April Fool's Gag

Fun Facts About April Fool's Day

• The exact origins of April Fool's Day are unknown. One theory ties it to France's 16th century switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar which changed New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1. People who were slow to hear the news, or refused to comply, were mocked as "April fools."
• In France there's an April Fool's prank where kids stick paper fish on people's backs without them noticing, then shout "April Fish" when discovered. It represents the ease with which a naive person can be fooled, similar to catching a young fish.
• In the UK, the April Fool's tradition holds that pranks should only happen before noon. If you pull one later, then you're deemed the fool.
• One of the earliest recorded April Fool's pranks dates to 1698 London. A newspaper tricked people into going to the Tower of London to watch the "Washing of the Lions" ceremony. No such ceremony happen and those who showed up got mocked in the next edition.
• Another famous British hoax: the BBC broadcast a three-minute report on April 1, 1957 showing Swiss families "harvesting" pasta from trees. Hundreds of viewers called the BBC asking how to grow their own spaghetti trees.
• Google has become known for April Fool's pranks. In 2002, Google claimed to be using trained pigeons to rank serach results faster than computers, and in 2013 they launched a "smell search" beta that promised to let users search for and experience scents via their computer or smartphone.
• In 1996, Taco Bell published ads in newspapers anouncing they purchased the Liberty Bell to help reduce the national debt, renaming it the "Taco Liberty Bell". It sparked outrage from the public and thousands of calls to the National Park Service.
• One more from London: in 1980 BBC World Service announced Big Ben would be modernized with a digital clock face, renamed "Digital Dave," and have beeps instead of gongs.