The Great Moon Hoax

1835 The New York Sun perpetrated The Great Moon Hoax.

The articles were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel (1792 - 1871), perhaps the best-known astronomer of his day (and nephew of Caroline Herschel).

The headline read:

GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES
LATELY MADEBY SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, L.L.D. F.R.S. &c.

At the Cape of Good Hope