The Cardiff Giant: Discovered in 1869 in New York, this 10-foot-tall “petrified man” sparked national sensation, with preachers calling it a biblical giant. It was later revealed as a gypsum sculpture carved by sculptor George Hull and aged with acid and dirt to mimic antiquity. Hull, an atheist, created it to mock religious literalists who believed in Genesis’ Nephilim. Buried for a year before “discovery,” it fooled many until geologists identified it as modern stone. Exhibited as a curiosity, it earned its creators substantial profits. The Cardiff Giant became a landmark case of hoax as satire, exposing public gullibility and the clash between faith and emerging science.
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