FOOL PEOPLE WITH THESE GREAT GAGS!
April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day, though not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends and neighbors, or sending them on fools' errands, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.
HA HA! Free wine for all: The Norwegian newspaper "Bergens Tidende" announced in 1987 that the state alcohol monopoly had 10,000 litres of confiscated smuggler-wine. The inhabitants of Bergen were invited to the main store in town to receive their share of the goods, rather than spill good wine down the drain. That morning staff were met by about 200 men & women with bottles, buckets, and other suitable vessels for carrying the prized goods. It should be noted that in Norway alcohol is relatively expensive and has limited availability due to government legislation.
Origin
The origin of this custom has been much disputed, and many theories have been
suggested, e.g. that it is a farcical commemoration of Christ being sent from
Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod
back again to Pilate, the crucifixion having taken place about the 1st of April.
What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once
universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New
Year's day, the 25th of March, ended on the 1st of April. This view gains
support from the fact that the exact counterpart of April-fooling is found to
have been an immemorial custom in India. The festival of the spring equinox is
there termed the feast of Huli, the last day of which is the 31st of March, upon
which the chief amusement is the befooling of people by sending them on
fruitless errands.
It has been plausibly suggested that Europe derived its April-fooling from the
French. They were the first nation to adopt the reformed Gregorian calendar,
Charles IX in 1564 decreeing that the year should begin with the 1st of January.
Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature
of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those
who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair butts for those wits who
amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended
ceremony on the 1st of April.
However, it is unlikely that this explanation of April Fool's Day’s origin is
correct. Well before 1582 when King Charles IX of France brought in the new
Gregorian calendar, French and Dutch references from respectively 1508 and 1539
describe April Fool's Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of
April.
Though the 1st of April appears to have been anciently observed in Great Britain
as a general festival, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th
century that the making of April-fools was a common custom. In Scotland the
custom was known as "hunting the gowk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were
"April-gowks," the cuckoo being there, as it is in most lands, a term of
contempt. In France the person befooled is known as poisson d'avril. This has
been explained from the association of ideas arising from the fact that in April
the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. A far more natural explanation
would seem to be that the April fish would be a young fish and therefore easily
caught.
Superstitions
Traditionally, pranks are to be performed before noon. Those done afterwards are
supposed to bring bad luck to the perpetrator. This stipulation may have been
contrived by annoyed parents and school teachers wanting a respite from a full
day of pranks. Anyone who fails to respond with a sense of humor to the tricks
played on them is also said to be liable to suffer bad luck. It is said that one
fooled by a pretty girl will later marry, or at least become friends, with her.
It is believed that marriage on April Fools' Day is inadvisable for a man, for
he will be permanently ruled by his wife. Children born on this day will
experience good luck in most matters, except when it comes to gambling.
Hoaxes
Many media organizations have either unwittingly or deliberately propagated
hoaxes on April Fools' Day. Even normally serious news media consider April
Fools' Day hoaxes fair game, and spotting them has become an annual pastime. The
advent of the Internet as a worldwide communications medium has also assisted
the pranksters in their work.
Well-known hoaxes
Alabama Changes the Value of Pi: The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for
Science and Reason contained an article claiming that the Alabama state
legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi to the
"Biblical value" of 3.0.
Spaghetti trees: The BBC television program Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957,
showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A lot of people wanted
spaghetti trees of their own.
Left Handed Whoppers: In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that
people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed
to drip out the right side.
Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The
New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce
the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When asked about the
sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied with tongue in cheek that
the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the
Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
Lies to Get You Out of the House In 1985, the L.A. Weekly printed an entire page
of fake things to do on April Fools day, which hundreds of people were suckered
in by.
Kremvax: In 1984, in one of the earliest on-line hoaxes, a message was
circulated that Usenet had been opened to users in the Soviet Union.
San Serriffe: The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising this fictional
resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni),
and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to
learn that sans serif did not exist except as references to typeface
terminology.
FBI Crackdowns on On-line File Sharing of Music: Such announcements on April
Fools Day have become common.
Metric time: Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves
claiming that the time system will be changed to a one where units of time vary
by powers of 10.
Smell-o-vision: In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new
technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers.
Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success.
Tower of Pisa: The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the
Tower of Pisa had fallen. Many shocked and even mourning people contacted the
station.
Wrapping Televisions in Foil: In another year, the Dutch television news
reported that the government had new technology to detect unlicensed televisions
(in many European countries, television license fees fund public broadcasting),
but that wrapping a television in aluminum foil could prevent its detection.
Within a few hours, aluminum foil was sold out throughout the country.
Sidd Finch: George Plimpton wrote a 1985 article in Sports Illustrated about a
New York Mets prospect who could throw a 168 mph fastball with pinpoint
accuracy. This kid, known as "Barefoot" Sidd[hartha] Finch, reportedly learned
to pitch in a Buddhist monastery.
Assassination of Bill Gates: Many Chinese and South Korean websites claimed that
CNN reported Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, was assassinated.
Write Only Memory: Signetics advertised Write Only Memory IC databooks in 1972
through the late 1970s.
Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy! Double Switch: In 1997, Pat Sajak, the host of Wheel
of Fortune, traded hosting duties with Jeopardy!'s Alex Trebek for one show. In
addition to Sajak hosting Jeopardy!, he and co-host Vanna White appeared as
contestants on the episode of Wheel hosted by Trebek. White's position was
filled by Sajak's wife Leslie.
Comic strip switcheroo: Cartoonists of popularly syndicated comic strips draw
each others' strips. In some cases, the artist draws characters in the other
strip's milieu, while in others, the artist draws in characters from other
visiting characters from his own. Cartoonists have done this sort of
"switcheroo" in several years. The 1997 switch was particularly widespread.
The Trouble with Tracy: In 2003, The Comedy Network in Canada announced that it
would be producing and airing a remake of the 1970s Canadian sitcom The Trouble
with Tracy. The original series is widely considered to be one of the worst
sitcoms ever produced. Several media outlets fell for the hoax.
National Television Station (TVM) in Malta: In 1995, TVM announced the discovery
of a new underground prehistoric temple with a mummy. Another year, TVM
announced that Malta would adopt the European continent convention of driving on
the right-hand side of the road.
VeryCD: This P2Pweb site, one of the largest in China, announced in 2005 that it
had ceased operation without specifing a cause.
Free wine for all: The Norwegian newspaper "Bergens Tidende" announced in 1987
that the state alcohol monopoly had 10,000 litres of confiscated smuggler-wine.
The inhabitants of Bergen were invited to the main store in town to receive
their share of the goods, rather than spill good wine down the drain. That
morning staff were met by about 200 men & women with bottles, buckets, and other
suitable vessels for carrying the prized goods. It should be noted that in
Norway alcohol is relatively expensive and has limited availability due to
government legislation.
The Canadian news site bourque.org announced in 2002 that Finance Minister Paul
Martin had resigned "in order to breed prize Charolais cattle and handsome Fawn
Runner ducks." The Canadian dollar dropped to its lowest level in a month before
Martin's office debunked the hoax.
SARS Infects Hong Kong: In 2003 it was rumored that many people in Hong Kong had
become infected with SARS, that all immigration ports would be closed to
quarantine the region, and that Tung Chee Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
at that time, had resigned. Hong Kong supermarkets were immediately overwhelmed
by panicked shoppers. The Hong Kong government held a press conference to deny
the rumor. The rumor, which was intended as an April Fool's prank, was started
by a student by imitating the design of Ming Pao newspaper website. He was
charged for this incident.
China Decapitates Taiwan: In 2005, an undergraduate nicknamed SkyMirage, who was
well-known in Taiwan for his humor, fabricated a series of news that China's
airforce was bombarding Office of President, Taiwan.
The source of this article is
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