In a recent Washington Post Magazine, Arthur Allen recounted how newspapers went gaga over a "eugenic baby" born to a rich New York widow in 1928. She had supposedly sought out the best specimen of manhood and "coldly" coupled with him to ensure prime offspring.

As Allen discovered, the story was bunk: The mother had gotten pregnant during an affair with her best friend's husband. He was a notorious Communist. Her family may have spread the eugenic baby myth as a cover story.