Famous hoaxes that people still believe
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Famous Hoaxes That People Still Believe — Daily trivia Tuesday, March 17, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01What have scientific studies actually shown about goldfish memory, popularly thought to last seconds?
- AIt lasts about 30 seconds
- BIt can last weeks or even months
- CIt lasts exactly 7 seconds
- DIt lasts about 3 seconds
Show answer
It can last weeks or even months
It can last weeks or even months. Trained goldfish still remember tasks months later, so the 3-second memory is a myth.
Q 02Which legendary beast's most famous photo turned out to be a toy submarine fitted with a sculpted head?
- ABigfoot
- BThe Yeti
- CThe Chupacabra
- DThe Loch Ness Monster
Show answer
The Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster. Big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell staged the 'Surgeon's Photograph' as revenge after the Daily Mail ridiculed him over fake Nessie footprints.
Q 03What did two British pranksters confess to making over 200 of, using planks and rope?
- ACrop circles
- BFairy rings in forests
- CStone circle replicas
- DFake archaeological sites
Show answer
Crop circles
Doug Bower and Dave Chorley revealed they had been creating crop circles since 1978. To prove it, they made one in front of journalists; a "cereologist" declared it authentic before learning it was a hoax.
Q 04Which myth is British cartoonist James Gillray credited with popularising?
- AThat Queen Victoria never smiled
- BThat King Henry VIII had six fingers
- CThat Napoleon Bonaparte was unusually short
- DThat Julius Caesar was bald
Show answer
That Napoleon Bonaparte was unusually short
Gillray kept drawing him tiny, spreading the idea that Napoleon Bonaparte was unusually short, though at about 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) he was roughly average for his era.
Q 05What were the photographs faked by two Yorkshire cousins that fooled Arthur Conan Doyle called?
- AThe Yorkshire Spirits
- BThe Leeds Apparitions
- CThe Bradford Phantoms
- DThe Cottingley Fairies
Show answer
The Cottingley Fairies
The Cottingley Fairies. Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths photographed paper cut-outs copied from Princess Mary's Gift Book, propped up with hatpins, and Conan Doyle championed them in The Strand.
Q 06Why do historians say newspapers played up the panic over the 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast?
- ARadio had been siphoning advertising revenue away from print
- BEditors were lobbying Congress to break up the radio networks
- CNewspapers had been refused the rights to serialise the novel
- DOrson Welles had publicly ridiculed newspaper reporters
Show answer
Radio had been siphoning advertising revenue away from print
Radio had been siphoning advertising revenue away from print during the Depression, so papers hyped a panic far smaller than reported to paint radio as irresponsible.
Q 07What did the US Air Force's 1994 report say the Roswell debris really was?
- AAn experimental aircraft prototype
- BA Project Mogul surveillance balloon
- CA Soviet spy satellite
- DA crashed V-2 rocket from White Sands
Show answer
A Project Mogul surveillance balloon
A Project Mogul surveillance balloon, built to carry microphones listening for Soviet nuclear tests; the Air Force said the 'weather balloon' story had covered for the secret project.
Q 08What was the hoax in which George Hull buried a 10-foot gypsum statue on a New York farm called?
- AThe Petrified Giant of Rochester
- BThe Syracuse Colossus
- CThe Cardiff Giant
- DThe Albany Stone Man
Show answer
The Cardiff Giant
The Cardiff Giant was created after Hull lost an argument about Genesis 6:4 ("there were giants in the earth"). He spent $2,600 to have the statue carved and buried, then arranged for workers to "discover" it nearly a year later.
Q 09Which Chinese astronaut in 2003 debunked the claim that the Great Wall is visible from space?
- AYang Liwei
- BNie Haisheng
- CJing Haipeng
- DZhai Zhigang
Show answer
Yang Liwei
Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, confirmed after his spaceflight that the Great Wall was not visible from orbit. The myth dates back to at least 1754, long before anyone had actually been to space.
Q 10Which self-help book's preface popularised the myth that humans use only 10% of their brains?
- AThink and Grow Rich
- BHow to Win Friends and Influence People
- CThe Power of Positive Thinking
- DAs a Man Thinketh
Show answer
How to Win Friends and Influence People
How to Win Friends and Influence People. Lowell Thomas's preface credited William James with the 10% figure, but James had only said we use a small part of our possible mental resources.
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