April Fool's Day: History of Hoaxes

Original Source:  Extraordinary Intelligence

extraordinaryintelligence.com/260/miscellaneous/history/history-of-april-fools-day/

Each year, April 1st rolls around and causes a mix of emotions.  Pranksters plan their attack weeks in advance, hoping to catch unaware those of us gullible enough to believe anything on this day.  People like me go on high alert…prepared for anything fishy that may come our way, and remain skeptical of all news until 11:59pm.

But, where the heck did April Fool’s Day come from?  Why do so many cultures around the globe celebrate this unofficial holiday?  No one really knows for certain, but there are a few theories.

One idea involves the changing of the Julian calender to the Gregorian by French King Charles IX, in 1582.  This officially changed the first of the year from April 1st to January 1st.  Those who refused to accept the new calender were considered “April Fools”, and people teased them, likely sending them on impossible missions, hence the name, “fool’s errand”.

Others speculate that April Fool’s Day has its origins in the days of Constantine.  It is said that on April 1st, Constantine put his court jester on the throne for the day.  He then declared April first to be “The day of Absurdity”.

While these seem to be the most popular theories, more exist.  Museumofhoaxes.com has an extensive list of possible historic and religious traditions that may have led to the celebration of April 1st as a day of fools.

So, what are some of the best April Fool’s Day pranks ever attempted?  Here are just a few:

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

In 1957, the BBC played a lovely prank on viewers by running a segment claiming that the Swiss were having a wonderful season for their Spaghetti harvest.  The segment featured images of limp spaghetti noodles hanging from trees, while happy Swiss farmers plucked them from the branches.  While this seems incredibly silly, BBC was apparently inundated with calls requesting information on how to plant a spaghetti tree to which they reportedly replied, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”  View the segment as it ran below:

Nixon’s Second Term

In 1992, “Talk of the Nation” a popular show on National Public Radio announced that Richard Nixon had decided to run for a second term.  His new slogan?  “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.”   Angry listeners flooded the station with calls, only to find out that it was a prank, and the voice of Nixon was played by impressionist Rich Little.

Alabama Changes the Value of Pi

This one cracks me up for it’s utter nerd factor.  The year is 1998.  New Mexicans for Science and Reason runs an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of Pi from  from 3.14159 to the ‘Biblical value’ of 3.0.

The article began to be spread via email and soon went viral.  Written by an apparently cheeky physicist named Mark Boslough,  the prank news item caused the Alabama legislature to be flooded with protests.   Love it!

For many more hilarious Famous April Fools Pranks (Fake UFO Landings, Flying Penguins and more!)… Keep Reading via the link Below.  Enjoy!

extraordinaryintelligence.com/260/miscellaneous/history/history-of-april-fools-day/

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