Here are some great April Fools' jokes that have been played on the public.
Before we start, check out these headlines.
(a) VEGAN EGGS CRACKED
(b) HUMAN EAR GROWN ON MOUSE
(c) ALABAMA LAW CHANGES THE VALUE OF PI
(d) SHARK ATTACKS HELICOPTER
Only one of the above headlines is true. Can you work out which one?
A Strange Harvest ...
BBC news show, Panorama, announced a bumper spaghetti harvest in 1957. The programme showed farmers pulling spaghetti from trees. Viewers wanted to know how to grow their own spaghetti trees. They felt foolish when they discovered spaghetti doesn’t grow on trees!
A Cool Trick!
An Australian millionaire towed an iceberg from Antarctica to Sydney harbour on 1st April 1978. The Australian people were very excited. As the iceberg neared the harbour, it started to rain and the secret was revealed. The ‘iceberg’ was really made from shaving foam!
Changing Hands ...
The BBC were involved in another prank in 1980. They announced that Big Ben was going to become digital. The British people were really angry about losing the clock-face - especially when they heard the clock hands were on sale to the highest bidder!
Here comes the Sun!
‘Britain Rules the Skies’ was the headline of the Manchester Guardian in 1981. It claimed that Britain had developed a machine to control the weather so to look forward to long summers and rain at night!
Saucer Surprise ...
In 1989, motorists near London saw a huge flying saucer in the air. It landed in a field where police officers were waiting. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon designed by Richard Branson for an April Fools’ prank. Unfortunately the balloon landed a day early on March 31st so the joke was on him!
Closing the Net?
In 1997, an email told people that the Internet was shutting down for cleaning from March 31st until April 2nd. It said the cleaning was necessary to clear the Internet of ‘electronic flotsam and jetsam’! People were told not to use the Internet during this time.
One Giant Whopper!
Burger King revealed, in 1998, that they had developed the ‘Left-Handed Whopper’. The burger contained all the usual ingredients but they were rotated by 180º! Thousands of people asked for the new burger, which of course, did not exist!
Whistling Carrots?
In 2002, Tesco announced that they had developed a whistling carrot. They claimed the specially modified carrot would whistle when fully cooked due to special air holes inside each carrot!
And the answer is ...
In case you'd forgotten, the answer to the question at the beginning was (b). The rest are all April Fools' Hoaxes!
