April Fools Day Origins

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  • In 1957 the BBC reported that due to the elimination of the spaghetti weevil farmers in Switzerland had good crop this year. The broadcast showed women picking spaghetti off trees. The station was flooded with calls from viewers wondering how they could grow spaghetti.
  • In 1985 Sports Illustrated published an article about a pitcher named Sidd Finch. He was rookie pitcher for the New York Mets and could throw a fastball clocked at 168 miles per hour.
  • In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell from the United States Government and had renamed it the Taco Bell Liberty Bell. To add to the confusion White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry responded to questions by saying the Lincoln memorial had also been sold and was going to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
  • In 1998 in an article in the New Mexicans for Science and Reason Newsletter, published an article claiming the state legislature of Alabama had changed the value of PI. The value of 3.14159 was being replaced with the 'biblical value' of 3.0. The information was published on the Internet, and hundreds of calls came into the Alabama state legislature.
  • Also in 1998 Burger King took out a full-page ad for the 'Left-Handed Whopper'. The condiments inside of the Whopper were optimized for the tasting pleasure of left-handed customers. Thousands of people went to Burger Kings that day looking for the left-handed whopper.
  • The April 1985 issue of Discover Magazine featured a picture of a hot headed naked ice borer. The species was discovered in Antarctica, and had a bony forehead plate that was filled with blood vessels. These plates became heated and allowed the animals to make holes and travel through the ice at high velocities. These animals hid under the ice and attacked penguins. The article generated more mail than any other article in the history of the magazine.

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