The Piltdown hoax history and its importance in convincing the world of evolution is reviewed. Compelling evidence existed from the beginning that the find was a hoax or, at the very least, did not provide support for human evolution. Yet, the Piltdown was touted for decades as one of the most important evidences of human evolution by textbooks, articles and major first class museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York.The hoax is an excellent illustration of the difficulties inherent in drawing conclusions about evolution from the fossil record. It was concluded that the hoax served to convince many people of the validity of Darwinism and its final definitive exposure probably did little to alter the views of most Darwinists.