It's a Hoax! Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Cottingley Fairies

Elsie was born in 1901 and Frances in 1907. Elsie was a gifted watercolour artist who attended Bradford Art College. She worked in a photographic laboratory during World War I. She was just 16 years old when she took the first two photos depicting her younger cousin surrounded by fairies. It was not until 1981 that both women admitted the fairies were a hoax using cardboard cutouts.

Answer: Milli Vanilli

German music producer, Frank Farian, came up with the idea of Milli Vanilli. He recruited Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus to front the group but they did not sing the vocals. In 1990, Milli Vanilli won a 'Grammy' Award for Best New Artist, but this was withdrawn when it was discovered the duo were lip synching. Lawsuits were filed against Pilatus, Morvan and Arista Records, with approximately 10 million people eligible to claim back a refund.

Answer: Alien Autopsy

Santilli claimed he had obtained footage of an alien autopsy. The film was supposedly bought for $100,000 from a retired military cameraman who was asked to film the autopsy 40 years previously. The 17 minute film, in black and white, shows an extraterrestrial being cut open on an operating table. The film had actually been shot inside a London apartment.

Answer: The Bolero

The 'Feejee Mermaid' was supposedly caught in the South Pacific. In fact it had the upper body of an ape sewn on to the lower body of a fish. Two dwarves, Charles Sherwood Stratton (Tom Thumb) and Lavinia Warren often posed with a baby when they toured with the circus. When the baby grew too large, it was replaced with a smaller one. Joice Heth was put on display as the 161 year old former nurse of George Washington. Barnum was credited with saying "There's a sucker born every minute".

Answer: Euro Disney

The Eiffel Tower was due to be reconstructed at Euro Disney. A 35,000 seat stadium was to be built where the tower originally stood in the Champ de Mars, Paris. Another hoax also took place to celebrate the Eiffel Tower's 120th anniversary in 2009. Designers were asked to redesign the top of the Eiffel by building an extension.

Answer: Piltdown Man

Fragments of skull and bones were discovered in a gravel pit by Charles Dawson. Various tests were carried out on the 'fossilised' remains, and it was given the Latin name 'Eoanthropus dawsoni'. It would take another 40 years before it was discovered that the remains were a hoax. They were little more than the skull of a modern human and the jawbone of an orang-utan.

Answer: Loch Ness monster

Many sightings of the Loch Ness monster have been reported, the more so after a road was built to the Scottish loch in 1933. Research and sonar studies have been carried out to locate the monster without any success. The photograph taken by gynaecologist, Colonel Robert Wilson, was in fact a toy submarine disguised to look like the monster. The hoax was revealed in 1994.

Answer: The Cardiff Giant

Hull, who was an atheist, had an argument with a minister, Mr Turk. The minister claimed that giants once lived on earth, according to Genesis 6.4. Hull spent $2,600 on creating the 'Cardiff Giant' and various treatments were used to make it look old and weathered. When the giant was 'discovered' in 1869, people paid up to 50 cents to view it. Hull eventually sold his share for $37,500.

Answer: Spaghetti

This hoax was shown on the news programme 'Panorama', which was presented by Richard Dimbleby. After the programme was aired, hundreds of people rang in to ask how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. The hoax was thought up by BBC cameraman, Charles de Jaeger, and he was assisted on location by the Swiss Tourist Office.

Answer: The clock would go digital

Other April Fool jokes which turned out to be hoaxes included Burger King introducing a 'left handed Whopper' in 1998. In the 1950's, reports were made by a Dutch television company that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. In 2008, there were sightings of a newly discovered colony of flying penguins on their way to the Amazon rainforests.