1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from works 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: cry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson and who doesn't love 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: a good hope story? So that there's actually a news 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: series that we're going to talk about today, and we 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: have to kind of air quote the word news. But 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: it's an important landmark in journalism history as well as 8 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: cultural history. It also involves the history of mass media 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: and even sort of a lesson in in gullibility and 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: kind of crowd mentality. Uh. This is a topic that 11 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: The Memory Palace actually did a short episode on back 12 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: in and that episode is called The Moon in the Sun, 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: and it's worth a listen. Uh. It is a brief 14 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: but very enjoyable So conspiracy theories and cartoons like Tech 15 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: Savery's The Cat that Hated People aside. Do you remember 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: that cartoon, Tracy, I do not. It was about a 17 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: cat who hated people. He lived in New York City 18 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: and so he got himself on a rocket to the 19 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: moon so he could be alone and enjoy it. But 20 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: of course the moon was full of crazy things that 21 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: made him just as annoyed as Earth and even more 22 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: so so much so that he figured out a way 23 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: to get back to Earth, and even though New York 24 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: did not treat him while, he was very happy. But 25 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: we know that in fact, that is fallacious information, and 26 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: that the moon is basically pretty empty. There are some 27 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: things there, but not crazy horn people have shown in 28 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: that cartoon walking around. But in five a New York 29 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: newspaper printed a series of stories about amazing discoveries on 30 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: the lunar landscape. And we are first going to talk 31 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: at length about the incredible descriptions of the amazing things 32 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: that were allegedly seen on the lunar surface through a telescope. 33 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: One thing I noticed during my research about this news 34 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: series is that the articles, and again there are six 35 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: of them, and they're very lengthy, kind of get summarized 36 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: to this point where it's like two to five sentences 37 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: about each one made and some don't even cover that. Uh, 38 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: and you lose a lot of the amazing and sometimes 39 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: crazy descriptions of these discoveries. So Tracy and I are 40 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: actually gonna walk through the text with a lot more description. 41 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: We're going to break down a lot more of its uh. 42 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: And that makes this a two parter because there's a 43 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: lot to talk about. Even though we're not covering everything 44 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: in that quote historical account, because that would take hours, 45 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: it's still going to take quite a bit of time. 46 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: And so, uh, this first part we're going to talk 47 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: a lot about those uh, those entries in the New 48 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: York Sun. The second part of this two parter will 49 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: wrap up the account as it was published in serial form, 50 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: and then we'll talk about kind of the reception these 51 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: claims God and sort of the atmosphere of the culture 52 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: at the time and how that sort of enabled and 53 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: provided a fertile ground for this hoax to happen. So 54 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: before the theories began, the small teaser appeared in the 55 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: New York Sun, and that was on Friday, August thirty five. 56 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: And this little teaser read quote, we have just learned 57 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: from an eminent publisher in this city that Sir John 58 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope has made some 59 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: astronomical discoveries of the most wonderful description by means of 60 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: an immense telescope of an entirely new principle. And the 61 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: city that was being referenced in that sentence was Edinburgh. Yeah, 62 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: that was it was placed again It was a tiny 63 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: little teaser, and it was placed as though it was 64 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: put there by the Edinburgh Current. Now, the first entry 65 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: in this series appeared in the paper on Tuesday August 66 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: uh still five, so a few days later, so that 67 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: that little teaser had been allowed to sit for a bit, 68 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: and it was titled quote great astronomical discoveries lately made 69 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: by Sir John Herschel l l D f R S 70 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: at the Cape of Good Hope, from the supplement to 71 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: the Edinburgh Journal of Science. Sir John Herschel is not 72 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: an entirely new name on the podcast. We mentioned him 73 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: as the nephew of Caroline Herschel in our episode on 74 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: Astronomy's Cinderella. Yeah Well referenced Caroline very briefly towards the 75 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: end of the second episode. But this article, uh, this 76 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: first entry ran on the front page of the New 77 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: York Sun, and it took up about seventy of the 78 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: front page, and it opened with this, In this unusual 79 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: addition to our journal, we have the happiness of making 80 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: known to the British public, and thence to the whole 81 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: civilized world, recent discoveries in astronomy which will build an 82 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: imperishable monument to the age in which we live and 83 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: confer upon the present generation of the human race a 84 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: proud distinction through all future time. And again they're placing 85 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: this as though it had been These were notes to 86 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: the Edinburgh Journal of Science that were then being reprinted 87 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: in New York. It goes on to build up the 88 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: announcement before making it, and it describes the awe of 89 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: such a discovery and how it makes us earth bound 90 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: creatures feel almost like we suddenly have super now patural powers. 91 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: Herschel is described as setting up his stupendous apparatus, which 92 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: was this new telescope, which was quote of vast dimensions 93 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: and entirely new principle, and then he has described as 94 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: pausing for several hours before looking through it, so that 95 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: he could collect himself and prepare for the discoveries that 96 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: he was about to make. Yeah, the article assured the 97 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: reader at this point that Herschel was right to do 98 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,559 Speaker 1: so because the things that he saw in his first 99 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: hour of observation are incomparable in the way in which 100 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: they're they're going to advance human knowledge. His telescope, the 101 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: article said, rendered his view of objects on the lunar 102 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: surface quote fully equal to that which the naked eye 103 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,720 Speaker 1: commands of terrestrial objects at the distance of a hundred yards. 104 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: An important thing to note at this point is that 105 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: the article title makes it sort of sound like it 106 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: was written by Sir John Herschel, but the actual entry 107 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: is written as introduced from the point of view of 108 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: the newspaper reported to them through Dr Andrew Grant, and 109 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: that's who The New York Sun described as an assistant 110 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: to the astronomer. The Sun assured readers that the notes 111 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: that Grant had shared with the publication were almost as 112 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: thorough as thorough as those of Herschel himself. After the intro, 113 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,239 Speaker 1: the articles then are framed as being written by Andrew 114 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: Grant himself. Uh So, the rest of the August entry 115 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: went on to describe in great detail Herschel's telescope. And 116 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: the reason for this lengthy description, and I mean it 117 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: is in great detail according to this article, is that 118 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: quote a knowledge of the one is essential to the 119 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: credibility of the other. So they've they're kind of setting 120 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: it up that once readers understand how amazing this telescope is, 121 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: then they won't for a second doubt its ability to 122 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,559 Speaker 1: see these things that no one else had previously seen. 123 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: It claimed that this apparatus was in diameter or seven 124 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: point three meters, and this would have made it six 125 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: times the size of the scout the telescope that his father, 126 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: William Herschel had built. To make some modern comparisons, the 127 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: Hubble telescope is fourteen feet or four point three meters 128 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: in diameter. The Grand Telescope e oh Canarius in the 129 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: Canary Islands, which is currently the biggest optic telescope on Earth, 130 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: is thirty four ft or ten point four meters in diameter. 131 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: So so it was basically claiming that this telescope was 132 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: was huge, huge, even comparison to other telescopes of today. 133 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: Oh yeah. And at this point, remember they're sort of 134 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: building on this idea. You know, they're they're referencing William Herschel, 135 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: who at that point was a very well known astronomer. 136 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: The discovery of Uranus had happened in the recent past, 137 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: and so they're kind of building, uh, scientific credibility by 138 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: referencing him and talking about how his son is advancing 139 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: telescopic technology, so am much more. Uh, and apparently this 140 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: new telescope that they're they were describing, which was reported 141 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: as weighing nearly seven tons, also possessed a hydro oxygen microscope, 142 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: so it combined telescopic technology with microscopic technology, and this 143 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: projected the telescopic image onto a screen of canvas and 144 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: allowed for clear magnification of far distant objects. How big 145 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: and clear did this article claim it made things? It 146 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: was reported that this telescope they're describing would have a 147 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: magnification of forty two thousand times. So this was the 148 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: first of the six entries in the series. And you 149 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: will notice it has said almost nothing about the moon. 150 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: Yet this is all set up at this point, and 151 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: before we get to the juicy stuff, do you want 152 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: to pause for a word from a sponsor. Let's do, 153 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: because then we can have glats of juicy stuff close together. 154 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: So back to the New York Sun's account as relayed 155 00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: to them by Dr Andrew Grant of the work of 156 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: to John Herschel Uh. The second entry that the newspaper published, 157 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: which was the next day, is where things really get cooking. 158 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: So in terms of UH descriptions, it really sort of 159 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: blew things wide open. It first established the timeline of 160 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: Herschel having left London on September four, eighteen thirty four, 161 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,319 Speaker 1: transporting when he did this, his assistance and his new 162 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: lenses by ship to the Cape of Good Hope. And 163 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: it also described the installation of the telescope in great detail, 164 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: talking about like how it was laid out, how they 165 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,479 Speaker 1: built a foundation for it, etcetera, further establishing the credibility 166 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: of the discoveries they were about to share. The New 167 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: York Sun reported that the faithful day on which Herschel 168 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: turned his telescope to the moon was January thirty five, 169 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: at about nine thirty in the evening. The lunar landscape, 170 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: as seen through this telescope was apparently to Herschel a 171 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: greenish brown but baltic rock, and he also saw that 172 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: it was covered with dark red flowers very similar to poppies. This, 173 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: the article claimed, was quote the first organic production of 174 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: nature in a foreign world ever revealed to the eyes 175 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: of men. He also recorded a lunar forest which was 176 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: said to resemble really large yew trees, and the astronomer 177 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:27,319 Speaker 1: observed that as the moon shifted positions, this was followed 178 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: by a green plane and then a forest of fir trees, 179 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: and after adjusting the telescope's magnification. Herschel and his assistant 180 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: realized that they had also found a body of water 181 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: with beautiful beaches that were full of white sand bordered 182 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: by these green marble rocks. The water appeared to be blue, 183 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: just like it does on Earth, and also seemed to 184 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: experience tides. YEAH talks at length about where they could 185 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: see that the tides had hit the rocks on the 186 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: edge of one side of this body of water. So, 187 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: according to the information that doctor Grant shared with the 188 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: New York Sun, the landscape observations that Dr Herschel and 189 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: his team were doing went on for almost two hours, 190 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: and then after adjusting the lenses of the telescope once more, 191 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: there are often references throughout all of these these UH 192 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: articles of how they adjusted lenses and switched things out. UH. 193 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: Then they observed various crystalline structures in the landscape, and 194 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: then a herd of quadrupeds was spotted. So this herd 195 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: of creatures was reported to be in the shade of 196 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: the forest, and the animals appeared to be a lot 197 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,199 Speaker 1: like small bison, although very much smaller than any bison 198 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: on Earth. These creatures had a lot of characteristics that 199 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: were similar to terrestrial bison. There were quote semicircular horns, 200 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: the hump on its shoulders, and the depth of its 201 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: dew lap, and the length of its shaggy hair. He 202 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: also described the species is having quote a remarkable fleshy 203 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: appendage over the eyes which spanned across the head from 204 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 1: ear to ear. So, according to this account, Herschel is 205 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: said to have guessed that this flap covering the eyes 206 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: would shield the animal from the extreme variations in light 207 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: and darkness that the Moon would experience. Next in his 208 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: Moon's wildlife discoveries were creatures that the article suspects would 209 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: be classified as monsters on Earth. These were small, goat 210 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: sized species that were the color of quote bluish lead. 211 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: Males had single horns and beards, and female had neither 212 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: horns nor beards, but did have longer tails than the 213 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: males did. They frolicked around like antelopes, and they were 214 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: very social creatures, and their antics, according to this report 215 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: were quite delightful. Yeah. It goes on at length about 216 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: how they were jumping around and playing with each other, 217 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: and how all of the astronomers observing this just were 218 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: charmed to pieces. They were charmed by the delightful monsters 219 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: by a delightful goat, unicorn creatures that were blue. Uh. 220 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: There were also water birds aspied through this telescope, including 221 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: pelicans and cranes being the most common. Uh. These birds 222 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: were discovered along a branching river, and the astronomers watched 223 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: this river for some time, hoping to get their eyes 224 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: on what they suspected might be lunar fish, but they 225 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: were not rewarded. But they did deduce that the fish 226 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: must have been there because the birds were seen dunking 227 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: their heads in the water, seemingly as a food gathering activity. 228 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: At this point in the observations, the lunar atmosphere, not 229 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: Earth's atmosphere, became too cloudy for them to be able 230 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: to see any further, and so the observers decided to 231 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,319 Speaker 1: take a break. They were also pretty tired by that point. 232 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: So that ended the second installment of the New York 233 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: Suns series with kind of a cliffhanger. Yeah, at this 234 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: point they've introduced crazy animal species that have been seen 235 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: on the Moon. Uh, but there is how much more 236 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: to come? So on Thursday, August thirty five, the third 237 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: installment of the Moon Discovery series was published. The cloudy 238 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,559 Speaker 1: conditions that had halted their viewings for a couple of 239 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: nights cleared up on January thirteenth, and at that point 240 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: both the Moon's atmosphere and the Earth's were clear quote 241 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: one of pearly purity and loveliness, and as the position 242 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: of the Moon relative to the telescope's location was getting 243 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: ready to shift, Dr Grant wrote that Dr Herschel wanted 244 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: to focus the entirety of the evening on January to 245 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: just a few specific spots before that shift happened. Uh. 246 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: There is uh at this point in the narrative additional 247 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: topographical descriptions of the Moon's landscape, and these go on 248 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: and on for quite some length to detail there are mountains, 249 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: their mountains made of crystal. They're active and inactive volcanoes. 250 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: There are incredibly fertile areas. At one point this third 251 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: installment describes it as quote fertile to excess in one passage. 252 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: So it goes on a lot about the landscape. Additional 253 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: animals were identified as being different from the ones that 254 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: had been sited on earlier viewings, including larger versions of 255 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: those bison creatures, as well as numerous flocks of red 256 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: and white birds. Herschel and his team, according to this article, 257 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: classified thirty eight different species of lunar forest trees that night, 258 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: and twice that number of plants in the relatively small 259 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: area where they were concentrating their observations. They also cataloged 260 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: nine mammal species and five over paris species. The mammals 261 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: included beasts that look like little reindeer, as well as 262 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: elk and moose and horned bears, and one that looked 263 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: like a biped beaver, although apparently the moon beavers had 264 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: no tails, so the moon beaver gets talked about a lot. 265 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: It was very exciting, and it also, again being biped, 266 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: carried its young cradled in its arms the same way 267 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: that a human would as it was tootling around on 268 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: its hind legs. And these lunar beavers also constructed huts 269 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: rather than damns, so they're a little more archaeological or 270 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: architecturally advanced, and this construction was described as quote better 271 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: and higher than those of many tribes of human savages, 272 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: and from the appearance of smoke in nearly all of them, 273 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: there is no doubt of its being acquainted with the 274 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: use of fire. So if if you do have the opportunity, 275 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: which I encourage you to take, to listen to the 276 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: Memory Palace episode about this. One of my favorite parts 277 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: is about these beavers. When you're reading the articles, the 278 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: beaver part is just hilarious to me because there's such 279 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: excitement over these biped beavers that know how to use fire. 280 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: So south of where these beaver type animals were seen 281 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: was a dense forest where the only animal scene was 282 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: this large stork like bird. Not far from the thickly 283 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,880 Speaker 1: wooded area was the largest lake that was visible, which 284 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: was estimated to be a hundred ninety eight by two 285 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,200 Speaker 1: d and sixty six miles or three nineteen by four kilometers. 286 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: The lake reportedly contained volcanic islands. And before we talk 287 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: about a little bit of amazing flora seen on some 288 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: of these islands in this lake, do you want to 289 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: have a word from a sponsor, sure, back to these 290 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: amazing volcanic islands discovered on the Moon. One of the 291 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: really fabulous and exciting discoveries there was that there were 292 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: moon palm trees. These were visually almost identical to Earth 293 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: palm trees, except that they blossomed with bright red flowers, 294 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 1: and they did not appear to bear fruits like date 295 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: or coconuts. However, in terms of fruit bearing trees, there 296 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: was a melon tree, and there were herds of miniature 297 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: zebras and birds that the team thought were as sense. 298 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: The shores of this massive body of water were also 299 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: filled with shellfish. Uh. And as this third entry in 300 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: the series winds down, there is an attempt to describe 301 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: the crystal line vista that's surrounding these waters, although the 302 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: curvature of the moon and the earth rotation allows for 303 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: no visibility that they can identify the end of this 304 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: particular segment of landscape. So you may be thinking that 305 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,400 Speaker 1: the wonders described up until this point we're really pretty amazing. 306 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: But the fourth installment that was printed in the New 307 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: York Sun is even more incredible. This one appeared on 308 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 1: Friday August and a lot of people regard it as 309 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: the most sensational of the six parts of this cereal. 310 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: So again, it starts, as previous entries, with a lengthy 311 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: description of the latest landscape that they're observing, which featured 312 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: bright red perpendicular mountains and long veins of what the 313 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: team cancluded were virgin gold. Uh. They also describe another 314 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: quadruped species, and these ones were observed to be white 315 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 1: sheeplike beasts, but with long necks, and the body is 316 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: described almost dear like in shape, but with longer front legs. 317 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: So as I was trying to visualize this, I was like, 318 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 1: it's a sheep, dear giraffe. Um. But then another group 319 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: of animals is described that apparently looked exactly like sheep, 320 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: exactly like sheep, no no visible variation at all. Uh, 321 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: and they were so obviously sheep, according to Dr Grant's account, 322 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: that it made all of the astronomers laugh. And then 323 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,200 Speaker 1: Dr Grant's account drops the real bomb. A holy new 324 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: creature appeared in the telescope's view, and several groups of 325 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: winged creatures descended from a cliff base to land on 326 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,199 Speaker 1: an open plane. Sir John Herschel is quoted in the 327 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,919 Speaker 1: article is saying, quote, now, gentleman, my theory is against 328 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: your proofs, which you have often found a pretty and 329 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 1: bet we have here something worth looking at. I was 330 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: confident that if we ever found beings in human shape, 331 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: it would be in this longitude, and that they would 332 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,680 Speaker 1: be provided by their creator with some extraordinary powers of locomotion. 333 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: First exchange for my number D, and so when he 334 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: asked for that, exchange for number D that refers to 335 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 1: a lens that Herschel wanted to use two more carefully 336 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,400 Speaker 1: examine the scene before him. So adjustments were quickly made 337 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: to the telescope and everything was refocused, and the team 338 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: then viewed three groups of these beings walking erect and 339 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: these new creatures were indeed similar to humans. After more 340 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: focusing and more adjustments, these creatures were brought into clear 341 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: focus and they appeared to be about four ft or 342 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: one point two meters tall. They had copper colored fur 343 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: all over their bodies except for on their faces, and 344 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: their wings were like bat wings. Their faces were described 345 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: as quote a slight improvement upon that of the large orangutan. 346 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 1: It's actually spelled in this as orangutang, which delights me uh. 347 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: And they're described as seeming more intelligent than the earth primate, 348 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: the orangutan. Yeah uh. These bat people also had beards 349 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: and darker hair on their heads than on the rest 350 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: of their bodies. One of Herschel's assistants is quoted in 351 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: Grant's account as saying, quote, they would look as well 352 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: on a parade ground as some of the old Cockney militia. 353 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: Herschel and his team observed these beings and what appeared 354 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: to be impassioned conversation, just gesturing to one another, just 355 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,880 Speaker 1: like human beings would. This species was named by Herschel 356 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: as Vespertilio Homo man bats, and the valley where they 357 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,440 Speaker 1: lived was named the Ruby Colisseum. The New York Sun 358 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: omitted some of the passages from the notes at the 359 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: behest of Dr Grant, who apparently felt like those elements 360 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: were best shared by Sir Herschel himself. The Sun indicated 361 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,360 Speaker 1: that the omitted material does quote contain facts which would 362 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: be wholly incredible to readers who do not carefully examine 363 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: the principles and capacity of the instrument with which these 364 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: marvelous discoveries have been made. The newspaper also indicates that 365 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: sort of their editorial opinion that when the entirety of 366 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 1: this work is published by Herschel, it is going to 367 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: be quote at once the most sublime in science and 368 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 1: the most intense and general interest that ever issued from 369 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: the press. And that is where we now will clihang you. 370 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: The second episode of this two Parter is going to 371 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: finish off Dr Grant's accounts of what Herschel observed on 372 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: the Moon, and then we'll talk about how all of 373 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: this was received by the public and by other newspapers 374 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: and even by Sir John Herschel himself. Yeah, so there's 375 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: plenty more, although we've given you from probably the juiciest 376 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: of the actual um fauna discoveries. Uh and now we're 377 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: gonna hop over to listener mail. That sounds awesome. So 378 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: this is from our listener Ian and uh, he says, Hi, 379 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: my name is Ian and I'm a welder who works 380 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,199 Speaker 1: in San Diego. So I just wanted to say that 381 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: I love your podcast and they get me through my 382 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 1: ten hour shifts pretty nicely. That being said, I was 383 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 1: stoked on downloading your newest one about the Hartford fire. 384 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 1: My dad is a huge circus buff. But when I 385 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: got to work, there just happened to be a giant 386 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: fire in my welding department today that has shut us 387 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: down for the rest of the week. In search sad 388 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 1: face here. Thankfully no one was injured unlike the one 389 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:41,879 Speaker 1: in Hartford, and we'll get back to work in the 390 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: next week or so. How much of a chance is 391 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 1: there for you guys to do a podcast on the 392 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: history of welding. Uh, my personal side, I would actually 393 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: love to do that because it reaches quite far back. 394 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: Um and he says, Uh, I mostly just wanted to 395 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,160 Speaker 1: read this because it was such a good coincidence. That's 396 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: a weird sort of thing to be ready to talk 397 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,400 Speaker 1: about a fire and go to work and find a fire, 398 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: or to listen to a fire and go to work 399 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: and find a fire. Uh. If you would like to 400 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: share your crazy coincidences with us, you're welcome to do so. 401 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,479 Speaker 1: The email address you should use is History Podcast at 402 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: how st works dot com. You can also connect with 403 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: us at Facebook dot com, slash mist in history, on 404 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 1: Twitter at mist in History, at misston history dot tumbler 405 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 1: dot com, at pinterest dot com slash mist in history, 406 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: and you can visit us at our spreadshirt store, which 407 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: is missed in History dot spreadshirt dot com. If you 408 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: would like to buy some stuff you missed in History 409 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 1: class goodies. You can also actually connect to that store 410 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: through our Facebook page. There's a little click through on 411 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 1: the left side of the page if you would like 412 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: to read a little bit about things we have talked 413 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: about today. Related to what we talked about today, you 414 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: can go to our parents Nite, which is How Stuff Works. 415 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: Type the word hoax into the search bar and you 416 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: will get several articles, one of which is ten crazy 417 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: Hoaxes that duped the World. 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