Podcasts about Gregor MacGregor

This week we delve into two stories from the history books filed under "The Early 1800s Ridiculous Scams" . First up is the Blanc brothers who used the first telecommunications system to commit the first telecommunications fraud. Then we dive into the truly awful story of Gregor MacGregor who duped all of Europe into buying into a fake South American country.

Leila Johnston and Fraser Allen are back to take you behind the scenes at the Library of Mistakes. And in this packed episode we...•Hear from theatre director and actor Liam Rees about his show The Land That Never Was. It's based on the adventures of 19th century Scottish conman Gregor MacGregor, who sold bonds on behalf of a South American country that was a figment of his imagination!•Explore what happened at the Weekend of Mistakes in Hay-on-Wye (including clips from speakers).•Chat to the team behind Leavers' Money Skills, helping Scottish school-leavers to cope with the life of finance ahead of them.•And our Librarian Helen Williams discusses our books on Russia, Putin and Trump!If you have any feedback, ideas or can name the song briefly alluded to at the end of this episode (and the band that originally sung it) – you could win a Library of Mistakes mug! – simply email fraser@libraryofmistakes.com or leila@libraryofmistakes.com

Per approfondire gli argomenti della puntata: Pillola sulla colonizzazione del Darien scozzese : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCMlu57Se9M&ab_channel=LaBibliotecadiAlessandria Le puntate dedicate alle Grandi Truffe della storia : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZV0Wc8GnI8&list=PLpMrMjMIcOkkm4I7ttcQHPxPmfFux3Fi4&index=1&ab_channel=LaBibliotecadiAlessandria Altre pillole dall'età contemporanea : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfSB5rwk8to&list=PLpMrMjMIcOklAamXwkzlub85zjR3Eh74B&index=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 19th century, Scottish scammer Gregor MacGregor made a fortune selling land in Poyais. The only problem? Poyais never existed. Jeff and Anthony step through the history of this nortious fraudster, and try to resist parallels to modern American liars.Link to this week's article: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gregor-macgregor-map-of-poyaisSupport the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcernsJeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannataAnthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboniIf you've seen a story you think belongs on the show, share it on the Discord, send it to wehaveconcernsshow@gmail.com or leave it on the subreddit: http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcerns

Uncover the wild tale of Gregor MacGregor, history's greatest conman, who sold a fake country to unsuspecting investors. Lies, ambition, and disaster—this story has it all. Listen now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I detta avsnitt dyker vi ner i ett av historiens mest bisarra och häpnadsväckande bedrägerier: berättelsen om Gregor MacGregor – mannen som sålde ett land som inte ens fanns! På tidigt 1800-tal lyckades MacGregor, med sin charm och ett par kreativa kartor, övertyga hundratals människor att lämna sina hem i Storbritannien för att skapa ett nytt liv i det tropiska paradiset Poyais. Problemet? Poyais existerade bara i hans egen fantasi. Med löften om rikedomar och obegränsade möjligheter lurade han sina offer rakt in i en dödlig fälla. Hur gick det till? Och hur lyckades han komma undan med ett av historiens största koloniala bluffar? Lyssna när vi utforskar MacGregors falska kungarike och konsekvenserna för de som satte sin tro – och sina liv – i hans händer. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of Gregor MacGregor has to top them all. 

VISITÁ NUESTRA WEB: https://www.historiaenpodcast.com.ar/ Hoy hablaremos de la historia de Gregor MacGregor, un estafador inglés que tuvo la idea de inventar en Estado, Poyais, para estafar a sus coterráneos. ¿Hasta dónde llegará la inventiva fraudulenta de este personaje? Descubrila en este episodio...

This week, Iain tells the story of Gregor MacGregor, a 19th-century trickster who took con artistry to a whole new level. In 1820, Gregor invented his own country – complete with a national flag and even a currency – and managed to convince hundreds of British people to uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away, under the false pretence of a prosperous new life in South America.Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk.

Send us a Text Message.Gregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and con man who invented a Central American country called “Poyais,” in 1820 which he claimed to rule as the “Cazique.” MacGregor attempted to draw British and French investors and settlers to his fictional country. Hundreds invested in Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country. MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.Patrick's Books:Statistics For The Trading Floor:  https://amzn.to/3eerLA0Derivatives For The Trading Floor:  https://amzn.to/3cjsyPFCorporate Finance:  https://amzn.to/3fn3rvCPatreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/PatrickBoyleOnFinanceBuy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/patrickboyleVisit our website: www.onfinance.orgFollow Patrick on Twitter Here: https://twitter.com/PatrickEBoylePatrick Boyle on YouTubeThe Land That Never Was By David Sinclair: https://amzn.to/4eVC3ED Support the Show.

One of the most audacious scams in history took place in the early 19th century in Britain.  A man sold thousands of people a dream of land in the New World. His claims attracted large investments, encouraged hundreds of people to move around the world, and even suckered in members of the royal family.  However, his promises were empty, and in the end, shiploads of people were stranded in the middle of nowhere, and many people lost their life savings.  Learn more about Gregor MacGregor and one of the biggest scams in history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Available nationally, look for a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond at your local store. Find out more at heavenhilldistillery.com/hh-bottled-in-bond.php Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month. Use the code EverythingEverywhere for a 20% discount on a subscription at Newspapers.com. Visit meminto.com and get 15% off with code EED15.  Listen to Expedition Unknown wherever you get your podcasts.  Get started with a $13 trial set for just $3 at harrys.com/EVERYTHING. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 206 is loose, and we have the tale of one of the boldest confidence tricks in history!Who was Gregor MacGregor? Where was the wonderous land of Poyais? And how many medals can a man wear and still walk?The secret ingredient is...the island of Curaçao!Sources this week inclue:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_MacGregorallthatsinteresting.com/gregor-macgregorwww.historytoday.com/miscellanies/gregor-macgregor-prince-poyaiswww.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Gregor-MacGregor-Prince-Of-Poyais/Get cocktails, poisoning stories and historical true crime tales every week by following and subscribing to The Poisoners' Cabinet wherever your get your podcasts.Listen to the Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and find us on Acast: https://shows.acast.com/thepoisonerscabinet Join us Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepoisonerscabinetFind us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepoisonerscabinetFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoisonerscabinet/Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePoisonersCabinetListen on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePoisonersCabinet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Loreboys meet the audacious Scottish con man "Sir" Gregor MacGregor. Calling himself the Cazique of Poyais, this charismatic ex-soldier is the mastermind behind a debacle that will make Fyre Island look like Centre Parcs. He's selling land and government bonds belonging to the Central American kingdom of Poyais. The big problem being: Poyais doesn't exist. The year is 1823, and this South Sea bubble is going to pop. Around 170 victims of the scam will die. But will Scotland's biggest hoaxter get off Scot free? (Yes.) Join us for another Loremen Live in Oxford on 25th May: https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/loremen-podccast/ This episode was edited by Joseph Burrows - Audio Editor. LoreBoys nether say die! Support the Loremen here (and get stuff): patreon.com/loremenpod ko-fi.com/loremen Check the sweet, sweet merch here... https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631 @loremenpod youtube.com/loremenpodcast www.instagram.com/loremenpod www.facebook.com/loremenpod

Ein traumhafter Ort muss dieses Fürstentum Poyais in Mittelamerika sein: Fruchtbares Land und angenehmes Klima bietet es ebenso wie komfortable Häuser, prachtvolle Boulevards, ein Theater und ein Opernhaus. Jeder kann dort zu Wohlstand kommen, zumal es kaum Steuern zu zahlen gilt. Allein: Poyais ist eine Erfindung des schottischen Hochstaplers Gregor MacGregor. Und für die Menschen, die seiner Lüge glauben und dort 1823 eintreffen, wird sein Fantasiereich zur tödlichen Falle.Redaktion+Host: Insa Bethke/GEO EPOCHE Gast: Oliver FischerSprecher: Peter KaempfeProduktion: Lia Wittfeld/Audio AllianceBITTE BEACHTEN: Auf RTL+ ist alle zwei Wochen eine neue Folge von "Verbrechen der Vergangenheit" zu hören, auf anderen Plattformen erscheint der Podcast 14 Tage später.Wer uns folgen möchte: GEO Epoche ist auf Instagram (@geo_epoche), Facebook (@geoepoche) und X (@GeoEpoche).AKTION: Hörerinnen und Hörer dieses Podcasts können unterwww.geo-epoche.de/podcast kostenlos ein eBook aus unserem Heft "Verbrechen der Vergangenheit" herunterladen.Außerdem können Sie unter www.geo-epoche.de/angebot ein GEO EPOCHE-Magazin inkl. der digitalen GEO EPOCHE-Ausgabe im Abonnement gratis lesen.Unsere allgemeinen Datenschutzrichtlinien finden Sie unter https://datenschutz.ad-alliance.de/podcast.htmlUnsere allgemeinen Datenschutzrichtlinien finden Sie unter https://art19.com/privacy. Die Datenschutzrichtlinien für Kalifornien sind unter https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info abrufbar.

Aj continues the story of the christmas eve legend Gregor MacGregor. This dude caused the 1825 Panic and pulled a nation to its' knees (in a bad way).   Pointsopressure.com Patreon Follow us on Instagram for BTS and more! @pointsopressure  Subscribe to our Youtube channel!

Well, apparently all we're going to do are "stone-based historical scams" on these Extended Sidebar episodes... anyway, this hoax came up waaaaay back in our first season during the research for the Gregor MacGregor episodes. Join us as we talk about the Ica Stones, a hoax involving ancient Incans, Aliens, Dinosaurs, and the creative use of chickens. Enjoy!

Salutations, Queerdos! Hope you're soaking up these last drops of summer--we've got a hot pair of stories for your ears this week. First, in our True Crime Story, Edie tells us about a Scottish shithead who failed upwards his whole got-danged life, leaving a pile of bodies in his wake. (Sound familiar, Donny boy?) Next, in our Spoopy Tale, Miss takes us to Cryptid Corner to talk about a furry li'l guy who hunts apples around Amish country: The Albatwitch! So polish your military medals, brush out your chimpanzee-like fur, and get ready for this week's show. Let's dive in! True Crime Story Starts @ 00:13:25 Spoopy Story Starts @ 01:12:09 Source notes: www.creepyinqueeriespod.com Follow on Instagram: @CreepyInQueeriesPod Send Us an Email: creepyinqueeriespod@gmail.com Listen on Youtube: Creepy InQueeries Pod Follow on Facebook: @CreepyInQueeriesPod

Discover the unbelievable true story of Gregor MacGregor, a man who fought in wars, married into wealthy families, and became renowned as one of history's most notorious con men. Learn how he deceived the world and the incredible exploits that defined his infamous life. #GregorMacGregor #conman #scam #weirdhistory #notoriousconartists #18thcentury #historicalfraud #warhero #wealthyfamilies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the final episode of our season on grifts and grafts here on Criminalia, where we've been exploring the stories of some of the most notorious swindles and swindlers throughout history. And, of course there were plenty of cocktails and mocktails to go around, too. Listen as Holly and Maria continue their tradition, highlighting their Top 3 shows and favorite drinks of the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poyais: a magical place, and the picture of Caribbean paradise. And according to Scottish swindler Gregor MacGregor, it could all be yours … if you invested in his land, Poyais. In the early 19th century, MacGregor invented his own country, and then conned investors into buying the bonds of a country that did not exist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(NOTAS Y ENLACES DEL CAPÍTULO AQUÍ: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/kaizen/152-burbujas-i-fraudes-confianza-y-paises-imaginarios/)Hace mucho tiempo, allá por el capítulo 52 de kaizen, hablamos de la irracionalidad. Lo hicimos en el contexto de la pandemia y de las distintas fases en la respuesta a la misma. Hoy vamos a volver al tema, al de la irracionalidad, pero sin pandemia esta vez. Y lo vamos a hacer para hablar de otra maravillosa manifestación de nuestra irracionalidad colectiva: las burbujas, a las que vamos a dedicar dos capítulos. Aunque antes, eso sí, vamos a empezar con una de las mejores historias que he escuchado en mucho tiempo. Su protagonista es alguien de quien lo más normal es que no hayas oído hablar nunca: un tipo llamado Gregor MacGregor. No, no es el macarra ése de las artes marciales mixtas. Aunque lo mismo fue su tataratatara-abuelo o algo así. A diferencia de él, nuestro MacGregor era escocés y vivió en el siglo XIX. Entró en la armada británica con sólo 16 años, la edad más joven a la que se permitía por entonces, y ascendió rápido. Apenas un año después era ya teniente, algo que habitualmente se tardaba unos tres años en conseguir. Y poco después se casó con la hija de un almirante, que tenía una importante fortuna, y que era además pariente de dos generales y de un miembro del parlamento británico. Apenas un par de meses después de casarse, MacGregor volvió a Gibraltar, donde estaba destinado, y compró el rango de capitán. Por aquella época se podía pagar y evitarte los 7 años que habitualmente costaba alcanzarlo por méritos. Como tal vez hayas empezado a intuir, nuestro amigo escocés tenía una especie de obsesión por los rangos y las medallas, y por tomar atajos en la vida en general, algo que le hizo muy poco popular entre los soldados. De hecho, tras luchar contra los franceses en Gibraltar y en Portugal, tuvo un enfrentamiento con un superior que hizo que le invitaran amablemente a dejar el ejército. Quiso la casualidad que, ya sin él, su batallón tuviera una participación muy destacada contra los franceses y se ganara una enorme reputación. Reputación que el propio MacGregor decidió aprovechar de vuelta en Inglaterra. Se paseaba por Edimburgo haciéndose llamar Coronel o Sir y lo hacía en los carruajes más llamativos que podía; pero allí le conocía todo el mundo y la cosa no colaba mucho. Así que se mudó con su familia a Londres donde con estas mentiras consiguió ganar cierto status.Sin embargo, para su desgracia y especialmente la de su mujer ambos perdieron algo en 1811: ella la vida y él su principal fuente de ingresos y de influencias, que era ella. Y justo cuando parecía que los sueños de grandeza de MacGregor se esfumaban definitivamente, la casualidad volvió a ponerse de su lado y quiso que conociera en Londres a Francisco de Miranda, un general revolucionario venezolano, que luchó en mil batallas. Participó en la independencia de Estados Unidos, la Revolución Francesa y en la independencia de la propia Venezuela. Viendo como el tal Miranda era recibido con todos los honores y halagos, MacGregor tuvo una idea: se iría a América a combatir y ganar fama. Así es como nuestro protagonista llegó a Venezuela, como llegaba a todas partes: presumiendo de cosas. Contó que conocía a Miranda, se hizo pasar por Sir y exageró sus logros militares en Portugal. Todo ello le valió el cargo de coronel y que el gobierno Venezolano pusiera un batallón a su mando. Estuvo cuatro años peleando contra los españoles y al parecer se ganó una fama por fin merecida. Sin embargo, sus últimas misiones no salieron tan bien y en 1820 acabó llegando con un puñado de mercenarios a la Costa de Mosquitos, unas tierras entre Nicaragua y Honduras que, como su nombre insinúa, no eran especialmente acogedoras. De hecho, en el siglo XVIII se habían ido de allí la mayoría de los colonos europeos debido a la insalubridad de la zona y su escaso valor económico. Para cuando llegó MacGregor únicamente quedaban unos pocos nativos. Y aquí es en realidad cuando empieza la verdadera historia de Gregor MacGregor y la de un país que nunca existió. Bienvenidos a Poyais.

El 22 de enero de 1823, el escocés Gregor MacGregor engañó a casi 300 paisanos haciéndoles creen que viajaban al paraíso, a descubrir el reino de Poyais.

El 22 de enero de 1823, el escocés Gregor MacGregor engañó a casi 300 paisanos haciéndoles creen que viajaban al paraíso, a descubrir el reino de Poyais.

El 22 de enero de 1823, el escocés Gregor MacGregor engañó a casi 300 paisanos haciéndoles creen que viajaban al paraíso, a descubrir el reino de Poyais.

En los libros charlamos con dos diseñadores de portadas,  Donna Salama y Miguel Sánchez Lindo. Nieves Concostrina nos descubre al escocés Gregor MacGregor, que engañó a casi 300 personas haciéndoles creer que viajaban al paraíso, cuando en realidad iban al infierno, esto ocurrió un  22 de enero de 1823. Terminamos con Lo que queda de día con Isaías Lafuente

Snek oil, apply directly to the forehead! Snek oil, apply directly for the forehead! That's our interpretation of what an 1800s commercial for snake oil would sound like. And don't get it confused with the very real and highly effective Chinese folk medicine! Learn the origins of the snake oil idiom with Kat, then learn about our next conman of the week: Gregor MacGregor! The “Prince of Poyais” conned his way into the Mosquito Coast, and it's worse than it sounds! https://linktr.ee/NightClassy Add us on BeReal @katjawinterb and @hollysancha! (and @tadturbo for alec) Produced by Parasaur Studios © 2023

Aquesta setmana volem destacar les vides de James Hunt i en Gregor MacGregor, dos brit

Programa 3x72. Us advertim que si encara no heu escoltat el cap

Wirtschafts- und Finanzbetrüger gibt es schon so lange, wie Menschen Handel treiben. In den Steinzeit-Höhlen, im alten Ägypten, in Rom, in Griechenland – über alle Epochen hinweg. Und immer wieder ist es gelungen, oder wurde es zumindest versucht, Menschen über den Tisch zu ziehen und sich an ihnen zu bereichern. Oder Werte zu unterschlagen. Wir können dafür tausende Jahre zurückblicken. Sobald es Gewichte und Maßeinheiten gab, wurde versucht, diese zu fälschen. Sobald es Wertgegenstände gab und ärmere wie reichere Menschen, entstand der Wucher. Begonnen hat es mit dem Tausch von Erzen. Und Überlieferungen von Bestrafungen zeugen schon aus vorbiblischen Zeiten davon, dass die Gier oft stärker war als die Angst vor den Konsequenzen. Entsprechende Gesetze kannte man schon im alten Ägypten. Gregor MacGregor, der selbsternannte „Cazique von Poyais“ – der Fürst eines fiktiven Fürstentums. Er schafft es in den 20er-Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts die Mundpropaganda über ein traumhaftes Fürstentum in Mittelamerika, Poyais, in Gang zu bringen. Ein Paradies für alle diejenigen, die sich tausende Kilometer von Großbritannien entfernt eine lukrative neue Existenz aufbauen wollen. McGregor verfasste und veröffentlichte dafür eigens einen über 300 Seiten umfassenden Reiseführer, machte mit Zeitungsanzeigen und Flyern jede Menge Öffentlichkeitsarbeit für Poyais, bevor er dann in die Landvermarktung einstieg. Zuvor hatte er in London sogar eine angebliche Botschaft eröffnet. Fast 200 hoffnungsvolle Menschen verkauften ihr Hab und Gut und erwarben bei ihm, dem schillernden Fürsten dieses Paradies, Grundstücke und zusätzlich tauschten sie ihr restliches Vermögen in die ebenfalls fiktive Währung des Fürstentums, den „Poyais-Dollar“. McGregor organisierte eine Schifffahrt für die Auswanderer und im Januar 1823 stach die „Kennersley Castle“ in See. Fast zwei Monate sollte die Seereise ins Paradies dauern. Dann kam das böse Erwachen. Ein Drama für die armen Opfer, aber ein Paradebeispiel dafür, wie gut Betrug funktioniert, wenn man ihn mit vertrauensbildenden Maßnahmen flankiert.

Join Snaxton and Goose as they discuss Gregor MacGregor and the paradise island of Poyais and quack prostate doctor John R. Brinkley in this weeks episode of Cons & Frauds. Make sure to rate/download, comment, and subscribe.

Seamus shares the crazy life of the notorious Gregor MacGregor to Barry, John and Martin. Plus further Shenanigans ensue! 

     In this episode of TS2M, the guys discuss some of the ins and outs of scammers, hustlers, con artists, and just outright douchebags.  We want nothing to do with any extended warranties, either!Support the show

Join us today for the first episode of season three about the crazy life of one of the greatest con artists in history. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Justin's back for a double header as the WITI boys take a walk through South American history and cover a real Venezuelan's Scotsman, and Collin has strong swinging opinions about everything. Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/worst-in-the-industry/3bb335bf-93ee-46ad-addd-79bd4b8f7468

This week we conclude our examination of Gregor Macgregor and his misdeeds. We also explore Western Sky financial, superimmunity and more. Enjoy!

No, not that MacGregor. This week we start our two-episode foray into all-time huckster, Gregor MacGregor. We also discuss Casey Anthony, the lootbox mechanics of the Napoleonic wars, the Donda look with the Yeezybottoms, and the Jamaican bobsled team. Enjoy.

Throughout the ages, con artists have successfully convinced people to buy into fake businesses, fake social or political movements, even fake identities. But it took a truly confident trickster, a brazen Scotsman, to fool people into sinking their life savings into a completely fake country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 STAR CITY! Patch and Matt are joined by Gregor MacGregor to walk through the 5 nil victory against Hull.

En este Corito Histórico, los muchachos Javier Lara (en Twitter @vzla_apesta) y Doriann Márquez (en Twitter @Hostioso0294) nos traen la vida de la revolución haitiana, y gran amigo de la causa libertadora americana, Alexandre Petión. Desde sus orígenes como orfebre en la colonia de Saint Domingue, su implicación en los combates de la Revolución Haitiana, su exilio en Francia, su vuelta como expedicioniario de las tropas de Napoleón a su país, su cambio de bando tras la decepción con las autoridades nuevas, hasta la independencia de la nación consolidando a Dessailines como nuevo líder de esta. También se muestra como tras el asesinato de Dessalines diseña una nueva constitución para darle el poder a Henri Cristophe, hasta que este es destituido, y por tanto debe tomar el poder, haciéndose cargo de este, dedicándose a la educación en su nación, y en especial al auxilio de los patriotas americanos luchando contra su metrópoli. Ayudando así con apoyo monetario, de armas y hasta de consejo a patriotas que van desde Bolívar, pasando por Bermúdez, Aury, Manuel Dorrego, Gregor MacGregor, entre otros de forma desinteresada, por puro amor a la causa de la libertad. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coritohistorico/message

People used to say "If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you," but they really should have said, "I have some lovely acres in the Republic of Poyais you can buy, but you have to act now!"  Presenting one of my favorite con artists ever, the man who declared himself prince of a South American country that didn't exist, Gregor MacGregor (yes, that's really his name). Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter,  or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi.  Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Want to start a podcast or need a better podcast host?  Get up to TWO months hosting for free from Libsyn with coupon code "moxie."   Remember back in episode 155, Hate to Burst your Bubble, we talked about, among other things, the Florida real estate boom and bust of the 1920s?  It's where we get the phrase, “if you believe that, I have some real estate in Florida to sell you.”  100 years before that, we could have been saying, “I have some acreage in Poyais to sell you.”  Never been to Poyais?  Trust me, it's amazing.  The weather is always perfect, sunny and warm.  Located along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, the soil of Poyais is so fertile, you can get three harvests of corn a year.  The trees are heavy with fruit and the forests teem with entrees in the form of game animals.  If you look into the rivers, you'll not only see water cleaner and more pure than you've ever seen in your life and more fish than you could hope to catch, but in the river bed, the sparkle of gold fills your eyes, not from flecks and dust, but nuggets as big as walnuts, just laying there, waiting for you to scoop them up.  The only thing missing is settlers to develop and leverage its resources to the fullest.  Wanna get your share?  Better hurry; hundreds of people are investing all their savings in a piece of the perfect Poyais.  All you have to do is [] to the Cazique or prince.  Who is the prince of this equatorial new world paradise?  A Scotsman named Gregor MacGregor.     MacGregor was born in 1786.  His father, who died when Gregor was 4, was a captain sailing with the East India Company, so adventuring on a quest for riches might well have been in his blood.  A clever chap from the get-go, Gregor enrolled in the University of Edinburgh at age 15, though he never finished his degree.  No shade thrown there, I'm a 3-time community college drop-out and look how I turned out!  (pause, sigh)  At age 17, he took after his grandfather and joined the British Army, where he quickly rose up the ranks to lieutenant, captain, and major, largely by buying the next rank up, but that's pretty much how it was done back then.  Two years after enlisting, MacGregor married a Royal Navy Admiral's daughter, and a mere five years after that, probably because he'd married into money, he retired from the army.  The young couple moved to London, where Gregor called himself Sir and claimed to be a baronet, which ranks underneath baron in British noble hierarchy and is apparently a modest enough lie that no one would think to put the effort and time into checking it out.     But ‘easy street' only lasted another year before his wife died.  No more wife meant no more wealthy in-laws, so MacGregor sold his Scottish estate and relocated to Caracas, Venezuela, where he married another wealthy family's daughter.  Never let it be said he's not consistent.  Wife 2 was actually a cousin of Simon Bolivar, of Bolivia fame.  He was able to sell his military prowess to Francisco de Miranda, the Venezuelan revolutionary general.  There was rather a lot of revolution going on in Spanish colonies at the time while Spain was well distracted dealing with a certain actually-of-average-height French emperor.  At least MacGregor wasn't lying about his soldiery, securing a number of victories and becoming a notable figure for the revolutionary set all across LatAm.     In 1820, MacGregor moved to a former British Colony, in Nicaragua, which, true to its name, a swampy and pest-infested area that Europeans had until that point left to the Mosquito Natives.  In 1830, MacGregor traded jewelry and rum for eight million acres of land.  Now that was either an F-ton of rum or the land was utterly worthless.  I'll give you three guesses.  The land was completely useless for farming, kinda of a big deal, being the production of foodstuff and whatnot.     Realizing there was no way he could draw settlers in with the land as it was, MacGregor decided to draw them in with the land as it wasn't.  So he headed back to England, where he was well-known in society circles for his military achievements, leading his men into battle against great odds.  Society not knowing that he'd also abandoned his men.  Twice.  But he rubbed elbows with the muckety-mucks nonetheless, telling them all about his new world paradise, the Republic of Poyais.  And he went so far beyond Baron Munchausenian story-telling.   Gregor made up a whole country and everything that goes along with it.  To hear him tell it, the Republic of Poyais was not an impenetrable, parasite-ridden jungle, but a glorious tableau with a thriving civilization with a parliament, banks, an opera house and cathedral.  The weather was ideal, a perpetual summer that was very appealing to Londoners.  The soil was so rich that farming required almost no labor.  The rivers that wound down the mountains teemed with fish and the surrounding forests were thick with game animals.  In this dubious district, the capital of St Joseph had a massive infrastructure and a population of about 20,000 people.  The economy was robust, if you felt like doing anything other than scooping up all the gold that was just laying around.  MacGregor had pamphlets promoting printed, and they sold in the thousands around the streets of London and Edinburgh.  He started a nationwide campaign to attract investment, taking out big ads in newspapers and even opened sales offices.     The world-building that went into this scam would have made GRRM blush.  Maybe even JRR Tolkien.  Feel free to at me on social media; I love a spirited nerd debate.  He came up with a tricameral Parliament and a commercial banking system.  Like an African dictator, he designed Poyaian military uniforms, several, different ones for different regiments.  He published a 350 page guidebook, under the pen name Thomas Strangeways, with a sliver of real facts about the region, but the Pacman portion of the pie chart all came from his preposterous posterior.  The book was full of detailed sketches and MacGregor had a seemingly endless supply of official-looking documents.  He had offices set up in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh to sell land certificates, which people eagerly bought.  The whole operation looked completely legit; you wouldn't even think to doubt it.  MacGregor didn't just succeed in his con, he was *wildly successful.  Not only did MacGregor raise £200,000 directly – the bond market value over his life ran to £1.3 million, or about £3.6 billion today – but he convinced seven ships' worth of eager settlers to make their way across the Atlantic. It became a popular investment, and many sank their life savings in land deed in Republic of Poyais.  A London Bank underwrote a £2000 pound loan, £23mil or $30mil today, secured with the land sales.     MacGregor was signing up settlers left and right.  Settlers meant development, which meant the value of bonds and land certificates would go up, which would attract more settlers and investors, driving the price up further.  Gee, it's like crime does kinda pay.  Skilled tradesmen were promised free passage and ostensibly, supposedly government contract work.  Don't think it was only the under-educated among the population that bought into this – bankers, doctors, civil servants, you name it.  Whole families signed up and backed their bags.   In September 1822, the first fifty settlers sailed for Poyais and were very confused when the landed.  There was…nothing there.  No port, not even a dock.  I mean, there were trees and snakes and mosquitos, but no city, no road, no nothing.  The settlers believed they were lost, but they couldn't get a ride to the “right” place because that ship had sailed.  Literally, the ship left them immediately.  So they set up camp.  150 more people, including children, shortly joined them.  They searched for civilization as best they could, but the rainy season descended on them, bringing on clouds of mosquitos, whose tiny bags were packed with yellow fever and malaria.  A few settlers who were saved by a passing ship informed the British Colony of Honduras about the situation. The colony organized a rescue mission, but only a third of the population was still alive and rescued. In the meantime, five more ships set for Poyais had to be stopped by the Honduras government.  They were informed that Poyais did not exist. It was Mickey Mouse, mate, spurious, not genuine.  Twisting the knife counter-clockwise, the King revoked the land grant and told them they were now illegal squatters and had swear allegiance or GTFO.  Dozens were too weak to leave.  In a particularly depressing bit of math, of 250 or so who had set sail for Poyais, with all their hopes and dreams pinned to this mythical land, 180 died.      That's not even the crazy bit.  Of those 70 who barely survived their ordeal, many of them did *not blame MacGregor.  Six of the survivors, including one man who lost two children to the ordeal, signed an affidavit insisting that blame lay not with MacGregor but with Hector Hall, a former army officer who was supposed to be in charge of the settlement.  They declared "[W]e believe that Sir Gregor MacGregor has been worse used by Colonel Hall and his other agents than was ever a man before, and that had they have done their duty by Sir Gregor and by us, things would have turned out very differently at Poyais". MacGregor claimed he's been a victim too, defrauded and embezzled from by his own agents and undermined by merchants in British Honduras because the richness of Poyais threatened their profits   Now I love a Scottish accent, but this must have been one charming melon-farmer.  MacGregor didn't know it, but he had actually been using “the six principles of persuasion.”  These comes from a 1984 book by Robert Cialdini, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” which looked at the factors that affect the decisions that people make, especially as pertains to sales, naturally.  At the core of his work is the idea that decision-making is effortful, so individuals use a lot of rules of thumb and decision making shortcuts (heuristics) when deciding what to do, and of course once you know what those things are, you can manipulate them to your advantage.  They are authority (in the sense that they're an authority on the subject), scarcity, reciprocity (i.e. you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours), consistency (I still believe in this idea as much as I always have), social validation (everyone you know is buying one of these), and friendship or liking (picture the smile on a used car salesman).  MacGregor seemed to know these instinctively.   Mcgregor skipped town when the scandal broke, claiming he needed to take his wife to warm, dry Italy for her health, and headed across the channel to France and began the whole thing all over again.  In Paris, he persuaded the Compagnie de la Nouvelle Neustrie, a firm of traders looking to break into the South American market, to seek investors and settlers for Poyais in France.  In a matter of months, he had a new group of settlers and investors ready to go.  Concurrent to all this, he tried to get in good with King Ferdinand VII of Spain, proposing to make Poyais a Spanish protectorate and a base of operations from which Spain could reconquer Guatemala.  Spain, at least, ignored MacGregor.  MacGregor might not have realized that France was more stringent than England in its passport requirements: when the government saw a flood of applications to a country no one had heard of, a commission was set to investigate the matter.  Or maybe he figured he was on a roll and utterly bulletproof.  This time, Mcgregor et al were arrested and tried.  But he was found not guilty on all accounts, mostly because one of his accomplices was hiding in the Netherlands with a ton of incriminating documents.  Once he felt that London had probably forgotten his colossal scam, he headed back…and started another scam.  Smaller this time; I guess he's learning.  But the bonds didn't sell well this time, and what's worse -for everyone- other fraudsters started pulling their own fake paradise scams following his model.  He retired to Edinburgh, then to Venezuela after the death of his wife, where he was granted citizenship and a pension as a retired general.  He never faced any consequences for his actions and when he died in 1845, Gregor MacGregor was buried with full military honors.  So the moral of the story is … crime does pay?  That's a terrible lesson.     Crocker Land   In 1907, Robert Peary was the most famous, and most experienced Arctic explorer in the world, but he had a problem—he hadn't yet managed to become the first to visit the most arctic of arctic places, the North Pole, and his cash reserves were becoming nonexistent. The previous year, he had almost made it—supposedly getting within 175 miles or 280 kilometers—but was turned around by a combination of storms and depleting supplies, but Robert Peary was sure he could get there if he just had another try. He possessed the kind of confidence that only a man with a Lorax level mustache can have. All he needed to make another journey was money. However, the arctic adventure capital market was a bit reluctant to give him more after the previous failures, so, Peary hatched a plan. The key to that plan was a wealthy San Francisco financier named George Crocker, who had previously donated $50,000 to Peary's failed 1906 voyage. This was, of course, a time when 50k bought you more than two buckets of movie theatre popcorn and a calculus textbook. Peary wanted Crocker to help fund his new voyage but, considering the previous trip he financed achieved diddly squat, this could be tough. But what if, and hear me out, the previous voyage wasn't a colossal failure. Peary thought of a way to not only convince Crocker that the previous voyage hadn't been a failure, but also to butter him up a little bit by doing the one thing that rich people love more than anything else—naming things after them. And so, Peary revealed that on his 1906 voyage, though he hadn't made it to the North Pole, he had seen, from a distance, an enormous, previously undiscovered land mass. He wrote that he spotted, “faint white summits,” 130 miles northwest of Cape Thomas Hubbard, and that once he got closer, he could make out, “the snow-clad summits of the distant land in the northwest, above the ice horizon.” In honor of George Crocker, the San Francisco financier, Peary named this beautiful, snow-peaked land mass, “Crocker Land.” But then Robert Peary had two problems. The first problem? George Crocker had already given most of his money to boring causes like rebuilding San Francisco after the earthquake of 1906, and so as flattered as he may have been, there wasn't money left for funding Peary's arctic antics. The second problem? The island was totally, 100%, made up. Now normally, this might not be such a big deal. Guy makes up an imaginary island, who cares? Captain James Cook did so three centuries ago and still nobody's called him out, but this fake island ended up mattering a lot. You see, eventually, Robert Peary did manage to secure funding for another voyage, mostly from the National Geographic Society. On April 6, 1909, he finally made it to the North Pole, or at least, he said he did. He had a picture, but this could be any old pile of snow. He returned home proudly proclaiming that he was the first man ever to reach the North Pole, to which a guy named Frederick Cook, another Arctic explorer, replied, “um…I was there, like, a year ago,” but, Cook said that he'd sailed through where this giant land mass called Crocker's Land was supposedly located. If I know anything about boats, it's that they don't work well on land and, since Cook hadn't found a thing except for cold water and walrus farts, someone's lying here. But, because of this, the existence of Crocker Land became crucially important as it would prove who had really gone to the North Pole first. If it did exist, then Frederick Cook must be lying about going to the North Pole. If it didn't exist, Frederick Cook did go to the North Pole, and Robert Peary was the liar. Of course, at that time you couldn't just fire up your handy household satellite to check and so, to settle it, a man named Donald McMillian decided to go on another expedition to find the land. Not only would this prove who was telling the truth, but it would possibly give McMillan the opportunity to be the first to step onto what was considered, “the last great unknown place in the world.” That voyage was, incredibly, a failure. In addition to their ship getting stuck in the ice for three years before they could return home, the only bright spot came when a crew member saw what looked to be the island—a beautiful, snowy-peaked landmass—but it turned out to be a mirage. In light of that fact, some have suggested that Peary didn't lie about the island, but was actually just seeing a mirage, but unfortunately for Peary's reputation, it looks like that's letting him off too easy. Historians looked at Peary's original notes and logs for the date that Crocker's Land was supposedly discovered, and they found that he doesn't mention anything about it. All he says happened that day was that he climbed up some rocks, and then climbed down the rocks. Plus, the early drafts of his book even didn't include anything about it, but then three paragraphs about Crocker Land mysteriously showed up just before the book was published—just when Peary needed to get more money. In other words, Crocker Land was a load of crock. One of Peary's major issues, aside from inventing an island, was that, when he supposedly went to this north pole, his crew did not include a single navigator who could make their own independent observations as to whether or not they were truly at the pole, or just some pile of ice, and so people didn't believe him. In the archives of the American Geographical Society in Milwaukee lies a century-old map with a peculiar secret. Just north of Greenland, the map shows a small, hook-shaped island labeled “Crocker Land” with the words “Seen By Peary, 1906” printed just below.   The Peary in question is Robert Peary, one of the most famous polar explorers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the man who claimed to have been the first to step foot on the North Pole. But what makes this map remarkable is that Crocker Land was all but a phantom. It wasn't “seen by Peary”—as later expeditions would prove, the explorer had invented it out of the thin Arctic air.   By 1906, Peary was the hardened veteran of five expeditions to the Arctic Circle. Desperate to be the first to the North Pole, he left New York in the summer of 1905 in a state-of-the-art ice-breaking vessel, the Roosevelt—named in honor of one of the principal backers of the expedition, President Theodore Roosevelt. The mission to set foot on the top of the world ended in failure, however: Peary said he sledged to within 175 miles of the pole (a claim others would later question), but was forced to turn back by storms and dwindling supplies.   Peary immediately began planning another attempt, but found himself short of cash. He apparently tried to coax funds from one of his previous backers, San Francisco financier George Crocker—who had donated $50,000 to the 1905-'06 mission—by naming a previously undiscovered landmass after him. In his 1907 book Nearest the Pole, Peary claimed that during his 1906 mission he'd spotted “the faint white summits” of previously undiscovered land 130 miles northwest of Cape Thomas Hubbard, one of the most northerly parts of Canada. Peary named this newfound island “Crocker Land” in his benefactor's honor, hoping to secure another $50,000 for the next expedition.   His efforts were for naught: Crocker diverted much of his resources to helping San Francisco rebuild after the 1906 earthquake, with little apparently free for funding Arctic exploration. But Peary did make another attempt at the North Pole after securing backing from the National Geographic Society, and on April 6, 1909, he stood on the roof of the planet—at least by his own account. “The Pole at last!!!" the explorer wrote in his journal. "The prize of 3 centuries, my dream and ambition for 23 years. Mine at last."   Peary wouldn't celebrate his achievement for long, though: When the explorer returned home, he discovered that Frederick Cook—who had served under Peary on his 1891 North Greenland expedition—was claiming he'd been the first to reach the pole a full year earlier. For a time, a debate over the two men's claims raged—and Crocker Land became part of the fight. Cook claimed that on his way to the North Pole he'd traveled to the area where the island was supposed to be, but had seen nothing there. Crocker Land, he said, didn't exist.   Peary's supporters began to counter-attack, and one of his assistants on the 1909 trip, Donald MacMillan, announced that he would lead an expedition to prove the existence of Crocker Land, vindicating Peary and forever ruining the reputation of Cook.   There was also, of course, the glory of being the first to set foot on the previously unexplored island. Historian David Welky, author of A Wretched and Precarious Situation: In Search of the Last Arctic Frontier, recently explained to National Geographic that with both poles conquered, Crocker Land was “the last great unknown place in the world.” American Geographical Society Library. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries. After receiving backing from the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Illinois, and the American Geographical Society, the MacMillan expedition departed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in July 1913. MacMillan and his team took provisions, dogs, a cook, “a moving picture machine,” and wireless equipment, with the grand plan of making a radio broadcast live to the United States from the island.   But almost immediately, the expedition was met with misfortune: MacMillan's ship, the Diana, was wrecked on the voyage to Greenland by her allegedly drunken captain, so MacMillan transferred to another ship, the Erik, to continue his journey. By early 1914, with the seas frozen, MacMillan set out to attempt a 1200-mile long sled journey from Etah, Greenland, through one of the most inhospitable and harshest landscapes on Earth, in search of Peary's phantom island.   Though initially inspired by their mission to find Crocker Land, MacMillan's team grew disheartened as they sledged through the Arctic landscape without finding it. “You can imagine how earnestly we scanned every foot of that horizon—not a thing in sight,” MacMillan wrote in his 1918 book, Four Years In The White North.   But a discovery one April day by Fitzhugh Green, a 25-year-old ensign in the US Navy, gave them hope. As MacMillan later recounted, Green was “no sooner out of the igloo than he came running back, calling in through the door, ‘We have it!' Following Green, we ran to the top of the highest mound. There could be no doubt about it. Great heavens! What a land! Hills, valleys, snow-capped peaks extending through at least one hundred and twenty degrees of the horizon.”   But visions of the fame brought by being the first to step foot on Crocker Land quickly evaporated. “I turned to Pee-a-wah-to,” wrote MacMillan of his Inuit guide (also referred to by some explorers as Piugaattog). “After critically examining the supposed landfall for a few minutes, he astounded me by replying that he thought it was a ‘poo-jok' (mist).”   Indeed, MacMillan recorded that “the landscape gradually changed its appearance and varied in extent with the swinging around of the Sun; finally at night it disappeared altogether.” For five more days, the explorers pressed on, until it became clear that what Green had seen was a mirage, a polar fata morgana. Named for the sorceress Morgana le Fay in the legends of King Arthur, these powerful illusions are produced when light bends as it passes through the freezing air, leading to mysterious images of apparent mountains, islands, and sometimes even floating ships.   Fata morganas are a common occurrence in polar regions, but would a man like Peary have been fooled? “As we drank our hot tea and gnawed the pemmican, we did a good deal of thinking,” MacMillan wrote. “Could Peary with all his experience have been mistaken? Was this mirage which had deceived us the very thing which had deceived him eight years before? If he did see Crocker Land, then it was considerably more than 120 miles away, for we were now at least 100 miles from shore, with nothing in sight.”   MacMillan's mission was forced to accept the unthinkable and turn back. “My dreams of the last four years were merely dreams; my hopes had ended in bitter disappointment,” MacMillan wrote. But the despair at realizing that Crocker Land didn't exist was merely the beginning of the ordeal.   MacMillan sent Fitzhugh Green and the Inuit guide Piugaattog west to explore a possible route back to their base camp in Etah. The two became trapped in the ice, and one of their dog teams died. Fighting over the remaining dogs, Green—with alarming lack of remorse—explained in his diary what happened next: “I shot once in the air ... I then killed [Piugaattog] with a shot through the shoulder and another through the head.” Green returned to the main party and confessed to MacMillan. Rather than reveal the murder, the expedition leader told the Inuit members of the mission that Piugaattog had perished in the blizzard.   Several members of the MacMillan mission would remain trapped in the ice for another three years, victims of the Arctic weather. Two attempts by the American Museum of Natural History to rescue them met with failure, and it wasn't until 1917 that MacMillan and his party were finally saved by the steamer Neptune, captained by seasoned Arctic sailor Robert Bartlett.   While stranded in the ice, the men put their time to good use; they studied glaciers, astronomy, the tides, Inuit culture, and anything else that attracted their curiosity. They eventually returned with over 5000 photographs, thousands of specimens, and some of the earliest film taken of the Arctic (much of which can be seen today in the repositories of the American Geographical Society at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee).   It's unclear whether MacMillan ever confronted Peary about Crocker Land—about what exactly the explorer had seen in 1906, and perhaps what his motives were. When MacMillan's news about not having found Crocker Land reached the United States, Peary defended himself to the press by noting how difficult spotting land in the Arctic could be, telling reporters, “Seen from a distance ... an iceberg with earth and stones may be taken for a rock, a cliff-walled valley filled with fog for a fjord, and the dense low clouds above a patch of open water for land.” (He maintained, however, that "physical indications and theory" still pointed to land somewhere in the area.) Yet later researchers have noted that Peary's notes from his 1905-'06 expedition don't mention Crocker Land at all. As Welky told National Geographic, “He talks about a hunting trip that day, climbing the hills to get this view, but says absolutely nothing about seeing Crocker Land. Several crewmembers also kept diaries, and according to those he never mentioned anything about seeing a new continent.”   There's no mention of Crocker Land in early drafts of Nearest the Pole, either—it's only mentioned in the final manuscript. That suggests Peary had a deliberate reason for the the inclusion of the island.   Crocker, meanwhile, wouldn't live to see if he was immortalized by this mysterious new land mass: He died in December 1909 of stomach cancer, a year after Peary had set out in the Roosevelt again in search of the Pole, and before MacMillan's expedition.   Any remnants of the legend of Crocker Land were put to bed in 1938, when Isaac Schlossbach flew over where the mysterious island was supposed to be, looked down from his cockpit, and saw nothing. Bradley Land was the name Frederick Cook gave to a mass of land which he claimed to have seen between (84°20′N 102°0′W) and (85°11′N 102°0′W) during a 1909 expedition. He described it as two masses of land with a break, a strait, or an indentation between.[1] The land was named for John R. Bradley, who had sponsored Cook's expedition.   Cook published two photographs of the land and described it thus: "The lower coast resembled Heiberg Island, with mountains and high valleys. The upper coast I estimated as being about one thousand feet high, flat, and covered with a thin sheet ice."[2]   It is now known there is no land at that location and Cook's observations were based on either a misidentification of sea ice or an outright fabrication. Cook's Inuit companions reported that the photographs were actually taken near the coast of Axel Heiberg Island.[   Cook described two islands lying at about 85 degrees North, which he named Bradley Land.  These islands, like Peary's “Crocker Land,” do not exist, yet Cook's partisans have tried to resuscitate Cook's credibility by linking “Bradley Land” to a discovery made in the Arctic only since Dr. Cook's death.      After World War II, aerial reconnaissance revealed a number of large tabular bergs drifting slowly clockwise in the arctic basin north of Ellesmere Island. Several arctic researchers and scientists have suggested these so-called ice islands—breakaway pieces of its ancient ice shelf—are probably what Cook mistook for “Bradley Land,” and Cook's advocates have repeated these statements to support the doctor's claim.       Cook gave this description of “Bradley Land”: “The lower coast resembled Heiberg Island, with mountains and high valleys. The upper coast I estimated as being about one thousand feet high, flat, and covered with a thin sheet ice.”      Ice islands are no more than 100 to 200 feet thick, total. They are nearly flat with only rolling undulations and rise only about 25 feet above sea level. Cook's “Bradley Land” therefore does not remotely resemble an ice island, or even an ice island magnified by mirage. And Cook published two pictures of the high, mountainous land he called “Bradley Land.”        Cook's Inuit companions are reported to have said these pictures were of two small islands off the northwest coast of Axel Heiberg Island; others believe they are of the coast of Heiberg Island itself, though the pictures have never been duplicated.      Ren Bay  has been suggested as the site.  Ellesmere trekker Jerry Kobalenko reports he could not match the picture exactly to that site, but Cook might have taken it at a time when fog obscured prominent landmarks, as he did in Alaska, making it impossible to duplicate now.  In each picture the photographer is standing on a point above the flat ice.  Kobalenko's was taken off a ten-foot hillock.   Sources: https://www.jetsetter.com/magazine/islands-to-visit-before-they-disappear/ Brigadoon https://www.history.com/news/the-con-man-who-invented-his-own-country https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sandy-island-doesnt-exist_n_2184535 https://interestingengineering.com/10-islands-on-maps-that-never-actually-existed https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8350278/mysterious-island-that-didnt-exist-four-years-ago-is-now-teeming-with-life-sea-volcano/ https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160127-the-conman-who-pulled-off-historys-most-audaciou s-scam https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/notable-collections/profiles/crocker-land.html https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/crocker-land-peary-arctic-continent https://research.bowdoin.edu/crocker-land-expedition/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_KQOeh-Co http://humbug.polarhist.com/bland.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Island,_New_Caledonia https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/gregor-macgregor-prince-poyais   There are Islands that have disappeared and not in the global warming, vanishing coastline type of way. These Islands are called Phantom Islands. To be considered a Phantom Island, a piece of land must have been agreed to exist at one point before eventually being undiscovered or corrected. Basically, academics and cartographers thought an island was real and then eventually found out it wasn't. For example, Atlantis would not be considered a Phantom Island because it was always considered a legend. But perhaps the best example of a Phantom Island is Burmeja. Bermeja first appeared on maps in the year 1539, and for nearly 400 years, it was accepted as a real island located in the Gulf of Mexico. But in the 2000s, the United States and Mexico were in a dispute over an oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Basically, Burmeja marked the outermost limit of Mexico's economic territory. The oil field would have been within that border marked by Burmeja, thus making it Mexico's property. But when the Mexican government set a team to verify the island's position, it was gone. The team had the exact coordinates for the island, and Bermeja had appeared on maps for 400 years, but it just wasn't there. The team searched all over the Gulf of Mexico and concluded that Bermeja simply no longer existed. There are a few theories about how Bermer disappeared. One is that it vanished into the ocean as a result of natural geographic shifts. This has happened elsewhere in the world, so it's entirely plausible. There's also a theory that Birmingham was intentionally destroyed by the United States so they could gain access to the oil field. It's a bold strategy, and you would think someone would have noticed an entire island being blown up. But America has done worse things in the name of oil. Some people say early Mexican officials may have added it to the map in an effort to just expand their borders. This, again, would be a pretty bold strategy, but perhaps an effective one in the 15th century. The most likely explanation is that Burmeja never existed. It was a mistake by some cartographer in the 1500s, and everyone just went with it. Early cartographers were also known to add fake Islands to their maps to prevent plagiarism. These fake Islands would tip them off if their map was ever copied. But Burmeja has appeared in various ships, logs, and inventories, some of which were official documents from the Mexican government. Ultimately, Burmette was never found, and no one really knows why. But Bermuda has not been the only Phantom Island. The Baja Peninsula was believed to be the island of California for years before it was corrected. A fictitious place called Sandy Island appeared on maps for over a century near Australia. It was even on Google maps. Today, scientists think early explorers just saw a large piece of pumice stone floating in the ocean. Arctic Explorer Robert E. Pierre made up the Island Crocker land in an effort to scam some money from one of his investors. There have been dozens more of these Phantom Islands over the years with each having been undiscovered for different reasons. Today, though, thanks to satellite imagery, Phantom Islands are probably a thing of the past you. Con artists have long recognised that persuasion must appeal to two very particular aspects of human motivation – the drive that will get people to do something, and the inertia that prevents them from wanting to do it. In 2003, two social psychologists, Eric Knowles at the University of Arkansas and Jay Linn at Widener University, formalised this idea by naming two types of persuasive tactics. The first, alpha, was far more frequent: increasing the appeal of something. The second, omega, decreased the resistance surrounding something. In the one, you do what you can to make your proposition, whatever it may be, more attractive. You rev up the backstory – why this is such a wonderful opportunity, why you are the perfect person to do it, how much everyone will gain, and the like. In the other, you make a request or offer seem so easy as to be a no-brainer – why wouldn't I do this? What do I have to lose? Psychologists call it the ‘approach-avoidance' model of persuasion They called the juxtaposition the approach-avoidance model of persuasion: you can convince me of something by making me want to approach it and decreasing any reasons I might have to avoid it. According to Columbia University psychologist Tory Higgins, people are usually more likely to be swayed by one or other of the two motivational lines: some people are promotion-focused (they think of possible positive gains), and some, prevention-focused (they focus on losses and avoiding mistakes). An approach that unites the alpha with the omega appeals to both mindsets, however, giving it universal appeal – and it is easy to see how MacGregor's proposition offered this potent combination.  

L'Écossais Gregor MacGregor imagina l'une des supercheries les plus audacieuses de l'Histoire. En effet, il n'hésita pas à inventer de toutes pièces un pays dont il vendit les richesses à des gens crédules.Du militaire...Né en 1786, Gregor MacGregor s'enrôle d'abord dans l'armée britannique. Puis il part pour l'Amérique du Sud, où les colonies espagnoles s'émancipent les unes après les autres.Il participe ainsi, en tant qu'officier, à la guerre d'indépendance du Venezuela, qui oppose ce pays à l'Espagne entre 1810 et 1823. Il épouse une parente de Simon Bolivar, le libérateur du Venezuela et d'autres pays d'Amérique latine.En 1817, MacGregor parvient à s'emparer d'une île possédée par les Espagnols. Mais ces faits d'armes finissent par le lasser. Il est d'ailleurs tenu pour un couard, peu courageux face au feu....Au "prince de Poyais"Gregor MacGregor imagine alors une activité plus lucrative. En 1820, il arrive au Honduras et se fait octroyer, par un potentat local, 32.000 hectares de terrain. Il s'agit d'une terre ingrate, impropre à la culture.Mac Gregor baptise son domaine "Poyais", d'après le nom d'une tribu voisine. L'année suivante, il se rend en Angleterre, paré d'un nouveau titre. En effet, il se fait appeler "Cazique de Poyais", autrement dit le "chef" ou le "prince" de ce nouveau territoire.D'après ses dires, le "Poyais" est un véritable État, avec son système de gouvernement, plutôt démocratique, et même un service militaire, auquel sont assujettis les habitants.Pour donner plus de vraisemblance à son histoire, MacGregor invente une monnaie et un drapeau pour ce nouveau pays. Et il parvient à susciter l'intérêt autour de lui. Des Anglais vendent leurs biens pour faire fortune dans le nouvel État, d'autres signent des contrats de travail.Pas moins de trois navires transportent ces immigrants vers le Poyais. À l'arrivée, la désillusion est rude. À la place des villes annoncées, les nouveaux venus ne trouvent que des terres incultes et quelques masures.Dans ce climat inhospitalier, une centaine de colons succombent à la malaria ou meurent d'inanition. Pourtant, aucune de ces victimes ne s'est plainte de la supercherie imaginée par Gregor MacGregor. Voir Acast.com/privacy pour les informations sur la vie privée et l'opt-out.

Start counting your loonies and toonies because we're buying ranks, weddings, and countries while we learn about Gregor MacGregor.  Scottish Robinhood is our new mafia boss as we make our new dating profiles on Twindler.  This story actually turns into an animated movie when the Aristocats show up, but that's okay because the land isn't very farmy anyway.  If you enjoy the episode, please consider subscribing or following our podcast! If you're on Apple Podcast, we'd love it if you could comment and give us a 5-star rating. If you can follow us or subscribe on other podcast platforms, that would also be much appreciated so we can keep bringing you grim tales!  Follow us on Twitter Creep us on Instagram Like us on Facebook

This episode brought to you by russet potatoes.Whitney launches into Starfish Prime and the race to nuclear bombs in space.Lisa tracks the infamous Kandahar Giant that was purportedly taken down by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan in 2002.Hayly encounters Gregor MacGregor, a Scottish conman who defrauded hundreds while creating 1822's own Fyre Fest, aka Poyais.

Jens got the story of a school pupil who was a 30-year-old imposter and Cass delivers the ye olde scam of mosquito island and Gregor MacGregor.

That's News to MeShow Notes Sources from Story 1https://apnews.com/article/oddities-arrests-florida-west-palm-beach-fb19a5d3699310da848d92693ce2da43 Sources from Story 2https://onlyfunfacts.com/history/gregor-macgregor-poyais/ Co-HostsMookie GErica B Edited by Nelson Crawford Subscribe!Don't miss an episode! Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. If you like this episode, help us make sure others can find it too! Write a review (especially the FIVE STAR kind) and we'll give you a shout on our next episode! Follow That's News to Me on:Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/twisteddreamscomedy/Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Thats-News-to-Me-112502543717327 Theme song written and performed by Nancy R. SmithFollow her on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/nancyreginaa_/IntroOn this week's episode, Mookie answers the question: what does a stolen car, a train, a house, and a crashed forklift all have in common? A DRUNK FLORIDA MAN! While Erica unearths the little-known story of the OG swindler Gregor MacGregor, the Prince of Poyais. Never heard of it? Hmmm. Hold My Beer! This Forklift Won't Crash Itself!A few weeks ago, Florida was busy out-Florida-ing itself when a man decided to go to a local bar. After a lot of too many alcoholic beverages, he wisely figured it was time to go home. The problem was that he couldn't find his car. He searched and searched all he could on foot but turned up nothing. So, he naturally realized he could increase the radius of his search if he had a car. Luckily, there were a lot to choose from in the bar parking lot. He “borrowed” one of the cars and took off in search of his own missing vehicle. All was good until the “borrowed” car got stuck on a train track. Sucks, right? You know what sucks even worse? An oncoming train. But that's not where it ends! Take a listen. This story is SO Florida-Meets-The-Hangover. Hey, I'd watch that movie!I'm a Prince, DAMMIT!Waaay back in the 1800's, this thing called the “Internet” didn't exist. And a man named Gregor MacGregor took full advantage of the lack of knowledge sharing capability of the time for his own financial gain. He rose through the ranks of the British military to ultimately become a general. He earned wealth, social status, and (most imperative to his scheme) credibility. But if you know anything about our stories, it's not gonna end well. To solidify his infamy, he created a country from his imagination and convinced TWO COUNTRIES of its existence. He even sold land to unsuspecting Brits and French (frenchies? French people? I have no idea what they're called)! WHAAAT?What's Next Do you have a crazy news story we should cover? Let us know! Send us a note at thatsnews2me2@gmail.comThat's News to Me Logo designed by Lydia Phelps

En este Corito Histórico, los muchachos Javier Lara (en Twitter @vzla_apesta) y Doriann Márquez (en Twitter @Hostioso0294) a petición del público, cuentan las aventuras y desventuras de Gregor MacGregor. Uno de los próceres extranjeros con más condecoraciones en el Panteón Nacional. Desde su juventud en Escocia, sus intentos de ascensión social por medio del arribismo, su participación breve en las guerras napoleónicas, hasta la aparición de Venezuela en el horizonte cuando al quedar viudo y sin nadie de quién vivir, decide aventurarse pensando en su viejo conocido Francisco de Miranda. En Venezuela consigue éxitos como ayudante de Miranda que lo hacen casarse con una mujer de la nobleza caraqueña, y luego de la caída de la República luchará para las Provincias Unidas de Nueva Granada hasta la caída de Cartagena, cuando se une a Bolívar en lo que será su Expedición de los Cayos, dónde termina con acciones de heroísmo en la Batalla del Juncal ganándose la Orden de los Libertadores. Tras estos honores, vino su historia criminal en Florida intentando apoderarse de esta colonia española, luego en Portobelo y Riohacha, hasta que llega a Londres, dónde urde su gran estafa con el invento del “Principado de Poyais” en la Costa Mosquitia, dónde estafa a más de 200 personas en un monto de aproximadamente 200 mil libras, con total impunidad. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coritohistorico/message

En este #ChayanneSeLlamaElmer con los muchachos Javier Lara (en Twitter @vzla_apesta) y Doriann Márquez (en Twitter @Hostioso0294), dan respuesta a las inquietudes históricas dejadas por la audiencia por medio de nuestro SENDO BETA, el “Sistema Elmer Nominal para Discusiones Objetivas BETA”. Traen así a la mesa la historia del atentado al entonces vicepresidente de los Estados Unidos Richard Milhouse Nixon, en su visita a Caracas en 1958; tocan también el tema de la República de Florida fundada por Gregor MacGregor bajo órdenes de Bolívar en la Isla de Amelia; luego la importancia de los postas o encargados de la correspondencia de guerra durante el conflicto con los realistas; para terminar con una pregunta sobre el origen de la Universidad Simón Bolívar. Deja tus preguntas para el Chayanne Se Llama Elmer en: https://chayanne.netlify.app/ Suscríbete tanto al canal como al Patreon de Daniel Lara Farías para vernos en estreno exclusivo, comenta, da like, síguenos en twitter, recomiéndanos, sugiere temas y vacila. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coritohistorico/message

Once upon a time there was a Scottish guy who failed up so hard that he got knighted. Then he sold boat rides to an island civilization populated only by malaria-carrying mosquitos. And because it was a long time ago and no one had phones, he got away with it. Don't believe me? Just listen.Bullshit really is timeless.

Throughout recorded human history, people have figured out how to use the latest “technology” to scam, con or hack others for their own benefit. William Chaloner (1650–1699): Serial counterfeiter and confidence trickster proven guilty by Sir Isaac Newton. Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of Poyais. Cassie Chadwick (1857–1907): Canadian who defrauded banks out of millions by pretending to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of Andrew Carnegie. Joseph Weil (1875–1976): Chicago's infamous Yellow Kid posed as bank presidents, inventors, millionaires, and scientists. “I have played more roles in real life than the average actor ever dreamed of.” Frank Abagnale, Jr. (born 1948): U.S. check forger and impostor turned FBI consultant, who impersonated a PanAm airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher to illegally make over $2.5 million. The 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can is based on his autobiography. Is there a term for this? Yup. Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of a person by a malicious attacker/s into performing actions or divulging confidential information for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access. It differs from a traditional “con” when it is one of many steps in a complex scheme. Social engineering techniques are based on specific attributes of human decision-making known as cognitive biases, aka “bugs in the human hardware” that are exploited to create attack techniques. Did you know that you risk being hacked when you use the forgot password function on websites that require login? An improperly secured password-recovery system can grant a malicious attacker full access to your account, and lock you out. The good news: Social engineering as a force for good can be in your future — to help you regain your confidence and control. When you use human hacking for good, you can become more empathetic, generous and kind, and leave people feeling better for having met you, says master hacker and social engineering pioneer and author Christopher Hadnagy, who is on this panel. We'll ask Chris Hadnagy, Ryan MacDougall, Maxie Reynolds and Shane McCombs for their take on The Future of Social Engineering: You As The Good Human Hacker!

Throughout recorded human history, people have figured out how to use the latest “technology” to scam, con or hack others for their own benefit. William Chaloner (1650–1699): Serial counterfeiter and confidence trickster proven guilty by Sir Isaac Newton. Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of Poyais. Cassie Chadwick (1857–1907): Canadian who defrauded banks out of millions by pretending to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of Andrew Carnegie. Joseph Weil (1875–1976): Chicago's infamous Yellow Kid posed as bank presidents, inventors, millionaires, and scientists. “I have played more roles in real life than the average actor ever dreamed of.” Frank Abagnale, Jr. (born 1948): U.S. check forger and impostor turned FBI consultant, who impersonated a PanAm airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and a teacher to illegally make over $2.5 million. The 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can is based on his autobiography. Is there a term for this? Yup. Social engineering is the psychological manipulation of a person by a malicious attacker/s into performing actions or divulging confidential information for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access. It differs from a traditional “con” when it is one of many steps in a complex scheme. Social engineering techniques are based on specific attributes of human decision-making known as cognitive biases, aka “bugs in the human hardware” that are exploited to create attack techniques. Did you know that you risk being hacked when you use the forgot password function on websites that require login? An improperly secured password-recovery system can grant a malicious attacker full access to your account, and lock you out. The good news: Social engineering as a force for good can be in your future — to help you regain your confidence and control. When you use human hacking for good, you can become more empathetic, generous and kind, and leave people feeling better for having met you, says master hacker and social engineering pioneer and author Christopher Hadnagy, who is on this panel. We'll ask Chris Hadnagy, Ryan MacDougall, Maxie Reynolds and Shane McCombs for their take on The Future of Social Engineering: You As The Good Human Hacker!