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.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

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

Avsnitt(2000)

World War One: The Red Baron

World War One: The Red Baron

Using archive BBC recordings of veterans, we tell the story of one of the most famous figures of World War One. The legendary German air ace Baron von Richthofen who was killed in April 1918. Photo: German First World War air ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, with a comrade in front of his famous red tri-plane. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

23 Apr 20189min

Earth Day

Earth Day

On April the 22 1970, 20 million Americans came out on to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in the first so-called Earth Day. Mass rallies were held to highlight concerns about pollution and the destruction of America's natural heritage. Some see it as the birth of the modern environmental movement. Farhana Haider spoke to Denis Hayes, the organiser of that first Earth Day. Photo credit: Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images

20 Apr 20189min

The Last Keeper of the Light

The Last Keeper of the Light

The lighthouse on Skellig Michael off the south west coast of Ireland was continuously occupied by lighthouse keepers for more than 150 years until its automation 1987. Skellig Michael has now become a tourist attraction since its ancient monastery was used as a location in recent Star Wars films. The last keeper of the light there was Richard Foran who has been speaking to Catherine Harvey about life on the remote island. Photo: The lighthouses on Skellig Michael. Credit: Alamy

19 Apr 20189min

Rebuilding the Site of the Twin Towers

Rebuilding the Site of the Twin Towers

After the September 11th attacks brought down the Twin Towers, reconstruction began at the devastated area in New York in April 2006. Rachael Gillman spoke to TJ Gottesdiener, who was a managing partner at the architecture firm tasked with designing a new skyscraper on the site.(Photo credit: Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images)

17 Apr 20189min

World War One: Germany's Spring Offensive 1918

World War One: Germany's Spring Offensive 1918

In early 1918, Germany launched a huge offensive on the Western Front in a last great gamble to win the war. Following Russia's withdrawal from the war, Germany could move up to a million soldiers from the Eastern Front to the West to launch a decisive attack. Their plan was to break through British and French lines and force an end to the war, before American power could bolster the Allied cause. They came close to succeeding. Using recordings from the BBC Archive, we hear from German and British soldiers who faced each other in the spring of 1918. Photo: German troops advance in the sector near Villers-Bretonneux during Germany's Spring Offensive 1918. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

16 Apr 20189min

The Shooting of Rudi Dutschke

The Shooting of Rudi Dutschke

In 1968 Europe was rocked by student demonstrations calling for a revolution. In West Berlin the protests intensified following the shooting of student leader Rudi Dutschke on April 11th 1968. He would become a symbol for a generation of young Germans. In 2013 Lucy Burns spoke to his widow Gretchen Klotz-Dutschke about the attack. (Image: Gretchen Klotz-Dutschke(L) Rudi Dutschke(R) Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

13 Apr 20188min

The Soviet Spy Scandal

The Soviet Spy Scandal

In 1971 during the Cold War, the UK expelled 90 Soviet diplomats suspected of spying. They'd been allowed into Britain in an attempt to improve relations, but it had been discovered that they'd been carrying out espionage instead. George Walden was a young diplomat on the Soviet desk in the British Foreign Office at the time. Photo: British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home (left) shakes hands with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko (right) at Heathrow Airport, 26th October 1970. (credit: Ian Showell/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

12 Apr 20188min

The Zimbabwe Massacres

The Zimbabwe Massacres

In 1983 Robert Mugabe’s government sent crack troops to put down opposition supporters in western Zimbabwe. The soldiers were nicknamed the Gukurahundi which means 'the wind that blows away the chaff'. Trained by North Koreans, they were zealous in their support for Mugabe and utterly ruthless in their methods. Thousands were killed and many were tortured. For years people were fearful of speaking out. One survivor has been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like.Photo: Robert Mugabe. Credit: Getty Images.

10 Apr 20189min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
mardromsgasten
en-mork-historia
aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
rattsfallen
p3-dokumentar
badfluence
killradet
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
aterforeningen-en-podcast-med-thorsten-och-richard-flinck-av-sigge-eklund
nemo-moter-en-van
skaringer-nessvold
blenda-2
flashback-forever
kod-katastrof
larm-vi-minns
p3-historia
historiska-brott
hor-har