Fromtelevisionrevealingthatspaghettigrowsontreestoadvertisementsfortheleft-handedburger,thetraditionofAprilFoolsDaystoriesinthemediahasaweirdandwonderfulhistory.
HereareseveralofthetoptenAprilFoolsDayprankseverpulledoff,asjudgedbytheUSwebsiteofMuseumofHoaxesfortheirnotoriety,absurdity,andnumberofpeopleduped.
Swissspaghettiharvesttopsthehoaxlist.In1957,aBBCtelevisionshowannouncedthatthankstoamildwinterandthevirtualeliminationofthespaghettiweevil,Swissfarmerswereenjoyingabumperspaghetticrop.FootageofSwissfarmerspullingstrandsofspaghettifromtreespromptedabarrageofcallsfrompeoplewantingtoknowhowtogrowtheirownspaghettiathome.
InstantcolorTVsetsinSwedencomesasthethird.Swedenin1962hadonlyonetelevisionchannel,whichbroadcastinblackandwhite.Thestationstechnicalexpertappearedonthenewstoannouncethatthankstoanewlydevelopedtechnology,viewerscouldconverttheirexistingsetstoreceivecolorpicturesbypullinganylonstockingoverthescreen.
USex-presidentNixonscomebackisplacedatsixth.In1992,USNationalPublicRadioannouncedthatRichardNixonwasrunningforpresidentagain.Hisnewcampaignsloganwas,"Ididn doanythingwrong,andIwon doitagain."TheyevenhadclipsofNixonannouncinghiscandidacy.Listenersfloodedtheshowwithcallsexpressingtheiroutrage.NixonsvoiceactuallyturnedouttobethatofimpersonatorRichLittle.
In1998,anewslettertitledNewMexicansforScienceandReasoncarriedanarticlethatthestateofAlabamahadvotedtochangethevalueofpifrom3.14159tothe"Biblicalvalue"of3.0.
BurgerKing,anAmericanfast-foodchain,publishedafull-pageadvertisementinUSATodayin1998announcingtheintroductionofthe"Left-HandedWhopper,"speciallydesignedforthe32millionleft-handedAmericans.Accordingtotheadvertisement,thenewburgerincludedthesameingredientsastheoriginal,butthecondimentswererotated180degrees.Thechainsaiditreceivedthousandsofrequestsforthenewburger,aswellasordersfortheoriginal"right-handed"version.
DiscoverMagazineannouncedin1995thatahighlyrespectedbiologist,AprilePazzo(ItalianforAprilFool),haddiscoveredanewspeciesinAntarctica:thehotheadednakediceborer.Thecreaturesweredescribedashavingbonyplatesontheirheadsthatbecameburninghot,allowingtheanimalstoborethroughiceathighspeed.
NotedBritishastronomerPatrickMooreannouncedontheradioin1976thatat9:47am,aonce-in-a-lifetimeastronomicalevent,inwhichPlutowouldpassbehindJupiter,wouldcauseagravitationalalignmentthatwouldreducetheEarthsgravity.Mooretoldlistenersthatiftheyjumpedintheairattheexactmomentoftheplanetaryalignment,theywouldexperienceafloatingsensation.Hundredsofpeoplecalledintoreportfeelingthesensation.
