Cornersteady replied on 19/11/2022 12:50
Posted on 19/11/2022 12:50
I'm sure if I asked this question just a short time ago many like me would have answered Alan MacMasters in 1893 or would have searched the internet. Indeed even the Bank of England had him shortlisted for one of their banknotes.
But it's all been a hoax! Alan MacMasters is still alive and aged only 30. apparently in 2012 the real Alan MacMasters as a joke made a Wiki entry and it was never discovered till just recently started by a Kent schoolboy. I just love this!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/the-reporters-63622746
Inventor who never was
Until recently, if you had searched for "Alan MacMasters" on Wikipedia, you would have found the same article that Adam did.
And who would have doubted it?
After all, like most Wikipedia articles, this one was peppered with references: news articles, books and websites that supposedly provided evidence of MacMasters' life and legacy. As a result, lots of people accepted that MacMasters had been real.
More than a dozen books, published in various languages, named him as the inventor of the toaster. And, until recently, even the Scottish government's Brand Scotland website listed the electric toaster as an example of the nation's "innovative and inventive spirit".
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Cornersteady
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