Do you have any pranks or tricks planned for upcoming April Fool’s Day?
The first of April is known as a day of playfulness and trickery in many countries around the world.
It is not an official national holiday, but it is recognized by many people who play jokes and pranks on their family members, friends, coworkers, teachers, schoolmates and neighbors.
Also, many news networks and websites post silly and ridiculous materials on April Fools in order to prank their readers. Here are a few of the most outrageous April Fools hoaxes in recent history:
Royal Wedding Cancellation Scare
In April of 2011 the United Kingdom was focused on gearing up for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
On April 1st British news source the Guardian launched a fake website which claimed to give “live” coverage of the wedding preparations.
However, at 10am on April 1st they announced that the wedding had been cancelled!
The announcement caused an enormous panic throughout the country, and even caused Buckingham Palace to contact The Guardian and ask them to stop, claiming that the website could be contravening the Treason Felony Act of 1848. Oops!
The History of YouTube
Last April Fool’s Day, video sharing website Youtube completely changed their design to imply that the website was founded in 1911 and was celebrating its 100 year anniversary.
They even included a button on all of their videos which allowed users to change them into black and white silent films. A collection of videos which were “old-fashioned” spoofs of popular viral videos were posted.
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
This prank dates back to 1957 but it is still one of the most famous April Fool’s Day hoaxes as it was the very first time in history that the medium of television was used to perform an April Fool’s Day prank.
The British news show Panorama broadcast a short three-minute news clip about farmers experiencing a bumper crop of spaghetti in southern Switzerland.
The highly respected anchor of the show, Richard Dimbleby, provided the narration as the video footage showed a Swiss family pulling handfuls of pasta from “spaghetti trees.”
The news story sparked a lot of interest and hundreds of viewers phoned in asking if they could grow their own pasta at home. The BBC replied, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
To watch the spaghetti farmers at work, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ugSKW4-QQ
With these pranks in mind, what do you have planned to fool your family and friends this April Fool’s Day?