John Oliver, host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," uses his personal brand of comedy and insight to draw attention to hypocrisy and political failings. Oliver's rants against international soccer governing body FIFA spawned a spoof ad on Trinidad & Tobago TV and a well-reported look at corruption in the football federation. But now Oliver is using his talents to lie. A new Web video reveals some of Oliver's favorite historical "facts" and a book that may be released next year.

Oliver likes to take his points to extreme levels. When discussing the hypocrisy of televangelists, he went so far as to establish his own religion. He used that same strategy to create "Stranger Than Truth: John Oliver's 101 Favorite History Lies," a new book he claims will be released by Simon & Schuster in the spring. Oliver said he chose the publisher because they also produce books by Dr. Oz, who he claimed also releases books about things that sound factual but aren't. He could be lying about that, but he seemed pretty convincing.

"In my book, you'll find plenty of plausible but unverifiable nonsense," Oliver said. He cites facts about Paul Revere, the origins of Irish step dancing, Winston Churchill and Catherine the Great. Though Oliver admitted to getting great pleasure from lying, he still dropped in one fact that sounded like a complete fabrication but turned out to be completely true.

Oliver referenced that Saddam Hussein received a key to the city of Detroit, which actually happened in 1980. Hussein donated $450,000 to Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart, according to the Associated Press. Yasso traveled to Baghdad as a guest of Hussein and presented him with a key to Detroit.