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BBC World Service
The 'Alan MacMasters’ toaster hoax
26 minutes Posted Nov 19, 2022 at 5:30 am.
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For more than a decade, he tricked the world into believing a Scottish scientist called Alan MacMasters invented the electric toaster in 1893. At the heart of this web of fantasy was a Wikipedia article that fooled dozens of journalists, public officials, and even primary school teachers. But how did this hoaxer get away with it for so long? And how did an eagle-eyed 15-year-old eventually manage to expose his deception?

Presenter: Marco Silva

Editor: Flora Carmichael