Some insisted the pyramids of Egypt ,were built by extraterrestrials, others that the Maya pyramids were raised by Jesus Christ during his North American sabbatical, and a substantial Minnesota contingent set to work doing the Lord's work by engraving mock runic inscriptions testifying to Lake Superior's discovery by Viking copper traders.
It goes on today, but its first century was chronicled by Peabody Museum Director Steve Williams in this cautionary book.
Nothing in it remains unrivaled by its lineal internet descendent,
Fantastic Climatology