The Howard Hughes literary hoax

The Howard Hughes literary hoax

In 1971, the publishing world was rocked by one of the biggest hoaxes in literary history – a fake autobiography of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Hughes was an aerospace engineer, film producer, record-breaking aviator and business tycoon, who’d built a $2 billion fortune to become one of the richest people in the world.

But for years he’d been living as a recluse, reportedly so terrified of catching a disease that he had almost no contact with the outside world.

That's why the publishers, McGraw Hill, were delighted when Clifford Irving, an American author, persuaded the billionaire to talk. They paid him a $750,000 advance.

But Irving had faked the entire manuscript, and after his scam was discovered, he was sentenced to jail. Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out how it happened.

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(Photo: Howard Hughes, 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

Spying On South Africa's Nuclear Bomb

Spying On South Africa's Nuclear Bomb

During the Apartheid period, the South African government began developing a secret nuclear programme, culminating in the construction of six nuclear bombs. Anti-Apartheid campaigner, Renfrew Christie, first became aware of this when he was conscripted into the South African Army. He later gained access to details of the nuclear programme and passed them onto the military wing of the African National Congress, ANC. In 1979 Christie was arrested and later tortured. He spoke to Olga Smirnova about his hunt for South Africa's nuclear weapons and his ordeal in jail. Photo: A restricted area sign close to the Koeberg nuclear power station, South Africa (Getty Images)

8 Feb 20189min

The Munich Air Disaster

The Munich Air Disaster

In February 1958, eight players from Manchester United’s famous “Busby Babes” team were among those killed in a plane crash at Munich airport. Goalkeeper Harry Gregg survived the disaster and went back into the wreckage several times to save lives. Simon Watts hears his story.Photo: Plane wreckage at Munich airport (AFP/Getty Images)

7 Feb 20188min

Women in Britain get the right to vote

Women in Britain get the right to vote

On 6th February 1918, women in Britain were given the right to vote for the first time. The campaign for women's suffrage had begun decades earlier. But it wasn't until the final months of the First World War that the British parliament relented and said property-owning women over the age of 30 could vote in a general election. It would take another ten years before women got parity with men. Louise Hidalgo has been listening back to the voices of the women activists known as suffragettes, and talks to politician Shirley Williams, the daughter of an early feminist.Picture: suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested outside Buckingham Palace, 1914 (Credit: Jimmy Sime/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

6 Feb 20188min

Bringing Nazi Leader Klaus Barbie To Justice

Bringing Nazi Leader Klaus Barbie To Justice

In February 1983 the man known as 'the butcher of Lyon' was extradited to France to face charges of murder and torture during World War Two. The former head of the Gestapo in Lyon was traced to South America by two Nazi-hunters, married couple Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. They have been telling their amazing story to Mike Lanchin.Photo: Klaus Barbie on his way to court in Lyon, France (AFP)

5 Feb 20188min

Banning The Belt

Banning The Belt

In February 1982 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Britain should end corporal punishment in state schools. The landmark decision came after a lawsuit launched by two mothers in Scotland. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Andrew Campbell, the son of one of the women behind the campaign. Photo: A school teacher holds a belt or Tawse, used for punishing pupils (Alamy)

2 Feb 20188min

The Roots of the Rohingya Crisis

The Roots of the Rohingya Crisis

In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims left their homes in Myanmar fleeing government persecution, in what the UN has called the world's fastest growing refugee crisis. Lucy Burns speaks to Rohingya historian and politician U Kyaw Min to explore the roots of the crisis - and a change in the Burmese citizenship laws in 1982 which left the Rohingyas essentially stateless.(Photo: Rohingya refugees walk near the no man's land area between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Palongkhali area next to Ukhia on October 19, 2017. Credit: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)

1 Feb 20188min

Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive

Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive

In January 1968, North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong guerrillas launched a huge surprise attack on towns, cities and military bases across South Vietnam. The American embassy and the Presidential Palace in Saigon was among the targets that were hit. The events had a profound impact on American public opinion and marked a turning point in the war. BBC reporter Julian Pettifer covered the battles in the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon. Photo: Julian Pettifer reporting under fire near the Presidential Palace in Saigon, 31st January 1968 (BBC)

31 Jan 20189min

The Bloody Sunday Shootings

The Bloody Sunday Shootings

On 30 January 1972 British troops opened fire on a civil rights march in Northern Ireland. Thirteen people were killed that day, which became known as Bloody Sunday. Tony Doherty was nine years old at the time. In 2012 he spoke to Mike Lanchin about his father and the events that changed his life forever.(Photo: Armed British troop grabs hold of protester by the hair. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

30 Jan 20189min

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