Wikipedia

List of hoax commemorative plaques

This is a list of hoax commemorative plaques on permanent public display in locations around the world.

Europe

edit
Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates		 DateArtist / designerTypeDesignation Notes
Angel Alley and Surrounds Angel Alley, London, United Kingdom

51°30′58″N 0°04′14″W / 51.515998°N 0.0705101°W / 51.515998; -0.0705101		 2007[1]Eames Demetrios[2] ANGEL ALLEY AND SURROUNDS

A generation of generations ago, at the time of the Rockall Ascendancy, most of this area, owned by the Royal Family of distant Rockall, was a fiefdom of filth and wretchedness. It was here, searching for her sister, that the formidable Esther Tabran clearly saw Crown Prince Jyorge furtively step out of Georges Yard that lethal morning. Too late to save Martha, Esther’s unbridled and unrepentant outrage was a key link in the chain that left the once mighty empire a mere rump of rock accenting the sea. Discover Endlen Kymhuir. PLAQUE PLACED BY KYMAERICAPROJECT.CO.UK[1]

Raven Bjorn 17/18 Catford Broadway, London, SE6, United Kingdom

51°26′43″N 0°01′18″W / 51.445333°N 0.0218021°W / 51.445333; -0.0218021		 2021[3][4]Tara Tsuruta[5] Heritage of Catwanda

RAVEN BJORN 1899 - 1934 Star of stage and screen lived here 1917 - 1922[6]

Roger Bucklesby Undisclosed park in North London, United Kingdom)[7]

Undisclosed		 August 2013Jamie Maslin[8] In memory of

Roger Bucklesby. Who hated this park, and everyone in it.

Katherine Ford 17/18 Catford Broadway, London, SE6, United Kingdom

51°26′43″N 0°01′18″W / 51.445333°N 0.0218021°W / 51.445333; -0.0218021		 2021[3][4]Tara Tsuruta[9] Heritage of Catwanda

KATHERINE FORD 1900-1978 Actress and social reformer lived here 1917-1922[6]

Jacob von Hogflume multiple (Originally at 11 Golden Square, London, United Kingdom)[10]

51°30′41″N 0°08′15″W / 51.5113264°N 0.1376076°W / 51.5113264; -0.1376076		 2012Dave Askwith and Alex Normanton English Heritage

JACOB VON HOGFLUME 1864-1909 Inventor of time travel lived here in 2169[11]

Llandegley International Airport A44 road, between Crossgates and Cefnllys, United Kingdom[12]

52°16′27″N 3°19′35″W / 52.2742151°N 3.3265191°W / 52.2742151; -3.3265191		 2002Nicholas Whitehead[12] Llandegley International

Terminals 1 and 3 For Airport Café, follow signs for Terminal 1. 2 1⁄2m

Carswell Prentice 118 Hillfield Ave, London, United Kingdom

51°35′04″N 0°07′06″W / 51.584496°N 0.1182126°W / 51.584496; -0.1182126		 unknownunknown The Society for the Promotion of Historic Buildings

Carswell Prentice 1891-1964 inventor of the supermarket trolley stayed here in September 1932[13][14][11]

Father Pat Noise O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, Ireland

53°20′50″N 6°15′34″W / 53.347248°N 6.259447°W / 53.347248; -6.259447		 Christmas 2004[15][16]Two brothers from a village near Blessington[15] THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES

FR. PAT NOISE ADVISOR TO PEADAR CLANCEY. HE DIED UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN HIS CARRIAGE PLUNGED INTO THE LIFFEY ON AUGUST 10TH 1919. ERECTED BY THE HSTI

Meteorite fall Whitworth Park, Manchester, United Kingdom

53°27′32″N 2°13′48″W / 53.458978°N 2.229936°W / 53.458978; -2.229936		 2015Cornelia Parker[17] METEOR FALL

HERE IN THIS PARK ON THE NIGHT OF FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2015 A METEORITE LANDED AND WAS LOST[18]

Armorial bearings of the unrecognized microstate of the Principality of Thomond 5 Charlemont Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

53°19′57″N 6°15′48″W / 53.3324487°N 6.2631978°W / 53.3324487; -6.2631978		 1949[19]Raymond Moulton O'Brien Irish (in Gaelic script): Laṁ láidir an Uaċtar

(English: The Strong Hand from Above)[20]

Nothing Multiple sites around the world[21][22][23]
(including behind the Connemara Giant statue at Glendollagh Lough in Recess, County Galway, Ireland)

53°28′00″N 9°44′21″W / 53.466731°N 9.739157°W / 53.466731; -9.739157		 1980 (earliest reported date of same plaque in the United States)[24]unknown ON THIS SITE IN 1897 NOTHING HAPPENED.
Nothing Multiple sites around the world[25][26][27]
(including Aspelt, Luxembourg)

49°31′36″N 6°13′31″E / 49.526528°N 6.225306°E / 49.526528; 6.225306		 unknownunknown ON THIS SITE SEPT. 5, 1782 NOTHING HAPPENED.
Nothing Bechyně, Czech Republic

49°17′30″N 14°28′13″E / 49.2917674°N 14.4702616°E / 49.2917674; 14.4702616		 unknownunknown Czech: Zde v tomto domě se nenarodil, nežil, ale hlavně nezemřel žádný významný člověk a proto se nám tady dobře žije.

(English: In this house, no important person was born, lived, and most importantly did not die, and that is why we live well here)

Nothing Záblatí-Hlásná Lhota, Czech Republic

48°58′54″N 13°56′08″E / 48.9816°N 13.9356°E / 48.9816; 13.9356		 unknownunknown Czech: Hlásná Lhota – kámen, v jehož okolí se prokazatelně několik set let nic významného nestalo.

(English: Hlásná Lhota – a stone in whose surroundings nothing significant has demonstrably happened for several hundred years)

Jára Cimrman Míšov, Czech Republic

49°36′42″N 13°44′07″E / 49.61167°N 13.73528°E / 49.61167; 13.73528		 unknownunknown Czech: Dne 8. 5. 1915 obec Míšov. Český génius světového významu Jára Cimrman těsně minul

(English: On 8 May 1915 in Míšov, the great Czech genius Jára Cimrman just barely missed being involved in something historically important)

North America

edit
Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates		 DateArtist / designerTypeDesignation Notes
Ry Brauer High Falls, New York, United States

41°49′38″N 74°07′26″W / 41.827222°N 74.123889°W / 41.827222; -74.123889		 August 2013Norm Magnusson[28] ON THIS SITE STOOD RY BRAUER, TYPICAL AMERICAN TEEN, BY THE AGE OF 18, HE HAD WITNESSED OVER 30,000 MURDERS ON TV. (EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, 2007)
Nothing Multiple sites around the world
(including O'Hungry's Café, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, California, United States)

32°45′11″N 117°11′45″W / 32.753171°N 117.195861°W / 32.753171; -117.195861		 1980 (earliest reported date of same plaque in the United States)[29]unknown ON THIS SITE IN 1897 NOTHING HAPPENED.

Oceania

edit
Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates		 DateArtist / designerTypeDesignation Notes
Nothing Undisclosed location in York, Western Australia, Australia

31°53′17″S 116°46′04″E / 31.888090°S 116.767800°E / -31.888090; 116.767800		 1980 (earliest reported date of same plaque in the United States)[30]unknown ON THIS SITE IN 1897 NOTHING HAPPENED.

South America

edit
Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates		 DateArtist / designerTypeDesignation Notes
Nothing and no-one Carrera 9, Villa de Leyva, Boyacá Department, Colombia

5°38′05″N 73°31′17″W / 5.634819°N 73.521492°W / 5.634819; -73.521492		 unknownunknown El 13 de octubre de 1825 en esta casa no pasó nada, ni nació nadie importante (English: On October 13, 1825, nothing happened in this house, nor was anyone important born)

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. 1 2 "Angel Alley and Surrounds". kcymaerxthaere.com. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "About". kcymaerxthaere.com. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 Ford, Sam Wilson (17 November 2021). "Fake plaques "whitewashing our history", say opponents". londonnewsonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Lives of Kathrine and Raven". thequeenofcatford.org. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  5. ↑ "Raven Bjorn. Fictitious actor". plaquesoflondon.co.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 "The plaque". thequeenofcatford.org. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Haynes, Tom (17 March 2022). "The real story behind London's funniest park bench dedicated to a man who hated the park and everyone in it". mylondon.news. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  8. ↑ Phillips, Tom (3 September 2013). "The Roger Bucklesby Bench Plaque Is Real, Sort Of". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  9. ↑ "Katherine Ford. Fictitious actor". plaquesoflondon.co.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "Jacob von Hogflume (1864-1909)". openplaques.org. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  11. 1 2 Eliot, Henry (4 September 2018). "Don't attack plaques – they are vital signs of our collective imagination". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  12. 1 2 Charles, Sue (13 November 2022). "Man ends 20-year Llandegley airport sign joke that cost £25k". BBC News. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "Fictitious Characters and Places". plaquesoflondon.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Carswell Prentice 1891–1964 inventor of the supermarket trolley stayed here in September 1932". openplaques.org. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  15. 1 2 Boland, Rosita (13 May 2006). "What's the crack with the plaque?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Mystery plaque to be removed from O'Connell Bridge". The Irish Examiner. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "@WhitworthArt Official Twitter account". twitter.com. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Meteor Fall in Whitworth Park?". geograph.org.uk. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  19. ↑ Aan de Wiel, Jérôme (2007). "The Principality of Thomond and His Royal Highness Raymond Moulton Seághan O'Brien, 1936–1963; Ireland's Greatest Diplomatic Farce" (PDF). North Munster Antiquarioan Journal. 47: 95–109.
  20. ↑ Comerford, Patrick (3 June 2011). "Bloom-like walks and the story of the 'Prince of Thomond'". patrickcomerford.com. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  21. ↑ "Unhistory - A suspiciously long prepositional phrase wasn't the..." Chicago Tribune. 11 November 1990. Retrieved 28 April 2026. A suspiciously long prepositional phrase wasn't the only irregularity that tipped a journalism grad student onto a mystery at Northwestern University. Mounted on a large rock on the Evanston campus, a bronze plaque reading "On this site in 1897 nothing happened" perplexed Dean Anason, a new student.
  22. ↑ Taylor, Don (19 April 2016). ""In 1897 Nothing Happened..." 'cept a Shipwreck". Don Taylor Genealogy. Retrieved 28 April 2026. One of my wife's nieces lives here in Scarborough (Maine). On her house, she has a sign which reads, "On This Site in 1897 Nothing Happened." I know her home was built in the 1980s, as was most of her neighborhood...
  23. ↑ A. Crane, Susan. "Nothing Happened - A History". Stanford University Press. Retrieved 28 April 2026. Late-twentieth-century faux historical markers asserted that "on this site in 1897 nothing happened."
  24. ↑ "Interview". Frederick News. 28 November 1980. p. E1.
  25. ↑ Browning, Bess (18 January 2016). "Graham and Julie Holbrook erect joke plaque on their historic home in Abbey Street, Faversham". Kent Online. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  26. ↑ Taylor, Alan (15 January 2014). "The case for Doyle's home city feting author". The Herald. Retrieved 28 April 2026. The first I found was intriguing but unilluminating. "On this site Sept 5, 1782," it said, "nothing happened." A few doors along, however, there was another plaque...
  27. ↑ "Honest about my faith – Nothing happened? + Graeme Ross – Hero by Kutless". Rob Scholte Museum. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2026. I did a quick Google search to try to find out the story behind the sign and it turns out that it is just something you can buy online. My search showed pictures taken in other parts of the UK where this sign had been put up.
  28. ↑ Horrigan, Jeremiah (2 January 2012). "Ulster artist's fake 'historic markers' make you think". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  29. ↑ "Interview". Frederick News. 28 November 1980. p. E1.
  30. ↑ "Interview". Frederick News. 28 November 1980. p. E1.
  31. ↑ "VIDEO: The Simpsons visit Tiananmen Square". ABC News. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2026. The Simpsons family visits Bejing's Tiananmen Square where they come across a plaque that reads "On this site, in 1989, nothing happened".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_hoax_commemorative_plaques&oldid=1351545282"