Mary Bateman

Poisoner and thief whose most audacious hoax was The Prophet Hen of Leeds.

Mary Toft

English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits.

Hammersmith Ghost

Early 19th-century hoax that reinforced the standard white-sheeted ghost look, and set a legal precedent for self-defence.

Predictions of Isaac Bickerstaff

Pseudonym used by the satirist Jonathan Swift in a hoax predicting the “infallible” death of John Partridge, a well-known 18th-century astrologer and almanac maker, on 29 March 1708.

The Bottle Conjuror

18th-century hoax featuring an acrobat inserting his body into an empty wine bottle.

Cock Lane ghost

Purported haunting that attracted mass public attention in 1762.

Kosmoid

Group of three companies set up by Glasgow doctor Alexander Shiels in 1904: Kosmoid Ltd, Kosmoid Locks Ltd, and Kosmoid Tubes Ltd.

Holy Maid of Leominster

Known only as Elizabeth, she was installed in the rood loft above the chancel of the priory of Leominster, in Hereford, by its prior in the late 15th or early 16th century.