The legend of Nessie dates all the way back to 565 AD, and is the popular Scottish tale of how St. Columba saved a man from the sea monster and sent the beast away by invoking the name of the lord.
But the modern-day myth of the Loch Ness Monster wasn't born until April of 1934 when the Daily Mail ran the above photo, which allegedly captured the beast on film.
Published 83 years ago this week, the image now known as the "surgeon's photograph" has become a deeply embedded part of Scottish lore. Reportedly taken by a London gynecologist traveling in the Scottish Highlands, it appears to show Nessie's neck and head peeking out above the water, and gave rise to the theory that the monster could be a plesiosaur, a long-necked aquatic reptile that somehow survived that species' extinction .
It also prompted a kind of Loch Ness mania with sighting after sighting of the sea creature. The New York Times alone mentioned the mythical creature 55 times that year.
In reality, it was all a set-up; the truth behind the hoax came out in 1994, when one of the perpetrators admitted to fabricating the monster from "plastic, wood, and a toy submarine."
But for true believers, the disproved photo does not discredit the myth. "It just means this photo is a hoax, along with the line that the monster is a plesiosaur," researcher David Martin, who uncovered the hoax in the first place, told the New York Times.
"There are thousands of eyewitness accounts, and they cannot be taken away."
Perhaps not, but the story of the famous photo is a useful reminder that the Daily Mail has been trafficking in viral content for almost a century. Every time your sneak over to the site to see the latest gossip and grainy paparazzi photos, remember the publication has long been expert at making you look.
As the digital director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers culture, entertainment, and a range of other subjects
