April Fool's day is a day valued by some and despised by others. Sometimes called All Fool's day, it is that day of the year when we really like to pull pranks on those around us and it has a long history of practical jokes. Many of the shenanigans were started from a magazine or a newspaper article. And several of these pranks were pulled a long time ago.
In April of 1895, the newspaper in Loveland, Colorado, wrote a story about a local farmer that had grown an 86 pound potato. To increase the credibility of the story, a photograph of the farmer hoisting the fake potato on his shoulder was shown with the article. The story quickly spread across the United States and was run in Scientific America. Thousands of people wrote to the newspaper requesting additional information about the article. Their hopes were to get a sample of the potato to go home and start their very own giant potato crop.
In April of 1933, the Madison Capital-Times announced that the dome had toppled off the Wisconsin state capital. On the front page was a fake picture of the supposed devastation. The post claimed that the legislature had created too much hot air and the states $8 million property was destroyed.
In the April 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, writer George Plimpton wrote about the interesting baseball rookie, Sidd Finch. Sidd was presumably training with the New York Mets and could throw a baseball 168 miles per hour. This speed was far above the current world record of 103 miles per hour. The pictures accompanying the report showed a baseball pitcher with one bare foot and the other one wearing an old boot.
Just one year later in 1986, the French newspaper, Le Parisien, claimed that the Eiffel tower was to be dismantled and built back up in the Euro Disneyland theme park. The area where the tower stood was to be used to build a stadium for the 1992 Olympics. The French were not amused with the story and Paris did not win the bid for the 1992 summer Olympics.
Esquire magazine released an article in April of 2000, about a company called FreeWheelZ that had been two years in the making. The company would provide people with free autos to drive as long as they prominently displayed large advertisements on the outside of the autos and listened to a constant stream of radio advertisements on the inside. These autos were not to be passed out to just anybody. Recipients had to be qualified through a extensive process. The applicant had to present to the company a tax return, a notarized video store rental receipt and a stool sample. The writer of the article, Ted Fishman, added to the story's believability by registering the domain name Freewheelz on the internet.
Year after year, April fool's day continues to please both young and old pulling both old pranks and new practical jokes. Good luck with the plans and execution of your next April fool's day.
In April of 1895, the newspaper in Loveland, Colorado, wrote a story about a local farmer that had grown an 86 pound potato. To increase the credibility of the story, a photograph of the farmer hoisting the fake potato on his shoulder was shown with the article. The story quickly spread across the United States and was run in Scientific America. Thousands of people wrote to the newspaper requesting additional information about the article. Their hopes were to get a sample of the potato to go home and start their very own giant potato crop.
In April of 1933, the Madison Capital-Times announced that the dome had toppled off the Wisconsin state capital. On the front page was a fake picture of the supposed devastation. The post claimed that the legislature had created too much hot air and the states $8 million property was destroyed.
In the April 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, writer George Plimpton wrote about the interesting baseball rookie, Sidd Finch. Sidd was presumably training with the New York Mets and could throw a baseball 168 miles per hour. This speed was far above the current world record of 103 miles per hour. The pictures accompanying the report showed a baseball pitcher with one bare foot and the other one wearing an old boot.
Just one year later in 1986, the French newspaper, Le Parisien, claimed that the Eiffel tower was to be dismantled and built back up in the Euro Disneyland theme park. The area where the tower stood was to be used to build a stadium for the 1992 Olympics. The French were not amused with the story and Paris did not win the bid for the 1992 summer Olympics.
Esquire magazine released an article in April of 2000, about a company called FreeWheelZ that had been two years in the making. The company would provide people with free autos to drive as long as they prominently displayed large advertisements on the outside of the autos and listened to a constant stream of radio advertisements on the inside. These autos were not to be passed out to just anybody. Recipients had to be qualified through a extensive process. The applicant had to present to the company a tax return, a notarized video store rental receipt and a stool sample. The writer of the article, Ted Fishman, added to the story's believability by registering the domain name Freewheelz on the internet.
Year after year, April fool's day continues to please both young and old pulling both old pranks and new practical jokes. Good luck with the plans and execution of your next April fool's day.
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Want to find out more about April Fool's pranks? Then visit April Fool's Everyday for help planning your practical jokes.
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