George Psalmanazar invents Formosa

1704

A fair-haired European of unknown origin arrived in London in 1703 posing as a native of Formosa (Taiwan), and in 1704 published 'An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa'. The book was entirely fabricated, complete with an invented alphabet, calendar and accounts of ritual cannibalism, and it went through multiple editions. As genuine reports of Formosa reached Europe his claims collapsed, and he confessed around 1706, first to friends and later publicly.