Walking across the North Sea

On April 2, 1868 when leaflets were circulated in Sunderland (UK) announcing that Professor de Grieves from Havre in France would walk across the North Sea to demonstrate his “patent Kamptulicon boots”.

The event was cleverly staged on April 2, and not on April 1, so it seemed less suspicious.
People fell for the practical joke largely because an apparently genuine and very similar event was told to have happened three decades before.

In 1838 a man “walking on the sea” happened off Sunderland’s piers, with thousands of spectators, although this only survived in oral tradition and distant memories. So in 1868 thousands of people believed it.

Around 10,000 people gathered at Sunderland’s piers. A steam tug heavily overloaded with passengers, had seized a business opportunity and charged sixpence a head for the unique privilege of a sea view of the professor.

Smaller craft of all kinds had also put to sea, waiting for the appearance of the man himself in order to accompany him on his walk out to sea.

But there was no sign of the professor. Gradually, realisation dawned on the onlookers that they’d been fooled.

So till now walking on water seems to be only done in imagination. But who knows… one day, although better not to plan it during the first days of April.

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