Here are 10 of the greatest April Fool hoaxes of all time.
1. The Spaghetti Harvest
In April, 1957 the BBC news show Panorama announced that Switzerland was enjoying a bumper spaghetti harvest. This was due to the mild winter and to the measures that had been taken to eliminate the spaghetti weevil. Swiss peasants were shown harvesting spaghetti from trees. The story was widely believed, and some viewers called the show to ask how they could grow a spaghetti tree in their gardens.
2. Instant color TV
In 1962, a technician called Knell Stensson appeared on Swedish television (which at that time was in black and white only) and announced to viewers that they would henceforth be able to take advantage of a new technology to instantly transform their picture to color. He demonstrated how to do it. All the viewer had to do was stretch a nylon stocking over the screen.
3. The Islands of San Serriffe
In 1977 the Guardian newspaper in England published a series of articles about a small republic in the Indian Ocean called San Serriffe, a collection of small semi-colon shaped islands, of which the two main islands were called Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Many readers contacted the newspaper to ask how they could book a holiday there.
4. The Alabama Value of Pi
In 1998 it was announced that the Alabama State Legislature had voted to change the value of the number pi (the ratio of the circumference and diameter of a circle) from 3.1412... to the Biblical value of 3, and that it would be mandatory to use pi = 3 in all state schools. The news spread very quickly across the internet, causing many angry protests.
5. The Left Handed Whopper
Also in 1998 Burger King announced that, in order to cater for the needs of a significant minority in the population, they were to launch the Left Handed Whopper. This was a hamburger, identical to the normal Whopper, except that all the ingredients were rotated through 180 degrees to make it easier for left handed people to eat it. Thousands of people went into Burger King to order it.
6. The Decrease of Gravity
In 1976 the well-known astronomer Patrick Moore announced that at precisely 9.47 AM there would be a planetary alignment in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, causing a temporary decrease in the Earth's gravity. He explained that if people jumped into the air at that exact moment, they would experience a "floating sensation." Many people tried it, and some reported that they floated around the room for several minutes.
7. Internet Cleaning
In 1997 an email was circulated all over world containing an announcement that the Internet was to be shut down for cleaning from March 31 to April 2. This was necessary to get rid of all the "electronic flotsam and jetsam" that had accumulated. The enormous operation would be performed by powerful robot crawlers designed by a Japanese company, and would clear out any dead emails and inactive sites. Users were warned to disconnect all devices from the internet.
8. Mating Squirrels
In 1993 a German radio station announced a new regulation in the city of Cologne. All joggers in the city's parks were to be subject to a speed limit of 6 mph, in order not to disturb the squirrels, who were in their mating season.
9. M25 One Way System
In 1991 it was announced that a new system would be introduced to ease congestion on the M25 circular motorway around London. Under the scheme, all traffic would go in the same direction, thus doubling the capacity of the road. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday all traffic would travel clockwise, on Tuesday and Thursday it would go anticlockwise, and at the weekend the traffic would proceed as normal. Many people protested strongly to the government about the new ruling.
10. Channel Tunnel Miss
In 1990 it was reported that the Channel Tunnel project, which was already suffering from huge cost overruns, would face another big additional expense caused by a colossal engineering blunder. Apparently the two halves of the tunnel, being built simultaneously from the coasts of France and England, would miss each other by 14 feet. The error was attributed to the fact that French engineers had insisted on using metric measurements. The mistake would reportedly cost $14 billion to fix.
