Picture from: http://www.windows.umich.edu
Giovanni Schiaparelli was an Italian
astronomer born in 1835. In 1877, he observed dark lines on Mars'
surface and concluded that they were "canali," complex irrigation canals
constructed by an advanced civilization. He spent years observing
Mars through an 8-inch telescope and drawing maps and charts of the canal
systems. 8 years after his initial findings, other astronomers confirmed
the presence of dark lines on Mars' surface. It became the accepted
belief in the scientific community that Mars was inhabited by highly intelligent
beings. Schiaparelli's findings triggered a boom in Mars-related
fiction, the beginnings of the science-fiction genre.
Picture from: http://www.windows.umich.edu
This area of Mars is known as the Schiaparelli region. Note the dark horzontal line that Schiaparelli mistook as canals.