The Top 10 April Fools Pranks!

Happy April fools! This crazy monkey decided to take a look around cyberspace for the Top April Fools jokes ever pulled on people...A website called Museum of Hoaxes has compiled the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of all time!

Here's a look at the Top 10 pranks pulled:

1 - Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957 - BBC reported in 1957 on its news show Panorama that the Swiss were enjoying a plentiful and good Spaghetti harvest due to elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil. Footage of Swiss peasants pulling down spaghetti from trees was shown to add to the joke. I'm planting my seasonal Spaghetti crop as of this entry!

2 - Sidd Finch - In 1985, Sports Illustrated ran a story about Sidd Finch, a new rookie pitcher planning to play for the New York Mets. He could throw pitches up to an amazing 168 miles per hour! He was said to have mastered pitching in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans were overjoyed, flooding the magazin with requests for more info on their new hero. However, they were merely April Fools victims.

3 - Instant Color TV - Sweden had just one TV station in 1964, and its technical expert appeared on the air to announce an amazing thing. Viewers could convert their existing B&W sets to display color today, simply by pulling a nylon stocking over their TV screen. Thousands fell for the prank putting their TV in hose. Color broadcasts didn't start in Sweden til 8 years later.

4 - The Taco Liberty Bell - In this 1996 stunt, Taco Bell announced its purchase of the Liberty Bell, a huge marketing move. Many angry people called Philly's National Historic Park to complain, and luckily the sale was not real. Taco Bell and the Libery Bell are still two historic landmarks in the US.

5 - San Serriffe - The British newspaper, The Guardian, published a 7 page supplement in 1977 about San Seriffe. It was a small republic in the Indian Ocean which had semi-colon shaped islands. Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse were its main islands. Basically all the names of people and locations were named after printer's terms.


See the Toilet Monster at Prankplace! - Not recommended for the elderly or those with a weak heart.

6 - Nixon for President - A 1992 National Public Radio show announced that Richard Nixon was running for president yet again. "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again" was his campaign slogan, and as the radio played soundbytes of Nixon's speeches, angry calls flooded the station.

7 - Alabama Changes the Value of Pi - Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0 The story became viral and circulated all over via email and word of mouth. Today, PI remains at its normal value of 3.14159, everywhere.

8 - The Left Handed Whopper (1998) - Burger King ran a full page ad in USA Today newspaper announcing a special new menu item, the Whopper burger which was rotated 180 degrees for lefties. According to BK, 1000's of customers wrote to request a right-hand version as well.

9 - Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers - 1995's Discover magazine published an article saying a biologist, Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species: the Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers. These odd, mythical creatures were complete with bony plates on their heads which could become burning hot, allowing the crazy animals to bore through ice at high speeds. These do not exist folks, but if you see one, contact me!

10 - Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity - A British radio announcer fooled listeners in 1976 saying that Pluto would pass behind Jupiter at 9:47 AM. The announcer told listeners if they jumped in the air that exact moment, the Earth's gravitational pull would be lesser and they'd experience a floating sensation. Amongst hundreds of calls, a woman did report her and 11 friends floated out of their chairs.

Those are some crazy stunts! I'm hoping my owners don't try to fill me with helium or any other gases today, because that might not be too funny!

Remember to watch your backs and fronts today, you never know what someone may be trying to pull!

Source: Museum of Hoaxes