"In 1749 hoaxers tried to gauge the gullibility of the public by seeing how many people would show up if they advertised that an impossible feat (jumping into a bottle) would be performed."

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Great_Bottle_Hoax_of_1749/

I stumbled on this after seeing the term 'Bottle Conjuror' in Moby Dick. Melville is actually using it to refer to someone being a drunk but as hoaxes go it's pretty much the shittest thing I've ever read.