The Great Moon Hoax on This Day in History

This day in history: The first Great Moon Hoax article is published in The New York Sun on this day in 1835, announcing the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon.

The "Great Moon Hoax", also known as the "Great Moon Hoax of 1835", was a series of six articles published in The Sun, a New York newspaper, beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, one of the best-known astronomers of that time, and his fictitious companion Andrew Grant.

The articles described animals on the Moon, including bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids ("Vespertilio-homo") who built temples. There were trees, oceans and beaches. These discoveries were supposedly made with "an immense telescope of an entirely new principle".

Authorship of the article has been attributed to Richard Adams Locke (1800–1871), a reporter who, in August 1835, was working for The Sun. Edgar Allan Poe claimed the story was a plagiarism of his earlier work "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall". His editor at the time was Locke. He later published "The Balloon-Hoax" in the same newspaper.

Poe had published his own Moon hoax in late June 1835, two months before the similar Locke Moon hoax, in the Southern Literary Messenger entitled "Hans Phaall – A Tale", later republished as "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall". The story was reprinted in the New York Transcript on September 2–5, 1835, under the headline "Lunar Discoveries, Extraordinary Aerial Voyage by Baron Hans Pfaall".

Poe described a voyage to the Moon in a balloon, in which Pfaall lives for five years on the Moon with lunarians and sends back a lunarian to earth. The Poe Moon hoax was less successful because of the satiric and comical tone of the account. Locke was able to upstage Poe and to steal his thunder. 

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Colonel Tom Parker on This Day in History

This day in History: Colonel Tom Parker was born on this day in 1909. Thomas Andrew Parker, commonly known as Colonel Parker, was a musical entrepreneur, best known for being Elvis Presley's manager.

Born in the Netherlands, Parker entered the United States illegally when he was 20 years old. He adopted a new name and claimed to have been born in the United States. A carnival worker by background, Parker moved into music promotion in 1938, working with one of the first popular crooners, Gene Austin, and then country music singers Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, and Tommy Sands. He also assisted Jimmie Davis' campaign to become governor of Louisiana. As a reward, Davis gave him the honorary rank of "colonel" in the Louisiana State Militia.

Parker encountered Presley in 1955, and by 1956 had become his primary representative. With Parker's help, Presley signed a recording contract with RCA Victor, leading to his commercial breakthrough in 1956 with his sixth single "Heartbreak Hotel" and propelling him to become one of the most popular and commercially successful entertainers in the world.

"Parker is hated by the fans because he got 25%, then 50%, of Elvis’ income. But he brought Elvis to the attention of his audience. He gave Elvis the venue that made Elvis into an icon. There was no indication that Elvis would escape the country music circuit until Parker took over as manager in September, 1955." Source

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