was mentioned, my mind went to the Millard Fillmore soap-on-a-rope commercial, so imagine my surprise when it made an appearance.

I knew the Shakespeare forgery story about "Vortigern" - it featured on an episode of "The Rest of the Story" with Jack Palance (sort of a TopTenz of the late 70s early 80s). I did not know there was a fake "Henry II," however. How bad is it???

Does anyone know the title of the transition music at 3:51?

You could do an entire series like this about things believed to have been done for centuries, even thousands of years, involving witchcraft, paganism, rituals, rites, holidays and all that, that were simply ideas authors in the 1800 and 1900's came up with for their fiction stories. While there's a smattering across most spiritual beliefs, native american and celtic/druidic spiritual history, as believed by most today, is as true as the spirituality of Middle Earth.

Sometimes the actual truth isn't all that exciting.

Mr Whistler, why is that porch door always open showing the latch in your videos... It drives me crazy a bit. I have the same latch on my porch door, i close it.

The Codex Gigas is said to have hand-writing that never varies from start to finish, quite an accomplishment. Especially if done over the span of three decades, no?

I've never been this early before. Hiii :)

H. L. Mencken’s name is misspelled on your ‘bathtub’ episode slide.

You didnt include the Khufu cartouche in the great pyramid????

Man... I totally forgot what video this was during the bathtub one... Cuz i can totally see people banning bathing for dumb reasons

Washington Irving's biography of Christopher Columbus which said that Columbus was trying to prove that the earth was round.

Elders of Zion/Jewish Space Lasers...not much has changed, sadly. People are willing to believe and vilify a group of people different to themselves so easily, even eagerly, and it makes me so angry such stupidity exists.

The protocols are absolutely terrifying. It will make you ill reading it. If you want to know why the modern world is the way that it is it is a must-read

I loved the one about the bathtub, especially sine Americans seem to be so obsessed with everybody else’s hygiene habits.

Receipts needed

I'm digging the blue light.

what about Hitler's supposed diary?

I think the gullibility was epitomized on January 6th 2021....

An example of the difference between “conspiracy” and “conspiracy theory” lol

I knew what the video was, i clicked on it, and STILL got tricked. Damn fact boy