Episode 26- 'Old Hoaxy': The Tale of George Hull & The Cardiff Giant

On October 16, 1869, two men digging a well for a farmer in Cardiff, New York would make a shocking discovery when their shovels hit something hard in the in dirt. They would uncover what appeared to be a giant petrified man, lying naked in the ground. News of the discovery would enthrall the nation, bringing visitors from all around to see the spectacle, but experts would soon uncover the truth of the giant. This is the tale of how the 'villainous' George Hull, a man from Binghamton, NY created a hoax that has been dubbed "The Greatest Hoax in United State History". 

George Hull crafted the idea for the Cardiff Giant after getting in an argument with a traveling Revivalist Minister named Harry Turk regarding the fourth verse in the sixth chapter of Genesis, where Turk took the side of the literal interpretation of “There were giants in the earth in those days” and George took the opposite approach. George, an atheist, loved getting into religious debates everywhere he went with anyone who would listen to him. The Cardiff Giant was crafted from a large piece of gypsum by two sculptors in Chicago and cost George about $2,600. It was taken by train from Chicago to the Town of Union in New York, before being moved by wagon to the farm of Willaim "Stub" Newll, Hull's cousin and buried to be 'discovered' about a year later. 

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