How the great online toaster hoax was exposed
For more than a decade, a prankster spun a web of deception about the inventor of the electric toaster. His lies fooled newspapers, teachers and officials. Then a teenager flagged up something that everyone else had missed.
At the top of the page was a picture of a man with a pronounced quiff and long sideburns, gazing contemplatively into the distance - apparently a relic of the 19th Century, the photograph appeared to have been torn at the bottom. More than a dozen books, published in various languages, named him as the inventor of the toaster. And, until recently, even the Scottish government'sIn his supposed home country, MacMasters had become a folk hero of sorts.
- and included on a list along with 988 other apparently eligible contenders who had made significant contributions to science. I feel nervous about the possibility of falling prey to another prank. So I ask Alan to send me a photo of his passport, which he does. He is not lying: even if he lacks the voluminous quiff of his namesake, he really is Alan MacMasters .
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