Top 10 April Fool's Hoaxes

[mas]

From

television revealing that spaghetti grows on trees to advertisements

for the left-handed burger, the tradition of April Fool's Day stories

in the media has a weird and wonderful history.

Here are 10 of the

top April Fool's Day pranks ever pulled off, as judged by the San

Diego-based Museum of Hoaxes for their notoriety, absurdity, and number

of people duped.

-- In 1957, a BBC television show announced that thanks to a mild winter

and the virtual elimination of the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were

enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers pulling

strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a barrage of calls from people

wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti at home.

-- In

1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a story that a rookie

baseball pitcher who could reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers

per hour (168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York Mets. Finch

was said to have mastered his skill -- pitching significantly faster

than anyone else has ever managed -- in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans'

celebrations were short-lived.

-- Sweden

in 1962 had only one television channel, which broadcast in black and

white. The station's technical expert appeared on the news to announce

that thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could convert

their existing sets to receive color pictures by pulling a nylon

stocking over the screen. In fact, they had to wait until 1970.

-- In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, a historic symbol of American Independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.

Outraged citizens called to express their anger before Taco Bell

revealed the hoax. Then-White House press secretary Mike McCurry was

asked about the sale and said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had

also been sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial

after the automotive giant.

-- In 1977, British newspaper The

Guardian published a seven-page supplement for the 10th anniversary of

San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting

of several semicolon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the

geography and culture of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and

Lower Caisse.

-- In 1992, US National

Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon was running for president

again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I

won't do it again." They even had clips of Nixon announcing his

candidacy. Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing their

outrage. Nixon's voice actually turned out to be that of impersonator

Rich Little.

-- In 1998, a newsletter titled New Mexicans http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22New+Mexicans%22&sid=breitbart.com''>http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22New+Mexicans%22&sid=breitbart.com' mce_href="http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22New+Mexicans%22&sid=breitbart.com" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" title="">

for Science and Reason carried an article that the state of Alabama had

voted to change the value of pi from 3.14159 to the "Biblical value" of

3.0.

-- Burger King, another American fast-food chain, published a full-page advertisement

in USA Today in 1998 announcing the introduction of the "Left-Handed

Whopper," specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans.

According to the advertisement, the new burger included the same

ingredients as the original, but the condiments were rotated 180

degrees. The chain said it received thousands of requests for the new

burger, as well as orders for the original "right-handed" version.

--

Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly respected biologist, Aprile Pazzo

(Italian for April Fool), had discovered a new species in Antarctica:

the hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures were described as having

bony plates on their heads that became burning hot, allowing the

animals to bore through ice at high speed -- a technique they used to

hunt penguins.

-- Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore

announced on the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime

astronomical event, in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, would

cause a gravitational alignment that would reduce the Earth's gravity.

Moore told listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment

of the planetary alignment, they would experience a floating sensation. Hundred of people called in to report feeling the sensation.

(Note: The majority of those claiming to feel the sensation identified themselves as "audiophiles"... To which the researchers replied: "Was there ever any doubt?" Many are still jumping and claiming to feel the sensation long after the alignment has passed.)

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070329054603.f2i8t0mu&show_article=1&catnum=9

[DrWho]

Note: The majority of those claiming to feel the sensation identified themselves as "audiophiles"... To which the researchers replied: "Was there ever any doubt?" Many are still jumping and claiming to feel the sensation long after the alignment has passed.)

ROFL [Y][Y]

[mas]

I think they were heard muttering something about "imaging"...and "tubes" [*-)][]

[seti]

A girlfriend once told me she was pregnant on April 1st...... She thought it was hysterical when she said Happy Aprils Fools Day.. not funny.

[filmboydoug]

A girlfriend once told me she was pregnant on April 1st...... She thought it was hysterical when she said Happy Aprils Fools Day.. not funny.

A friend of mine pulled that stunt on her mom! And she left the poor woman on the hook for 4 hours. That was just mean.

[IndyKlipschFan]

Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly respected biologist, Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April Fool), had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures were described as having bony plates on their heads that became burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speed -- a technique they used to hunt penguins.

Naw that is Al GORE>.. The hot headed naked ice borer... everything else is I am sure true... bony plates....etc.. hahahahahaha

[tommyboy]

I told my wife that I was willing to agree with her, and get rid of my Klipsch's, and buy those cute little bose things that go so much better with the home decor, and are easy to hide to satisfy her needs. No more big, ugly speakers for her to complain about. She wasn't too happy when I told her April's fools!

[Amy]

I bought some patio furniture yesterday while I was out with a friend. The table is a fairly good size rectangle with a glass top, and not cheap.

Since I don't live too far from the store, we came up with a brilliant idea of stuffing everything into my smallish car that we possibly could...The table went about halfway into my trunk, and we tied it down with bungee cords. The rest of the space was stuffed with the patio seats. I waited at the store while my friend took everything to my house to drop it off, then come back and get me.

After waiting about 20 minutes, my cell phone rings. An ominous tone from my friend is on the line saying I have a million pieces of glass in my trunk and on the road after it shattered going over a bump.

HAHAHAHA.

That was sooooooooooooooo funny.

[jacksonbart]

A girlfriend once told me she was pregnant on April 1st...... She thought it was hysterical when she said Happy Aprils Fools Day.. not funny.

A friend of mine pulled that stunt on her mom! And she left the poor woman on the hook for 4 hours. That was just mean.

Wait I don't know much, but what little I know about the birds and bees, two women cannot concieve a child on thier own with out some scientific help, not to mention they are mother and daughter. Sounds like a sick joke.

[Tarheel]

A ninth grade teacher lectured us for an hour on the theories of Dr. Lirpa Loof and told us there would be a test the next day....so of course we all took notes as fast as we could and then at the very end of class she wrote his name on the board[:@]

Forty four years later I still remember that one.