Many of us are aware of April fools day pranks and might even pull a few of our own. Theres the classic kick me signs, the farting woopie cushions, and fake bug pranks. Some people might put an air horn under a chair that will be set off when someone sits down or replace Oreo cream with tooth paste or plastic wrap a door way. You might even make prank social media statuses. But compared to those pranks, these are on a whole other level. April Pranks have been a thing since at 18th century, so over the years there have truly been some crazy April Fools Day pranks.
1. Weight Loss Socks
In 2000 the "Daily Mail" reveled that the Esporta Health Clubs has launched a new brand of socks that are designed to help the wearer lose weight. Fatsox socks sucked body fat from the sweat in your feet. After sweating out the fat, you can wash the socks and the fat away for ever.
2. Pine Trees Grow Oranges?!
People out for a drive along the scenic rim of the world highway near Lake Arrowhead in Southern California in 1950 saw that all the pine and cedar trees in the area have grown oranges over night. The transformation was done by residents of the near by town of Skyforest and was lead by cartoonist Frank Adams. The night be for April Fool's Day they put 50,000 oranges in the trees along a one mile part of the high way.
3. Unicorn For Dinner
In 2012, The British Library on its Medieval Manuscripts blog announced that they found a recipe for cooking unicorn in a medieval cook book. They shared the step by step instructions and even showed the illustrations that the book had which showed how a unicorn should be grilled. The book was compiled by Geoffrey Fule who worked for the queen of England from 1328 to 1369. It was all sadly a prank. It would of been cool to have actual proof of unicorns being real in the past.
4. Wave of Frogs
Front page of the witchita Daily Eagle newspaper in 1906 claimed that a 11 foot tall wave was moving south down the Arkansas River and at the same time millions of frogs were migrating north up the river. The frog and wave were to meet at 10Am. Thousands of Kansas residents showed up to witness this once in a life time event but after 3 hours of waiting, they realized what day it was and went back to their homes.
5. Viagra For Pets
The Independent in 2000 published that researchers in Florida have invented a Viagra pill that is safe for animals. If your pet is sexually frustrated, you can grind up this pill and add it into their food. The pills were marketed under the name Feralmone.
6. Big Ben Goes Digital
In 1980, the BBC's overseas news service reported that Big Ben was going to get renovations to become a digital clock. In the segment included people recalling moments in history about Ben such as when it chimed 13 instead of 12 and about the day it stopped working. They also announced that the clock hands would be given away to the first four callers who called in since they would no longer need them. The BBC was shocked when they were getting calls in from furious listeners and a Japanese seaman who wanted one of the hands. The BBC had to spend several days saying sorry to all the listeners that they outraged.
7. Man Eating Piranhas In New York
In a Syracuse Post Standard article by Bob Peel in 1974, as a warning for fisherman, it is said that there was an accidental mix up in which several dozen man eating piranhas were released with the thousands of trout set free for the trout fishing season. It was said the piranhas could eat a whole ox in less than 5 minutes. The article said at the end of it that it wasn't true but it still some how made it on the televised news. WSYR-TV reported the story to warn its viewers causing fear to spread across the country. Bob Peel reportedly had to spend days after that answering calls and reassuring people that there were not piranhas loose in the waters of upstate New York.
8. Live Pig Lard
In 1921, the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung reported that a German farmer has developed a method to get lard from live pigs by operating on the pigs to remove rashers then bandaging up the pigs and letting them heal. The operation could be done three times a year on each pig and was made possible by novocaine. The story was widely reprinted in American and British papers. It was a full year until they realized that they were reprinting an April Fools Day joke. The farmer was said to live in Schleichegrieben which is not even a real place. Even sillier, when translated, it supposedly meant "sneaking bacon".
9. Breeding Wooly Mammoths
In the April 1984 issue of MIT's Technology Review included an article that claimed that soviet scientists were attempting to being wooly Mammoths out of extinction by taking DNA found frozen in Siberian ice and inserting it into elephant cells. The cells were then going to be put into surrogate elephant mothers. The story was then reported by Chicago Tribune several weeks later as a real story and then again in Family weekly which was published in over 350 newspapers. Family Weekly later apologized fro their "Mammoth Mistake"
10. Spaghetti Trees
In 1957, the BBC program Panorama showed the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A large people ended up calling in asking how they can get themselves a spaghetti tree.
The Making Of The Spaghetti Tree Prank - BBC News
The Spaghetti Tree Program That Fooled Hundreds
11. These Flying Liars
British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told BBC Radio listeners in 1976 that, because of the alignment of two planets, gravity pull would make people lighter at 9:47am. he invited the listeners to jump in the air at this time to experience "a strange floating sensation" Hundreds called in to say that it worked for them. One woman even claimed that her and and her friends were "wafted from their chairs and orbited gently around the room."
12. Fake Bombs
In 1915, a British pilot flew over the German occupied Lille Aerodrome and dropped what looked like to be a big bomb. The German soldiers ran out of the way immediately but no explosion happened. It turns out that it was just a football with a note that ironically read "April Fool - Gott Strafe England!" Gott Strafe England was a slogan used by the German army in the first World War which meant "May God punish England.".
13. Smellovision
BBC TV in 1965 interviewed a London University professor who had perfected a device called Smellovision that allowed scents to be smelled over the airwaves. This new technology would allow tv watchers to be able to smell aromas from the tv in their own homes. The professor demonstrated by putting some coffee beans and onions into his smellovision device and asked viewers to report if they could smell it. Many viewers called in from across the country to say that they did in fact smell it. Some even said the onions made their eyes water. The power of suggestion can actually be pretty powerful.
14. Taco Bell Buys The Liberty Bell
In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full page advertisement in The New York Times to announce that they have bought the Liberty Bell to reduce the country's debt and they were renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historical Park in Philadelphia to express their anger. A few hours later revealed that it was just a practical joke.
15. Whistling Carrots
The British supermarket chain Tesco ran an ad in The Sun in 2002 that they genetically modified carrots to grow with air holes on the side. When fully cooked, the air holes caused the carrots to make a "97 decibel signal" to indicate that they are done. 97 decibels is the equivalent of a jack hammer.
16. Thomas Edison Ends World Hunger!
After Edison invented the Phonograph, people believed that Thomas Edison could do anything. So when the New York Graphic announced on April fools day in 1878 that Edison invented a machine that could turn dirt directly into cereal and water into wine, thus ending world hunger issues, there were many believers. News paper though out America shared the story and gave Thomas Edison huge amounts of praise. However it was just a prank and we still have world hunger on Earth.
17. The Tomato Cow
In 1983, New Scientist ran an article about the first successful animal and plant hybrid when they combined a cow with a tomato. Their new creation had "tough leathery skin" and grew "discus shaped" clumps of animal protein sandwiched between an envelope of tomato. The article made it pretty clear that it was a joke with the researchers being named MacDonald and Wimpey with them working at the University of Hamburg. However, not everyone picked up on it being a joke. The Brazilian science magazine Veja wrote about the cow tomato hybrid several weeks later. They decided to call it a "Boimate" and included an Illustration on how the cow tomato hybrid process happened. After being made fun of harshly by the Brazilian media, they eventually apologized.
18. The Left Handed Whopper
In 1998, Burger King published a full page ad in USA Today to announce the introduction of their new menu item; the left handed whopper. 32 million left handed people live in the US so keeping them in mind, they specifically designed this menu item to accommodate them. The new whopper had the same ingredients as the original whopper but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees to benefit the left handers. The fallowing day, Burger King revealed that it was a hoax. However before the fallow up, thousands of customers requested a left handed whopper.
19. Lung Powered Flying Machine
In 1934, many American news papers, including The New York Times, printed a picture of a man flying though the air by using a device powered only by breathing. Blowing into a box activated rotors which created a powerful suction effect and lifted him up in the air. He had skis on his feet to us as landing gear and he also had a tail fin to steer with. The flying man in the photo was said to be identified as German pilot Erich Kocher. However, all of this was a hoax and America did not realize it. Originally the photo was published in the April fools edition of "Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung" but its made its way to the USA thanks to Hearst's International News Photo Agency. The pilot's name is even a pun which we also missed. Erich Kocker was a play on the German word "keuchen" which means to puff or wheeze which is what the flying man would of been doing had the story been true.
20. Nixon For President Again
National Public Radio's Talk Of The Nation in 1992 revealed that Richard Nixon was planning to run for president again with his new slogan being "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." with the announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Calls flooded in with outrage and shock in response to this. But during the second half of the show it was revealed to be an April Fools day prank and the Nixon voice was impersonated by Rich Little.
21. Washing The Lions
In the 18th and 19th century, it was a popular prank in London to invite people to the watch the annual washing of the lions ceremony at the Tower Of London. Some pranks claimed that the lions would be washed in the moat and other variations told people to use the non existent white gate. However, there is no lion washing ceremony so their journey there was for nothing. This is actually the earliest recorded April Fools joke. The April 2nd 1698 issue of Dawk's News- Letter even wrote about the event to further share their foolishness; "Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed." The prank became so official that fake tickets would even sometimes get made up for the annual lion washing.
22. The Procession Of The Animals
On April 1st 1866, several hundred people show up at the gates of the London Zoological Society demanding to be allowed in. However it was also Easter Sunday so they were closed but the crowd wasn't going to give up that easy. They showed the guard their tickets and continued to demand that they let them in. They spent a penny each a ticket and each ticket was admission for Easter Sunday to watch the procession of the animals at 3. The guards did their best to explain that they were all victims of an April Fools prank but the crowed just got more angry and continued to demand to see the animals parade around since they paid for the tickets. The crowd began to riot and an extra force of constables had to come to disperse the crowd. After an investigation, it was found that the seller of the tickets was bookseller Mrs Sarah Marks. They originally pressed charges against her but after she wrote a letter to apologize they dropped the charges.
23. The Monster Of Deadman's Hole
In 1888, The San Diego Union reported that two hunters killed a creature that looked to be part bear and part human in a location called Deadman's Hole. The animal had the body of a bear, stood up right and had the face of a human. The hunters planned to bring the body to San Diego to have the body on public display. The next day the paper said "throughout the day the police station was visited by a number of persons who were anxious to view the body of the strange being that was reported killed. They were told to come in next April Fool's day and see it."
24. Heavenly Stock
In 1912, Henry Benjamin visited a restaurant and payed the waiter in a piece of paper that said "Good for one share of stock in Heaven". He payed the barber for a shave in the same way. He was later taken away by police for attempting to pay heaven stock for a $44 clothing bill.
25. Giant Snail Farm
The Daily Truth in Elkheart Indiana in 1927 informed its readers that a local farm was going to raise giant snails that come from Australia. These snails can grow up to two feet tall and have many uses. They claimed that the snail steak was a delicacy in Europe and New York. The snails also could move up to 4 miles and hour so they were good for racing. And left over shells could make great dog houses. The story was reprinted in several newspapers as real.
26. Giant Grass Hopper
The Dutch Magazine Het Leven in 1929 reported that the Hague zoo was getting a grass hopper and even included a photo to fool its readers.
27. Joined At The Beard
28. Insane Mixed Breed Dog
In 1962, The Appleton Post Crescent reported that an odd half dog half reptile creature was found by local resident Lester E Grube. The animal had the head and fore legs of a dog and body and tail of a reptile. Lester worked for the paper and got calls all day from people who wanted to the animal.
29. Fake Wedding
In 1978, Adrain Fisher and Charles Gutierrez of Chicago invited 25 friends to their wedding. However it was just a prank. At the reception fallowing the wedding, everyone was given a poem;
"We don't want you to forget the date.
Its April First 1978.
Now that the wedding knot has been tied,
We have to tell you that we lied.
Don't be angry, don't be mad,
We hate to say it but you've been had.
We meant no harm, so keep it cool,
We hate to say it, but April fool!"
The reason for this fake wedding was to teach their friends to stop spreading rumors that they were a serious item when in reality they haven't even had one date.
30. Grow Your Own Computer
Microsense ran an ad in The Guardian in 1981 to introduce the Apple Pip. The Pip was only 3/4" high which you can grow to full size in just 7 days in your own garden. Sow Apple PIp in soil and cover lightly with a mulch of old unpaid invoices, inaccurate stock control sheets and out dating sales forecasts. In two days you can expect to see a monitor screen make surface and in 7 days the computer will be fully grown and ready to use. Wait three more days and it will run to seed. In practically no time, you can equip every branch of your business from just one Pip.
31. Cheesy Hot Springs
NPR's All Things Considered ran a segment in 1983 about the threat of extinction that Vince Lombardi Fondue is facing. It is the last surviving natural spring of fondue cheese in the United States. For years, fondue springers were a point of pilgrimage for the cheese communicants but now the Cheese Watch Society warned that the cheese pocket was reducing. So the society recommended the use of a force of highly trained cheese rangers to control visitors. If steps aren't taken, all cheese would soon be gone.
32. Population Control
In 1985 Glastonbury Connecticut's The Rivereast News Bulletin announced that to eliminate overcrowding in class rooms, families were forbidden from having more than .75 children per a household for the next 15 years. While the board of ed has not found a way to make this possible but a computer claimed this was the ideal number.
33. Classical Rock Station
In 1991, Seattle Rock Station KISW changed its format to playing both classical music and rock for one day. For April Fools they claimed to be "Seattle's best mix of 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and today".
34. Advertising On The Moon
In 2001, NPR's All Things Considered introduced California based company LunarCorp. LunarCorp had a powerful laser that could project images onto the service of the moon. They planned to this laser to project ads onto the moon to use it as the ultimate billboard.
I honestly could see this happening one day but back in 2001 it was just an April fools joke.
35. French Fry Ban
In 2003 the BBC reported that school lunch authorities in the UK have banned Chips/french fries from school because it is unhealthy. Government food expert Professor Steve P.U. Denton acknowledged that while the new ban would be unpopular, it would be healthy for the. The head of the UK Chip Authority, Fry Smith slammed the move saying that he couldn't understand why chips have come in for special treatment.
36. Wardrobe Malfunction
In 2004 Visitors found the Ask Jeeves butler dressed in boxers and under shirt instead of his normal posh suit. The company claimed that his new look was due to a wardrobe malfunction.
Two years later, the ask Jeeves character was retired and they changed their name to Ask.com. Honestly I miss that posh butler. I have good memories of asking him things. He could help me with my homework when my parents couldn't or when my parents also didn't know the answers to things that I didn't know. He was a great help and made learning new things fun.
37. Cheap Mars Vacation
Travel site Expedia.com announced in 2009 that it was offering flights to Mars for only $99. With a $3 trillion dollars saving, you can't afford not to go.
38. The Youtube DVD Collection
For April fools day in 2012, claimed that you could get every youtube video ever uploaded in a collection of DVD that could be shipped to your house. At the start it would take 175 trucks to deliver your discs but after that, a truck would have to arrive each week with new DVDs. The benefit of this would be you can watch them while off line or if you don't have internet. And if you so chose to write a comment, you can fill out a comment form, and mail it to give the creator direct feedback on their video.
39. Learning A New Language Over Night
In 2016, Language learning app Duolingo offered pillows for $99 that could a person French, Spanish, or Italian over night as they slept. And upon waking up, the person would now be bilingual.
40. You have been tricked - Happy April Fools To You.
As long as the site editor doesn't edit my article's title (which they commonly do -_- ), you may have noticed that the number in the title doesn't match up with how many April Fools Day pranks that I have shared with you. This is my own April Fools Day prank to anyone who is reading this Article. Its not nearly as entertaining or as funny as a good lot of these, but I thought in the spirit of everything, that this would be fun for me to do. If anyone is angry or disappointed by this, I am Sorry. All the same, I hope everyone has a good day.
sunrise
StableDiffusion
bonfire friends
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sadness
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purple skies
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true love
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My Cheerleader
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womans transformation to happiness and love
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future life together of adventures
StableDiffusion
