1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Hi, Happy Saturday, everybody. I hope you're having a great 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: weekend if these are in fact your days off. Today 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: is the one hundred and eighty third anniversary of the 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: beginning of one of my favorite topics from the show, 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: The Great Moon Hoax, which is also a favorite episode 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: from the past archive. Other people like it because it's hilarious. 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: This is a two part episode which originally came out 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen. We're going to be sharing this one, 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: part one today this week, and next week you will 10 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: get part two. If you're an extra eager for part two, though, 11 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: you can find it on our website at missinhistory dot com, 12 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: and if you're subscribed to our show, you'll probably be 13 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: able to find it by searching your library on most 14 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: podcast apps, although all the various apps handle archival material 15 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: a little differently from one another regardless, though, enjoy Welcome 16 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: to Stuff You Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks dot com. Hello, 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly cry and I'm Tracy B. 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: Wilson and who doesn't love a good hope story? So 19 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: that there's actually a news series that we're going to 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: talk about today, and we have to kind of air 21 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: quote the word news, but it's an important landmark in 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: journalism history as well as cultural history. It also involves 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: the history of mass media and even sort of a 24 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: lesson in gullibility and kind of crowd mentality. This is 25 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: a topic that The Memory Palace actually did a short 26 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: episode on back in twenty ten, and that episode is 27 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: called The Moon in the Sun, and it's worth a listen. 28 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: It is a brief but very enjoyable so conspiracy theories 29 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: and cartoons like tech Avery's The Cat that Hated People aside. 30 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: Do you remember that cartoon, Tracy, I do not. It 31 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: was about a cat who hated people. He lived in 32 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: New York City and so he got himself on a 33 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: rocket to the Moon so he could be alone and 34 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: enjoy it. But of course the moon was full of 35 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: crazy things that made him just as annoyed as Earth 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: and even more so, so much so that he figured 37 00:01:58,040 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: out a way to get back to Earth, and even 38 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: though New York did not treat him while he was 39 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: very happy. But we know that in fact that is 40 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: fallacious information, and that the moon is basically pretty empty. 41 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: There are some things there, but not crazy horn people 42 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: as shown in that cartoon walking around. But in eighteen 43 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: thirty five, a New York newspaper printed a series of 44 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: stories about amazing discoveries on the lunar landscape. And we 45 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: are first going to talk at length about the incredible 46 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: descriptions of the amazing things that were allegedly seen on 47 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,519 Speaker 1: the lunar surface through a telescope. One thing I noticed 48 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: during my research about this news series is that the articles, 49 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: and again there are six of them, and they're very lengthy, 50 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: kind of get summarized to this point where it's like 51 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: two to five sentences about each one maybe and some 52 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: don't even cover that, and you lose a lot of 53 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: the amazing and sometimes crazy descriptions of these discoveries. So 54 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: Tracy and I are actually going to walk through the 55 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: text a lot more description. We're going to break down 56 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: a lot more of it. And that makes this a 57 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: two parter because there is a lot to talk about. 58 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: Even though we're not covering everything in that quote historical account, 59 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: because that would take hours, it's still going to take 60 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,679 Speaker 1: quite a bit of time. And so this first part 61 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: we're going to talk a lot about those entries in 62 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: the New York Sun. The second part of this two 63 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: parter will wrap up the account as it was published 64 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: in serial form, and then we'll talk about kind of 65 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: the reception these claims got in sort of the atmosphere 66 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: of the culture at the time, and how that sort 67 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: of enabled and provided a fertile ground for this hoax 68 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: to happen. So before the series began, the small teaser 69 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: appeared in the New York Sun, and that was on 70 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: Friday August twenty first, eighteen thirty five. And this little 71 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: teaser read quote, we have just learnt from an eminent 72 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: publisher in this city that Sir John Herschel, at the 73 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: Cape of Good Hope has made some anomical discoveries of 74 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,559 Speaker 1: the most wonderful description by means of an immense telescope 75 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: of an entirely new principle. And the city that was 76 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: being referenced in that sentence was Edinburgh. Yeah, that was 77 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: it was placed. Again, It was a tiny little teaser, 78 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: and it was placed as though it was put there 79 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: by the Edinburgh Current. Now, the first entry in this 80 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: series appeared in the paper on Tuesday, August twenty fifth, 81 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: still eighteen thirty five, so a few days later, so 82 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: that little teaser had been allowed to sit for a bit, 83 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: and it was titled quote great astronomical discoveries lately made 84 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: by Sir John Herschel, ld FRS at the Cape of 85 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: Good Hope, from the supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of Science. 86 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: Sir John Herschel is not an entirely new name on 87 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: the podcast. We mentioned him as the nephew of Caroline 88 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: Herschel in our episode on Astronomy's Cinderella. Yeah Well referenced 89 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: Caroline very briefly towards the end of the second episode. 90 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: But this article, this first entry, ran on the front 91 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: page of the New York Sun, and it took up 92 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: about seventy five percent of the front page, and it 93 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: opened with this, in this unusual addition to our journal, 94 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: we have the happiness of making known to the British public, 95 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: and thence to the whole civilized world, recent discoveries in 96 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: astronomy which will build an imperishable monument to the age 97 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: in which we live, and confer upon the present generation 98 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: of the human race a proud distinction through all future time. 99 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: And again they're placing this as though it had been 100 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: These were notes to the Edinburgh Journal of Science that 101 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: were then being reprinted in New York. It goes on 102 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: to build up the announcement before making it, and it 103 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: describes the awe of such a discovery and how it 104 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: makes us earth bound creatures feel almost like we suddenly 105 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: have supernatural powers. Herschel is described as setting up his 106 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: stupendous apparatus, which was this new telescope, which was quote 107 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: of vast dimensions and entirely new principle, and then he 108 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: is described as pausing for several hours before looking through it, 109 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: so that he could collect himself and prepare for the 110 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: discoveries that he was about to make. Yeah, the article 111 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: assured the reader at this point that Herschel was right 112 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: to do so because the things that he saw in 113 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: his first hour of observation are incomparable in the way 114 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: in which they're going to advance human knowledge. His telescope, 115 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: the article said, rendered his view of objects on the 116 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: lunar surface quote fully equal to that which the naked 117 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: eye commands of terrestrial objects at the distance of one 118 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: hundred yards. An important thing to note at this point 119 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: is that the article title makes it sort of sound 120 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: like it was written by Sir John Herschel, but the 121 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: actual entry is written as introduced from the point of 122 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: view of the newspaper reported to them through doctor Andrew Grant, 123 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: and that's who The New York Sun described as an 124 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: assistant to the astronomer. The son assured readers that the 125 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: notes that Grant had shared with the publication were almost 126 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: as thorough as thorough as those of Herschel himself. After 127 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: the intro, the articles then are framed as being written 128 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: by Andrew Grant himself. So the rest of the August 129 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: twenty fifth entry went on to describe in great detail 130 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: Herschel's telescope. And the reason for this lengthy description, and 131 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: I mean it is in great detail according to this article, 132 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: is that quote, a knowledge of the one is essential 133 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: to the credibility of the other. So they're kind of 134 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: setting it up that once readers understand how amazing this 135 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: telescope is, then they won't for a second doubt its 136 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: ability to see these things that no one else had 137 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: previously seen. It claimed that this apparatus was twenty four 138 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: feet in diameter or seven point three meters, and this 139 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: would have made it six times the size of the scalpe, 140 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: the telescope that his father, William Herschel had built. To 141 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: make some modern comparisons, the Hubble telescope is fourteen feet 142 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: or four point three meters in diameter. The Grand Telescopio 143 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: Canarius and the Canary Islands, which is currently the biggest 144 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: optic telescope on Earth, is thirty four feet or ten 145 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: point four meters in diameter. So it was basically claiming 146 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: that this telescope was huge, huge, even comparison to other 147 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,679 Speaker 1: telescopes of today. Oh yeah, And at this point, remember 148 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: they're sort of building on this idea. You know, they're 149 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: referencing William Herschel, who at that point was a very 150 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: well known astronomer. The discovery of Uranus had happened in 151 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: the recent past, and so they're kind of building scientific 152 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: credibility by referencing him and talking about how his son 153 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: is advancing telescopic technology so much more. And apparently this 154 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: new telescope that they were describing, which was reported as 155 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: weighing nearly seven tons, also possessed a hydro oxygen my microscope, 156 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: so it combined telescopic technology with microscopic technology, and this 157 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: projected the telescopic image onto a screen of canvas and 158 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: allowed for clear magnification of far distant objects. How big 159 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: and clear did this article claim it made things. It 160 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: was reported that this telescope they're describing would have a 161 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: magnification of forty two thousand times. So this was the 162 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: first of the six entries and the series, and you 163 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: will notice it has said almost nothing about the moon yet. Yeah, 164 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: this is all set up at this point. And before 165 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: we get to the juicy stuff. Do you want to 166 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: pause for a word from a sponsor. Let's do, because 167 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: then we can have lots of juicy stuff close together. 168 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: So back to the New York Sun's account as relayed 169 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: to them by doctor Andrew Grant, of the work of 170 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: Sir John Herschel. The second entry that the newspaper published, 171 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: which was the next day, is where things really get cooking. 172 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: So in terms of descriptions, it really sort of blew 173 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: things wide open. It first established the timeline of Herschel 174 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: having left London on September fourth of eighteen thirty four, 175 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: transporting when he did this, his assistance and his new 176 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: lenses by ship to the Cape of Good Hope. And 177 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: it also described the installation of the telescope in great detail, 178 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: talking about like how it was laid out, how they 179 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: built a foundation for it, et cetera. Further establishing the 180 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: credibility of the discoveries they were about to share. The 181 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: New York Sun reported that the fateful day on which 182 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: Herschel turned his telescope to the moon was January tenth, 183 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty five, at about nine thirty in the evening. 184 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: The lunar landscape, as seen through this telescope was, apparently, 185 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:58,079 Speaker 1: to Herschel a greenish brown basaltic rock, and he also 186 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: saw that it was covered with dark red flats very 187 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: similar to poppies. This, the article claimed, was quote the 188 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: first organic production of nature in a foreign world ever 189 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: revealed to the eyes of men. He also recorded a 190 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: lunar forest which was said to resemble really large yew trees, 191 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,599 Speaker 1: and the astronomer observed that as the moon shifted positions, 192 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: this was followed by a green plane and then a 193 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: forest of fir trees, and after adjusting the telescope's magnification, 194 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: Herschel and his assistant realized that they had also found 195 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: a body of water with beautiful beaches that were full 196 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,959 Speaker 1: of white sand bordered by these green marble rocks. The 197 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: water appeared to be blue, just like it does on Earth, 198 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: and also seemed to experience tides. Yeah talks at length 199 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: about where they could see that the tides had hit 200 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: the rocks on the edge of one side of this 201 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: body of water. So, according to the information that doctor 202 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,559 Speaker 1: Grant shared with the New York Sun, the landscape observations 203 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: that doctor Herschel and his team were doing went on 204 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: for almost two hours, and then after adjusting the lenses 205 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: of the telescope once more. There are often references throughout 206 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: all of these these articles of how they adjusted lenses 207 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: and switched things out. Then they observed various crystalline structures 208 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: in the landscape, and then a herd of quadrupeds was spotted. 209 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: So this herd of creatures was reported to be in 210 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: the shade of the forest, and the animals appeared to 211 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: be a lot like small bison, although very much smaller 212 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: than any bison on Earth. These creatures had a lot 213 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: of characteristics that were similar to terrestrial bison. There were 214 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: quote semicircular horns, the hump on its shoulders, and the 215 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: depth of its dew lap, and the length of its 216 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: shaggy hair. He also described the species as having quote 217 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: a remarkable fleshy appendage over the eyes which spanned across 218 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: the head from ear to ear so. According to this account, 219 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: Herschel is said to have guessed that this flap covering 220 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: the eyes would shield the animal from the extreme variations 221 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: in light and darkness that the moon would experience. Next 222 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: in his Moon's wildlife discoveries were creatures that the article 223 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: suspects would be classified as monsters on Earth. These were 224 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: small goat sized species that were the color of quote 225 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: bluish lead. Males had single horns and beards, and female 226 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: had neither horns nor beards, but did have longer tails 227 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 1: than the males did. They frolicked around like antelopes, and 228 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: they were very social creatures, and their antics, according to 229 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: this report, were quite delightful. Yeah. It goes on at 230 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: length about how they were jumping around and playing with 231 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: each other, and how all of the astronomers observing this 232 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: just were charmed to pieces. They were charmed by the 233 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: delightful monsters, by the delightful goat unicorn creatures that were blue. 234 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: There were also waterbirds a spied through this telescope, including 235 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: pelicans and cranes being the most common. These birds were 236 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: discovered along a branching river, and the astronomers watched this 237 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: river for some time hoping to get their eyes on 238 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: what they suspected might be lunar fish, but they were 239 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: not rewarded. But they did deduce that the fish must 240 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: have been there because the birds were seen dunking their 241 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: heads in the water, seemingly as a food gathering activity. 242 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: At this point in the observations, the lunar atmosphere, not 243 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: Earth's atmosphere, became too cloudy for them to be able 244 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: to see any further, and so the observers decided to 245 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: take a break. They were also pretty tired by that point, 246 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: so that ended the second installment of the New York 247 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: Suns series with kind of a cliffhanger. Yeah, at this 248 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: point they've introduced crazy animal species that have been seen 249 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: on the Moon, but there is so much more to come. 250 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: So on Thursday, August twenty seventh of eighteen thirty five, 251 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: the third installment of the Moon Discovery series was published. 252 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: The cloudy conditions that had halted their viewings for a 253 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: couple of nights cleared up on January thirteenth, and at 254 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: that point both the Moon's atmosphere and the Earth's were 255 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: clear quote one of pearly purity and loveliness, and as 256 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: the position of the Moon relative to the telescope's location 257 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: was getting ready to shift. Doctor Grant wrote that doctor 258 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: Herschel wanted to focus the entirety of the evening on 259 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: January thirteenth to just a few specific spots before that 260 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: shift happened. There is at this point in the narrative 261 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: additional topographical descriptions of the Moon's landscape, and these go 262 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: on and on for quite some lengths to detail there 263 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: are mountains, There are mountains made of crystal. There are 264 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: active and inactive volcanoes. There are incredibly fertile areas. At 265 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: one point, this third installment describes it as quote fertile 266 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: to excess in one passage. So it goes on a 267 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: lot about the landscape. Additional animals were identified as being 268 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: different from the ones that had been sighted on earlier viewings, 269 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: including larger versions of those bison creatures, as well as 270 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: numerous flocks of red and white birds. Herschel and his team, 271 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: according to this article, classified thirty eight different species of 272 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: lunar forest trees that night, and twice that number of 273 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: plants in the relatively small area where they were concentrating 274 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: their observations. They also cataloged nine mammal species and five 275 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: oviparous species. The mammals included beasts that look like little reindeer, 276 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: as well as elk and moose and horned bears, and 277 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: one that looked like a biped beaver, although apparently the 278 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: moon beavers had no tails, So the moon beaver gets 279 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: talked about a lot. It was very exciting, and it also, 280 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: again being biped, carried its young cradled in its arms 281 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: the same way that a human wood as it was 282 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 1: toodling around on its hind legs. And these lunar beavers 283 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: also constructed huts rather than dams, so they're a little 284 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: more archaeological or architecturally advanced. And this construction was described 285 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: as quote better and higher than those of many tribes 286 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: of human savages. And from the appearance of smoke in 287 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: nearly all of them, there is no doubt of its 288 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,679 Speaker 1: being acquainted with the use of fire. So if you 289 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: do have the opportunity, which I encourage you to take, 290 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 1: to listen to the Memory Palace episode about this. One 291 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: of my favorite parts is about these beavers. When you're 292 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: reading the articles, the beaver part is just hilarious to me. Yeah, 293 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: because there's such excitement over these biped beavers that know 294 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: how to use fire. So south of where these beaver 295 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: type animals were seen was a dense forest where the 296 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 1: only animal scene was this large storklike bird. Not far 297 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: from the thickly wooded area was the largest lake that 298 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: was built, which was estimated to be one hundred and 299 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: ninety eight by two hundred and sixty six miles or 300 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:08,160 Speaker 1: three hundred and nineteen by four hundred and twenty eight kilometers. 301 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: The lake reportedly contained volcanic islands. And before we talk 302 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: about a little bit of amazing flora seen on some 303 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: of these islands in this lake, do you want to 304 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: have a word from a sponsor. Sure, back to these 305 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: amazing volcanic islands discovered on the Moon. One of the 306 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 1: really fabulous and exciting discoveries there was that there were 307 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: moon palm trees. These were visually almost identical to Earth 308 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 1: palm trees, except that they blossomed with bright red flowers, 309 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: and they did not appear to bear fruits like date 310 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 1: or coconuts. However, in terms of fruit bearing trees, there 311 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: was a melon tree, and there were herds of many 312 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: zebras and birds that the team thought were pheasants. The 313 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: shores of this massive body of water were also filled 314 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: with shellfish, and as this third entry in the series 315 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: winds down, there is an attempt to describe the crystal 316 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: line vista that's surrounding these waters, although the curvature of 317 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: the moon and the Earth's rotation allows for no visibility 318 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: that they can identify the end of this particular segment 319 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: of landscape. So you may be thinking that the wonders 320 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: described up until this point were really pretty amazing, But 321 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: the fourth installment that was printed in the New York 322 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: Sun is even more incredible. This one appeared on Friday, 323 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: August twenty eighth, eighteen thirty five, and a lot of 324 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: people regard it as the most sensational of the six 325 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: parts of this cereal. So again, it starts, as previous entries, 326 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: with a lengthy description of the latest landscape that they're observing, 327 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: which featured bright red, perpendicular mi mountains and long veins 328 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: of what the team concluded were virgin gold. They also 329 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: describe another quadruped species, and these ones were observed to 330 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: be white, sheeplike beasts, but with long necks, and the 331 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: body is described almost deer like in shape. But with 332 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: longer front legs. So as I was trying to visualize this, 333 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 1: I was like, it's a sheep, deer, giraffe. But then 334 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: another group of animals is described that apparently looked exactly 335 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: like sheep, exactly like sheep, no visible variation at all, 336 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: and they were so obviously sheep, according to doctor Grant's account, 337 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: that it made all of the astronomers laugh. And then 338 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: doctor Grant's account drops the real bomb. A holy new 339 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: creature appeared in the telescope's view, and several groups of 340 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: winged creatures descended from a cliff face to land on 341 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: an open plane. Sir John Herschel is quoted in the 342 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: article as saying, quote, now, gentlemen, my theory is against 343 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: your proofs, which you have often found a pretty even bet. 344 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: We have here something worth looking at. I was confident 345 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: that if we ever found beings in human shape, it 346 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: would be in this longitude, and that they would be 347 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: provided by their creator with some extraordinary powers of locomotion. 348 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: First exchange for my number D. And so when he 349 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: asked for that exchange for number D. That refers to 350 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: a lens that Herschel wanted to use to more carefully 351 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: examine the scene before him. So adjustments were quickly made 352 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: to the telescope and everything was refocused, and the team 353 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: then viewed three groups of these beings walking erect and 354 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: these new creatures were indeed similar to humans. After more 355 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: focusing and more adjustments, these creatures were brought into clear 356 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: focus and they appeared to be about four feet or 357 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: one point two meters tall. They had copper colored fur 358 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: all over their bodies except for on their faces, and 359 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: their wings were like bat wings. Their faces were described 360 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: as quote a slight improvement upon that of the large orangutan. 361 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: It's actually spelled in this as orangutang, which delights me. 362 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: And they're described as seeming more intelligent than the earth primate, 363 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: the orangutan. Yeah. These bat people also had beards and 364 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: darker hair on their heads than on the rest of 365 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: their bodies. One of Herschel's assistants is quoted in Grant's 366 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: account as saying, quote, they would look as well on 367 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: a parade ground as some of the old Cockney militia. 368 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: Herschel and his team observed these beings in what appeared 369 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: to be impassioned conversation, gesturing to one another, just like 370 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: human beings would. This species was named by Herschel as 371 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: Vespertilio Homo man bat, and the valley where they lived 372 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: was named the Ruby Coliseum. The New York's Sun omitted 373 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: some of the passages from the notes at the behest 374 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: of doctor Grant, who apparently felt like those elements were 375 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: best shared by Sir Herschel himself. The Sun indicated that 376 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: the omitted material does quote contain facts which would be 377 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: wholly incredible to readers who do not carefully examine the 378 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: principles and capacity of the instrument with which these marvelous 379 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: discoveries have been made. The newspaper also indicates that sort 380 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: of their editorial opinion that when the entirety of this 381 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: work is published by Herschel, it is going to be 382 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: quote at once the most sublime in science and the 383 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: most intense in general interest that ever issued from the press. 384 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: And that is where we now, will cliffhang you. The 385 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: second episode of this two parter is going to finish 386 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: off doctor Grant's accounts of what Herschel observed on the Moon, 387 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: and then we'll talk about how all of this was 388 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 1: received by the public and by other newspapers, and even 389 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: by Sir John Herschel himself. Yeah, there's plenty more, although 390 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: we've given you probably the juiciest of the actual fauna discoveries. 391 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 392 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 393 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook URL or something similar 394 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: during the course of the show, that may be obsolete now, 395 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: so here is our current contact information. We are at 396 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: History Podcasts at HowStuffWorks dot com, and then we're at 397 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: Missed in History. All over social media. That is our 398 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram. Thanks again 399 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: for listening. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 400 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: visit HowStuffWorks dot com.