History is fascinating, but not everything is as it seems. Throughout the centuries, major hoaxes and frauds have manipulated the perception of reality and deceived thousands of people. Get ready to learn about 5 big historical lies that few people know! First, the Piltdown Man . In 1912, fossils were found in England that supposedly proved the existence of a "missing link" in human evolution. For decades, the "Piltdown Man" was studied until, in 1953, it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax: a modern human skull combined with an orangutan jawbone. Another notable case is The Turk . In the 18th century, an automaton that played chess and defeated its opponents, including important figures of the time, caused a sensation. It was believed to be a marvel of engineering, but in fact, it was an ingenious fraud: a skilled human chess player was hidden inside the machine. We also have the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 . The "The Sun" newspaper in New York published a s...