Thursday, April 1, 2010

April Fool's Day...!


Once again, the day for jokes and pranks is here!

I'll admit that in my younger days, I pulled a few good ones myself...usually with my running buddy, Biff! But ours were nothing in comparison to some of the major, imaginative pranks pulled over the years!

I thought you might like to read about some of these...just in case you haven't heard them before!

* Alabama Changes the Value of Pi:

The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason contained an article written by physicist Mark Boslough claiming that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi. This claim originally appeared as a news story in the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, however.

* Spaghetti trees:


The BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing Italians harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans.

* Left Handed Whoppers:

In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side.[11] Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the "old", right-handed burger.

* Taco Liberty Bell:


In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

Wikipedia's Main Page on April 1, 2007.


The featured article write-up purposely confuses U.S. President George Washington with an inventor of the same name.

* San Serriffe:


The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising this fictional resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni), and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that San Serriffe (Sans serif) did not exist except as references to typeface terminology. (This comes from a Jorge Luis Borges story.)

* DT Day:

In 2008 fliers were handed on Brigham Young University campus, saying that the last in a series of dorm buildings being torn down was scheduled to be imploded on April 1. Hundreds of people eagerly turned up to see the implosion, but to their consternation it never happened. The culprits of this prank remain unknown.

* Decimal time:


Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10.

* Smell-o-vision:


In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success.[17] In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.

* Tower of Pisa:

The Dutch television news reported in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.

* Write Only Memory:

Signetics advertised Write Only Memory IC databooks in 1972 through the late 1970s.

* The Canadian news site bourque.org
announced in 2002 that Finance Minister Paul Martin had resigned "in order to breed prize Charolais cattle and handsome Fawn Runner ducks."

You have to admit that this makes most of the pranks pulled by the average person seem rather tame! I think a very loud "well done" is in order for the folks that pulled these gems, don't you?

Now, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit at the kitchen table...no pranks this morning. I promise!

16 comments:

Catman said...

Jim,

I was just getting started in electronics as a kid when that ad for WOM appeared in Electronics ( a magazine of that era). I used to go to the public library to read it every month, and as a seven year old kid, it confused the hell out of me.

HermitJim said...

Hey Catman...
Don't feel too bad, buddy! I imagine that it confused a lot of people because who would ever thing of a magazine like that pulling such a prank? Or any prank, for that matter!

No days, some government watchdog office would raise all billy goat hell!

Hey, thanks for coming by today!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Those were great! :-) :-) I haven´t checked out any newspapers or heard any news here yet so I have no idea what they have written this year.

The best they have done here however is an old one when color tv was on its way. Swedish television then showed how to get color tv easy and cheap (they showed this in a black and white broadcasting :-) :-) )

They said that if one bought a nylon stocking and placed it infront of the screen every one would get color tv :-) :-) (and said: as You all can see :-) :-) )I don´t think they ever have sold more nylon stockings than that day :-) :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

TEAM HALL said...

I love it!!!
Thanks for the giggle this morning, Jim!
Hugs to you on this grand day!

Momlady said...

The best one I remember is from a number of years back when a radio station stated that one could see their broadcast on the TV on Channel 1.(there is no such thing) Apparently a lot of people tried to switch to it and called in their frustration at not being able to do so.

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Special One, And Happy April Fools to you, these are great. What some people won't pull.
Its a little cold here today we went from 81 yesterday to maybe if I am lucky to 56. May even get rain on out here. Will send you some pictures later on today.Right now bring on that nice hot coffee.
Hugs

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
I remember reading about that one! Pretty good!

Just goes to show, you have to be careful!

Thanks for the visit!


Hey Cath...
Glad you enjoyed them. Pretty creative, don't you think?

You have a great one...and thanks for coming by!


Hey Momlady...
That one I hadn't heard! Sounds like something that some folks would believe!

Have a wonderful day, my friend, and thanks for the visit!


Hey JoJo...
I know we are supposed to get some rain here today or tomorrow! However, our temps are staying in the 70's...so that's a good thing!

Hey, sweetie, thanks for coming by!

Mechanic in Illinois said...

I'm going to vote liberal in the next election,support the healthcare law, and turn in all my guns to the local police. APRIL FOOL!

Mechanic in Illinois said...

I'm going to vote liberal in the next election,support the healthcare law, and turn in all my guns to the local police. APRIL FOOL!

HermitJim said...

Hey Mechanic...
Ya got me on that one! I'll have to admit that I was shocked at first...until I read the whole thing!

You have a good day, my friend...and thanks for dropping by!

Unknown said...

Goggle pulled on this morning. Renamed it's self Topkiea on it's page. I didn't believe it until I logged on this morning just so I could see it. LMAO!

HermitJim said...

Hey K.D...
I went over to check...and sure 'nuff, they changed it!

Guess you never get too big to have some fun pulling pranks!

Thanks for pointing this one out...and for the visit!

Unknown said...

Makes me think of those new paper stretchers they came out with last year.

HermitJim said...

Hey Ted...
You just never know what someone is going to come up with next!

Thanks for coming by today!

Rae said...

Funny stuff. I have been taken in by a few April fools pranks. All in good fun though. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. Always great to see you.

HermitJim said...

Hey Rae...
Always a pleasure to see you, my friend! I snuck by today without getting one pulled on me! One more reason to enjoy being a hermit!

Thanks so much for coming by!