April Fools' Day Jokes
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By tradition, in some countries, April 1 or
April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
is marked by
practical joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
s. Notable practical jokes have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, web sites, and have even been done in large crowds or gatherings.


Television

*
Spaghetti tree The spaghetti-tree hoax was a three-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current-affairs programme ''Panorama (British TV programme), Panorama'', purportedly showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spagh ...
s: The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
television programme ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'' ran a hoax in 1957, purporting to show the Swiss harvesting
spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Una ...
from trees. They 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, partially filmed in
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
. The editor of ''Panorama'' at the time, Michael Peacock, approved the idea, which was pitched by freelance camera operator Charles de Jaeger. Peacock told the BBC in 2014 that he gave de Jaeger a budget of £100. Peacock said the respected ''Panorama'' anchorman Richard Dimbleby knew they were using his authoritativeness to make the joke work. He said Dimbleby loved the idea and went at it with relish. Decades later
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled". * In 1962, Swedish national television broadcast a 5-minute special on how one could get
color TV Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...
by placing a nylon stocking in front of the TV. A rather in-depth description on the physics behind the phenomenon was included. Thousands of people tried it. *
Smell-O-Vision Smell-O-Vision is a system that released odor during the projection of a film so that the viewer could " smell" what was happening in the movie. Created by Hans Laube, the technique made its only appearance in the 1960 film '' Scent of Mystery'', ...
: In 1965, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of
odour An odor (American English) or odour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized ...
over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success. In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax, as did
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
in 2013, in tribute. * In 1969, the public broadcaster NTS in the Netherlands announced that inspectors with remote scanners would drive the streets to detect people who had not paid their radio/TV tax ("kijk en luistergeld" or "omroepbijdrage"). The only way to prevent detection was to wrap the TV/radio in
aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in American English; occasionally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves. The foil is pliable and can be readily bent or wrapped around objects. Thin foils are fragile and are sometimes ...
. The next day all supermarkets were sold out of their aluminium foil, and a surge of TV/radio taxes were being paid. * Great Blue Hill eruption prank: On April 1, 1980, Boston television station
WNAC-TV (Boston) WNAC-TV (channel 7) was a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, owned by RKO General. Originally established in 1948, WNAC-TV signed off for the final time at 1 a.m. on May 22, 1982, due to improprieties by its parent co ...
aired a fake news bulletin at the end of the 6 o'clock news which reported that
Great Blue Hill Great Blue Hill is a hill of 635 feet (194 m) located within the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Randolph and Canton, Massachusetts, about south of downtown Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County and the Greater Boston area. ...
in
Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is an immediate southern suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton is located in the relatively hilly ...
was erupting. The prank resulted in panic in Milton, where some residents began to flee their homes. The executive producer of the 6 o'clock news, Homer Cilley, was fired by the station for "his failure to exercise good news judgment" and for violating the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
's rules about showing
stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
without identifying it as such. * In 1989, on the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
television sports show ''
Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...
'', a fight broke out between members of staff directly behind
Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born British television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, pr ...
who was commenting on the professionalism of his team. At the end of the show it was revealed to be an April Fools' joke. * In 1997, '' Wheel of Fortune'' host
Pat Sajak Patrick Leonard Sajak ( ; né , born October 26, 1946) is an American game show host, television personality, and creative consultant. He is best known as the host of the television game show '' Wheel of Fortune'', a position which he held fr ...
and then ''
Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
'' host
Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian and American game show host and television personality. He was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 seasons ...
switched places. * Since 2004,
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's evening programming block
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
has had a tradition of pulling pranks on April Fools' Day every year by altering programs or changing its programming schedule to air different and obscure programs, some of which include surprise premiere broadcasts of their original programming. * In 2008, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reported on a newly discovered colony of flying penguins. An elaborate video segment was even produced, featuring
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...
walking with the penguins in Antarctica, and following their flight to the Amazon rainforest. * From 2013 to 2018,
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
has performed April Fools' Day jokes on its subscribers, which include over-detailing categories of films, and adding original programming made up entirely of food cooking. * In 2022, American
late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...
hosts
Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...
and
Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...
swapped appearances, with Fallon hosting ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
'' and Kimmel hosting ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...
'' on ABC and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
respectively. The production teams were simultaneously broadcasting in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and New York City, as the two shows are in direct competition, both airing weekdays at 11:35 p.m. EDT/10:35 p.m. CDT. The shows featured a mutual satellite interview between Kimmel and Fallon, and Fallon's episode of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' furthered the April Fools' Day theme with
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
appearing in exaggerated caricature as
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...
. A pre-taped segment between Fallon and Kimmel showed the two calling retired television host
David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...
, a homage to Letterman's running joke referring to the two hosts collectively as "The Jimmys".


Radio

* In 1963, the
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
programme ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'' featured a spoof theatrical manager, Sir Harry Whitlohn *
Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect The Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect was a hoax phenomenon broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 1 April 1976. The hoax purported that a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Pluto (Pluto would later be reclassified by astronomers as a dwarf pla ...
: In 1976, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
that unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 am that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience "a strange floating sensation". Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked, among them a woman who reported that she and her 11 friends were "wafted from their chairs and orbited gently around the room.""Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity – April Fool's Day, 1976"
. Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
* In 1988, Capital Radio in London gave all their breakfast-show time-checks one hour early, panicking listeners who needed to get up for work. The following year, when April 1 fell on a Saturday, they broadcast the usual weekday programme, together with rush-hour travel news, again worrying people into thinking they should be getting up. *
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
reported that
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
would run for president in 1992. * In 1992, two disc jockeys on radio station WNOR in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
, U.S., falsely reported that there had been leaking methane, a potential explosion hazard, detected at Mount Trashmore Park, a park built atop a covered landfill, in nearby
Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...
, scaring listeners. * In 1993, radio station
KGB-FM KGB-FM (101.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and broadcasts in a classic rock music format. KGB-FM's studios are located in San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood o ...
in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California told listeners that the
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
had been diverted to
Montgomery Field Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport is a public airport in San Diego, California, United States, six miles (10 km) north of downtown San Diego. The airport covers and has three runways, one public helipad, and two private helipads. The r ...
, a small, local airport. Over 1,000 people drove to the airport to see it arrive in the middle of morning rush hour. There was no shuttle flying that day. * Death of a mayor: In 1998, local WAAF
shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or ...
s Opie and Anthony were discussing April Fools' Day hoaxes, and sardonically stated that
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
mayor
Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...
had been killed in a car accident. Menino happened to be on a flight at the time, lending credence to the prank as he could not be reached. The pair repeated that the mayor was dead several times throughout the broadcast, however listeners who tuned in late to the broadcast did not hear that they were repeating a bit, and when they pretended to tell the "news" to an unsuspecting listener (the listener thought she was calling a different show), the rumor spread quickly across the city, eventually causing news stations to issue alerts denying the hoax. The pair were fired shortly thereafter. * In 1998, UK presenter Nic Tuff of West Midlands radio station pretended to be the British Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
when he called the then South African President
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
for a chat. It was only at the end of the call when Nic asked Mandela what he was doing for April Fools' Day that the line went dead. * In 2000, the
Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
breakfast show hosted by
Adam Spencer Adam Barrington Spencer (born 29 January 1969) is an Australian comedian, media personality and former radio presenter. He first came to fame when he won his round of the comedic talent search '' Raw Comedy'' in 1996. Soon thereafter, he bega ...
announced that the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
had stripped Sydney of its right to host the
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
, including a phone conversation with then- New South Wales Premier
Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...
. * Archers theme tune change: BBC Radio 4 (2005): ''
The Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by BB ...
'' announced in the news that the long-running serial ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
'' had changed its theme tune to an upbeat disco style. *
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
in the United States: the producers of
Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 a ...
or
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
annually include a fictional news story. These usually start off more or less reasonably, and get more and more unusual. An example of this is the 2006 story on the "iBod," a portable body control device. In 2008 it reported that the IRS, to assure rebate checks were actually spent, was shipping consumer products instead of checks. It also runs false sponsor mentions, such as "Support for
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
comes from the Soylent Corporation, manufacturing protein-rich food products in a variety of colors. Soylent Green is People". * Canadian three-dollar coin: In 2008, the
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
program '' As It Happens'' interviewed a
Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...
spokesman who broke "news" of plans to replace the Canadian five-dollar bill with a three-dollar coin. The coin was dubbed a "threenie", in line with the nicknames of the country's one-dollar coin (" loonie" due to its depiction of a
common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family (biology), family of birds. Reproduction, Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purpli ...
on the reverse) and two-dollar coin (" toonie"). * Country to metal:
Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
and
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
WIXE in
Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...
, North Carolina does a prank every year. In 2009, midday host Bob Rogers announced he was changing his show to heavy metal. This resulted in numerous phone calls, about half from listeners wanting to request a song. * U2 live on rooftop in Cork: In 2009, hundreds of U2 fans were duped in an elaborate prank when they rushed to a shopping centre in Cork believing that the band were playing a surprise rooftop concert. The prank was organised by Cork radio station RedFM. The band was a tribute band called U2opia.


Newspapers and magazines

* The German newspaper ''
Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berli ...
'' reported in 1905 that thieves had tunneled beneath the U.S. Federal Treasury and stolen all its silver and gold. * On 1 April 1906, the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' and several other newspapers printed an elaborate two-page feature article detailing the recent invasion of Chicago by "hordes of prehistoric monsters", illustrated with a series of 8 doctored photographs purporting to show tyrannosaurs, diplodocii and other dinosaurs wreaking havoc throughout the metropolis. * On 1 April 1965, the covers of the rival Belgian comic magazines
Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...
and Spirou were redesigned to make the ''Tintin'' cover look like ''Spirou'' and vice versa, complete with restyled logos and lay-out. The joke was thought up by Spirou editor Yvan Delporte in collaboration with Tintin's editors. * ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' columnist
Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...
wrote in an April 1975 article that
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
had invented a new chess computer program that predicted " pawn to queens rook four" is always the best opening move. * In ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper, in the United Kingdom, on April Fools' Day, 1977, a fictional mid-ocean state of
San Serriffe San Serriffe is a fictional island nation invented for April Fools' Day 1977 by Britain's ''The Guardian'' newspaper.''The Guardian'Special Report: San Serriffe. 1 April 1977 It was featured in a seven-page hoax supplement, published in the sty ...
was created in a seven-page supplement. *
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
were fooled in 1983 when Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University, provided an alternative explanation for the origins of April Fools' Day. He claimed to have traced the practice to
Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
's period, when a group of
court jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...
s jocularly told the emperor that jesters could do a better job of running the empire, and the amused emperor nominated a jester, Kugel, to be the king for a day. Boskin related how the jester passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day and the custom became an annual event. Boskin explained the jester's role as being able to put serious matters into perspective with humor. An Associated Press article brought this alternative explanation to public's attention in newspapers, not knowing that Boskin had invented the entire story as an April Fools' joke itself, and were not made aware of this until some weeks later. * A 1985 issue of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'', dated April 1, featured a story by George Plimpton on a baseball player, Hayden Siddhartha Finch, a
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
pitching prospect who could throw the ball and who had a number of eccentric quirks, such as playing with one barefoot and one hiking boot. Plimpton later expanded the piece into a full-length novel on Finch's life. ''Sports Illustrated'' cites the story as one of the more memorable in the magazine's history. * Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996,
Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...
took out a full-page advertisement in seven major newspapers announcing that they had purchased the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...
to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell". When asked about the sale,
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the
Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...
had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln- Mercury Memorial. * In 2008, ''
Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...
'' and ''
Automobile Magazine An automobile magazine is a magazine with news and reports on cars and the Automotive industry, automobile industry. Automobile magazines may feature new car tests and comparisons, which describe advantages and disadvantages of similar models ...
'' both reported that
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
had acquired the rights to the defunct
Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...
brand from
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
and intended to relaunch it with a line-up of
rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...
Toyota SUVs positioned between its mainline
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
and luxury
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...
brands. *In 2010, the UK newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' reported that the Circle line of the London Underground was being considered as a new location for a
particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...
by
CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...
. *Every April until 2007, as an April Fools' Day prank, ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' printed a 2-5 page satirical spoof of the magazine called ''Lamepro'', a parody of ''GamePros own official title. The feature contained humorous game titles and fake news similar to ''
The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...
'', though some content, such as ways to get useless game glitches (games getting stuck, reset, or otherwise), was real. The section parodied ''GamePro'' itself, as well as other game magazines. *In 2013, Puerto Rican linguistics professor Aida Vergne penned a mock newspaper article stating that the
Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanophon ...
had opted to eliminate the '' ñ'' from the Spanish language, instead being replaced by the original ''nn'' in
Old Spanish Old Spanish (, , ; ), also known as Old Castilian or Medieval Spanish, refers to the varieties of Ibero-Romance spoken predominantly in Castile and environs during the Middle Ages. The earliest, longest, and most famous literary composition in O ...
. As the Academy had previously eliminated letters such as '' ch'' and '' ll'', such an allegation was taken seriously and occasionally the Academy has to resort to deny and clarify the allegation. * The ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' announced via Twitter in 2016 that they would no longer be publishing photographs of naked animals. * In 2021, ''The Guardian'' UK newspaper reported that UN officials would review plans to construct a new canal called "Suez 2" along the Egypt-Israel border, prompted by the obstruction caused by the ''
Ever Given ''Ever Given'' () is one of the List of largest container ships, largest container ships in the world. The ship is owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha (a ship-owning and leasing subsidiary of the large Japanese shipbuilding company Imabari Shipbuilding) ...
'' running aground. The story was picked up by media in Turkey, before it was marked as a fool at noon by the newspaper.


Internet

* Kremvax: In 1984, in one of the earliest online hoaxes, a message was circulated that
Usenet Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...
had been opened to users in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. * April Fools' Day Request for Comments: Almost every year since 1989, the
Internet Engineering Task Force The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet standard, Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster ...
has included an April Fool in their
Request for Comments A Request for Comments (RFC) is a publication in a series from the principal technical development and standards-setting bodies for the Internet, most prominently the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). An RFC is authored by individuals or ...
publication, including a "
Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol The Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP) is a facetious communication protocol for controlling, monitoring, and diagnosing coffee pots. It is specified in , published on 1 April 1998 as an April Fools' Day RFC, as part of an April F ...
" and "Electricity over IP". * College Mascots: For decades, printed college newspapers have run stories about their respective institutions changing to a ridiculous or silly new athletics mascot. In the internet age, the practice has moved to online editions and then to the social media pages of fanbases and alumni associations. * Dead fairy hoax: In 2007, an illusion designer for magicians posted on his website some images illustrating the corpse of an unknown eight-inch creation, which was claimed to be the mummified remains of a
fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
. He later sold the fairy on
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
for £280.
April fool fairy sold on internet
" from
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
*
Discord Discord is an instant messaging and Voice over IP, VoIP social platform which allows communication through Voice over IP, voice calls, Videotelephony, video calls, text messaging, and digital media, media. Communication can be private or take ...
: For April Fools' Day in 2024, Discord released a "
loot box In video game terminology, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or Loot (video gaming), ''loot'', ranging from simpl ...
" that could be opened an unlimited number of times to receive nine video-game themed items, ranging from
Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
's shoes to
Samus Aran is the protagonist of the video game series ''Metroid'' by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano (video game designer), Makoto Kano and introduced in the first ''Metroid (video game), Metroid'' (1986) for th ...
's helmet. These items could be acquired multiple times within the loot box, replicating the addictive nature loot boxes have in real-world video games. The
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
video that accompanied this April Fools' joke, as the result of being played repeatedly within the Discord web app, would briefly have the distinction of becoming the fastest video on the site to reach a billion views, doing so in under 24 hours after its upload, but has since had its views reset to under 3 million as of April 5, 2024. *
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
(including
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
,
Gmail Gmail is the email service provided by Google. it had 1.5 billion active user (computing), users worldwide, making it the largest email service in the world. It also provides a webmail interface, accessible through a web browser, and is also ...
, etc.): Google is well known for their annual April Fools' jokes, which they have done in 2000, 2002, and every year from 2004 to 2019. The jokes went on hiatus starting in 2020 due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. *
Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...
: In 2015, Bing launched a pretend new product called the "Cute Cloud", which acted as a hub for cute animal videos and GIFs. *
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is an executive branch position created by the Texas Constitution. The comptroller is popularly elected every four years, and is primarily tasked with collecting all state tax revenue and estimating the a ...
: In 2016, Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent a message on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that Texas would issue its own currency for the first time since
1845 Events January–March * January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso ...
. *
Hotelicopter ''Hotelicopter'' is an April Fools' Day video produced as a viral video, viral marketing campaign in 2009 by Hotelicopter, a hotel meta search site that has since been purchased by RoomKey. It showed a craft based on the Soviet Union, Soviet giant ...
: In 2009, a flying hotel was purportedly about to take off from New York. The hoax was organised by a marketing company for a hotel search site. *
Pornhub Pornhub is a Canadian-owned Internet pornography video-sharing website, one of several owned by adult entertainment conglomerate Aylo. , Pornhub is the 16th- most-visited website in the world and the most-visited adult website. The site al ...
: In 2016, one of the largest pornography sharing sites Pornhub changed its name to Cornhub and displayed suggestive videos featuring corn, one of which is a disguised link to the famous internet meme and music video "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was released on July 27, 1987. The site used a similar prank for 2018's April Fools' Day – this time, changing its name to Hornhub and displaying videos about women blowing horns instead of pornography. *
Rickrolling The Rickroll is an Internet meme involving the unexpected appearance of the music video to the 1987 hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up", performed by English singer Rick Astley. The aforementioned video has over 1.6 billion views on YouTube. Th ...
: The meme grew out from a similar bait-and-switch trick called "duckrolling" that was popular on the
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...
website in 2006. The video bait-and-switch trick grew popular on 4chan by the 2007
April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
, and spread to other Internet sites later that year. The meme gained mainstream attention in 2008 through several publicized events, particularly when YouTube used it on its 2008 April Fools' Day event. *
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
: Researchers may encounter references to a Canadian
MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...
variant called the CF-121 Redhawk. The story is fiction, but written to such a high standard that it could easily be mistaken for the truth.


Other

* Write-only memory:
Signetics Signetics Corporation was an American electronics manufacturer specifically established to make integrated circuits. Founded in 1961, they went on to develop a number of early microprocessors and support chips, as well as the widely used 555 time ...
advertised write-only memory (WOM) ICs in their databooks in 1972 through the late 1970s. *
Decimal time Decimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used specifically to refer to the French Republican calendar time system used in #France, France from 1794 to 1800, during the Fre ...
: 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. * In 2014,
King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
released a
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
video detailing their decision to discontinue the use of trebles ('
boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with a voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) no m ...
s') and instead use grown men who have inhaled
helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
gas. * In 2021, the
British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is a road racing championship for superbike class machines in the United Kingdom and acknowledged as the premier domestic s ...
released an announcement that
Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...
would be covered in dirt for its June meeting. The prank was posted three days after the
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
, whose 2007–13 playoff system forms the fundamentals of the Superbike six-rider playoff format, participated in a legitimate championship round at Bristol Motor Speedway where that circuit was covered in dirt for the 2021 Food City Dirt Race, Food City 250 and support race Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt, Pinty's 150 for the Camping World Truck Series. * In 2022, as part of the United States Semiquincentennial Vision 2026 redevelopment project, OFC Realty, a Philadelphia-based realty brokerage firm, published a mock article stating the planned construction of the TwoFifty Tower "right in the heart of Old City, Philadelphia, Old City." The building would be funded through a joint venture between the Philadelphia#Law and government, City government "and several of the largest businesses in town, including Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, PECO Energy Company, PECO, and Aramark, along with the William Penn Foundation," which OFC considered "crucially, the involvement of heavy hitter businesses plus big donor money means that only a fraction of the costs will be covered by City funds." The TwoFifty Tower, a play on the pronunciation of the Semiquincentennial brand, would be located at the underused "flat area north of Independence Hall," rising to 1,776 feet, equaling the One World Trade Center as the tallest building in the United States and in the Western hemisphere. The building, designed to be "essentially a super-sized and extra-patriotic interpretation of the Washington Monument," would stand the same in distance from the aforementioned historic civic building, and be inaugurated for the July 4, 2026. * On March 31, 2023, Sega released a freeware, free ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' murder mystery visual novel, ''The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog'', in which the player must investigate the apparent murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic the Hedgehog during Amy Rose's birthday party. * Taragis, a takoyaki stall chain in the Philippines, in 2024 posted an April Fools' prank in social media offering a prize for anyone who would tattoo the Taragis logo on their forehead. A man looking for financial support for two of his children would actually comply to claim the prize. Taragis would compensate him by awarding the given prize of . Taragis' owner would later admit the blunder to be staged with the supposed victim of the prank being a volunteer for a publicity stunt.


Serious events mistaken for April Fools' pranks

The BBC and other outlets like The World have published lists of serious stories they feel might be confused with April Fools' Day jokes. One example of this is when Google announced Gmail in 2004, as it had a large amount of storage for the time.


See also

* April Fools' Day Request for Comments * List of Google April Fools' Day jokes * List of Reddit April Fools' Day events * List of practical joke topics


References


External links

* * ** * {{DEFAULTSORT:April Fools' Day Jokes April Fools' Day jokes, * Humor-related lists Lists of practical jokes