The most successful April Fool's jokes in history. april fools

April Fools' Day has been celebrated in the world for 447 years - ever since the French King Charles IX decided that the new year should begin on January 1, and not on April 1, as it used to be. Loyal French people congratulated each other on January 1, 1565 on the new year, but they did not forget about the old new year either: on April 1, they exchanged gifts for fun. The custom took root.

Over time, the tradition of celebrating April 1st with jokes and pranks spread first to all of continental Europe, and then to Britain. It was here that the French holiday of the “April fish” (a favorite entertainment of the French on this day is to hang a small fish on each other’s backs) began to be called April Fool’s Day (April Fool’s Day) and even indicated on calendars along with Christmas, Easter and other holidays. Now many quite serious citizens, organizations and mass media consider this holiday to be their duty to celebrate.

Here are twenty, in our opinion, the best April Fools' jokes, practical jokes and hoaxes.

1933 : The Madison Capital-Times solemnly announced that the Wisconsin government building had been destroyed in a series of mysterious explosions. They were allegedly caused by "a large amount of gases generated by prolonged heated discussions in the State Senate." The photo accompanying the article was of the crumbling Capitol.

Many readers were misled, but after it turned out that this was just a joke, their indignation knew no bounds. One reader even wrote that the prank "was not only tactless and humorless, but disgusting." However, in 1985, Science Digest magazine named this hoax among the best in history.

2002 : British supermarket chain Tesco announced the sale of a holey carrot that will whistle when cooked, and Waitrose announced the sale of a new fruit - pinan - a hybrid of pineapple (pineapple) and banana.

1998 : Fast food restaurant chain Burger King has announced with fanfare that it will now offer special hamburgers for left-handed patrons. In a special press release, the company said that the recipe for the hamburger will not change, but its ingredients will be arranged in such a way that as little ketchup as possible flows out of it when "left-handed". The next day, thousands of Burger King patrons demanded a special hamburger at the checkout.

1996 : The American chain of Mexican fast food restaurants Taco Bell announced that it is buying the famous Liberty Bell (Liberty Bell) - stored in Philadelphia historical monument, the ringing of which convened American citizens to sign the Declaration of Independence. After the purchase, the bell, according to company representatives, will be called the Taco Bell Liberty Bell. The indignation caused by this news among ordinary Americans knew no bounds.

1986 : The Parisian newspaper Le Parisien shocked its readers with a report that the government had decided to dismantle the Eiffel Tower. The tower was to be transported to the French Disneyland under construction in the east of Paris and reassembled there. In its place, it was allegedly planned to build a stadium with 35,000 seats for the upcoming 1992 Olympic Games.

1995 : More about Eurodisneyland. The Irish Times published an article about what the Disney Corporation is doing with Russian government negotiations for the purchase of the embalmed body of communist leader Vladimir Lenin. Disney has offered to place the mausoleum along with Lenin's body in Eurodisneyland. As reported, "the body of the Soviet leader will be illuminated with strobe lights to emphasize the deathly pallor of his face, and excerpts from Reagan's speech about the empire of evil will be broadcast through a quadraphonic system at this time." In addition, a sale of T-shirts with Lenin symbols will be organized. The Russians, the article stated, had no objection to the sale of Lenin's body, but the sale of the mausoleum stalled. Liberal organizations demanded that the empty mausoleum remain in place, symbolizing the emptiness of communist ideology, while nationalists demanded that it be converted into a memorial dedicated to Tsar Nicholas II.

1980 : Soldier magazine reported that the bearskin helmets worn by the Irish Guards guarding Buckingham Palace need regular trimming. As reported in the article, bear skin, even after the death of the animal, retains the original hormone responsible for hair growth. Scientists suggest that the discovery can be used in medical research - especially in solving the problem of baldness.

The article cites the words of Major Ursa (Latin for "bear"), who noted that wool begins to grow in the spring, after ordinary bears wake up from hibernation. The photograph showed helmeted guardsmen sitting in an army barbershop. It is noteworthy that the London Daily Express newspaper “fell for the trick”, reprinting the article as a real story.

1988 : The Soviet newspaper "Izvestia" reported that the Moscow "Spartak" is going to acquire the world famous Argentine footballer Diego Maradona. The amount of the contract was to be $6 million.
Later, Izvestia admitted that the article was an April Fool's joke, but before that, the news about Maradona's move to the USSR had quite seriously been reprinted by the Associated Press. It was the first of its kind in Soviet newspaper. Such a sudden display of humor, apparently, was due to the policy of "glasnost".

1995 : In the popular science magazine Discover, an article featuring a startling discovery by biology doctor Aprile Pazzo. Pazzo found out that a previously unknown animal lives in the ice of Antarctica, to which the scientist gave the name "crazy hairless ice driller." According to the scientist, the miracle beast is born with a bone growth on its forehead, allowing it to move through the ice at great speeds.

Pazzo said the ice drillers were most likely to be blamed for the disappearance in 1837. famous researcher Antarctica by Philippe Poisson. The biologist suggested that the drillers confused Poisson with the penguin, which is commonly hunted. In the entire history of Discovery, no scientific publication has brought such a large number of reader responses. Knowing Italian language readers should have been alerted only by the name of the "respected specialist" - Aprile Pazzo in translation means "a person fooled on the first of April."

2001 : One of the Cypriot radio stations assured its listeners that April 1 simply does not exist. Thousands of radio listeners believed the real radio play, played in the early morning of April 1 by ten actors portraying politicians, scientists and journalists. They are quite serious - with references to mathematical calculations and mentioning as an example the date line in pacific ocean- they talked about the “millennium skip effect”, as a result of which once in a thousand years, in the first year of the millennium after March 31, not April 1, but immediately April 2 occurs. The phenomenal success of the production became known when an increasing number of people, buying tickets and receiving bills in stores, began to draw the attention of cashiers to the wrong date, in their opinion.

1997 : The organization New Mexicans for Science and Reason reported that legislators in the US state of Alabama approved a new value for the number "pi" by special resolution.

According to parliamentarians, the new value of the number - 3, unlike the previous one (3.14159265358979323846...), is more in line with the Bible. For, as it says in 1 Kings (chapter 7, verse 23):

And he made a cast [copper] sea, from its end to its end ten cubits, quite round, five cubits high, and a string of thirty cubits embraced it around.

Thanks to the Internet, the news spread from incredible speed As a result, the Alabama Parliament received hundreds of phone calls from people demanding that the absurd ordinance be repealed.

1977 : The British newspaper The Guardian on seven pages told readers about the unique island nation of San Seriff (San Seriffe is a distorted name for the Sans Serif font). The names of the two largest islands, reminiscent of a semicolon on the map, are Upper Caisse (distorted upper case - capital letter) and Lower Case (distorted lower case - capital letter).

Fascinated by the idyllic description of the climate of the archipelago, readers of the newspaper filled up the editorial office with requests to tell more about the previously unknown resort town.

1962 : Kjell Stensson, a technical specialist at the only Swedish TV channel at that time, said that any viewer can turn their black-and-white TV receiver into a color one by stretching a nylon stocking over the screen. Stensson personally demonstrated how it's done.

Mass stretching of nylon did not help: color television did not appear in Sweden until 1970.

1992 : The London Times published an article about ongoing negotiations to discuss the partition of Belgium. Flanders, whose inhabitants speak Flemish Dutch, will join the Netherlands, and the southern French-speaking region of Wallonia will join France.

The article deceived even British Minister Tristan Garel-Jones, who was about to discuss this important historical question in a TV interview. The Belgian embassy phones were ringing with numerous calls from journalists and Belgians living in the United Kingdom seeking confirmation of this report.

1975 : Australian news program This Day Tonight reported on a planned switch to "metric time". By new system There will be 100 seconds (renamed to millidays) in a minute, 100 minutes (centidays) in an hour, and 20 hours (decidneys) in a day. The broadcast included an interview with Deputy Prime Minister De Corcoran, who praised the new system.

One of numerous spectators, who believed in the deception, called the television to find out how to change their clocks to the new time.

1976 : On BBC Radio 2, British astronomer Patrick Moore told listeners that at exactly 9:47 the planet solar system line up in such a way that the gravity of the earth is significantly reduced.

According to Moore, everyone will be able to feel this historical moment on itself, at the indicated time, simply jumping into the air. Confirmation of his theory was to be a feeling reminiscent of weightlessness.

Immediately after 09:47, hundreds of listeners began to call the BBC editorial office, saying that they really felt it. One woman even claimed that she and her 11 buddies "floated" out of their chairs and circled the living room multiple times.

1980 : The BBC broadcaster announced that "in order to keep up with the times" the legendary London mechanical clock Big Ben will be replaced with an electronic one. The message stirred up the British public.

Outraged citizens called to express their protest. Some, however, wondered if it would be possible to buy parts of the old Big Ben. The BBC Japan Service said the clock hands would be sold to the first four listeners who called.

2008 : The BBC has announced that a crew working near Antarctica on Miracles of Evolution has filmed Adélie penguins taking to the air. The video has become one of the most viewed videos on the internet. Host Terry Jones explained that instead of huddling together to keep warm during the cold Antarctic winter, these penguins fly thousands of miles into the rainforests of South America.

And, finally, one of the most famous pranks of the authorship of the BBC Corporation. First of April 1957 year TV show Panorama told about the record harvest of spaghetti, which was collected by hardworking Swiss farmers. As reported, the growers set a record thanks to an unusually warm winter and the complete destruction of a formidable pest called "pasta weevil", the invasions of which previously destroyed the lion's share of the crop. To confirm the information, viewers could see a report from the scene, in which the peasants were picking long macaroni from the trees one by one. Soon TV viewers started calling the BBC editors wanting to know how they could grow a spaghetti tree in their garden. In the editorial, such lovers were advised to "put the pasta in a jar of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

Most likely, there is no such person on the planet who at least once did not play one of his relatives or friends on the first of April. Starting from small child and ending with people of no longer a young age, from students to business people, everyone is trying in some way to play april fools.

Why this day is celebrated on the first of April, no one knows for sure. There are several versions of where the April Fool's Day came from. Some believe that the ancient Romans were its founders, and it was they who in mid-February (and not in April) decided to celebrate the feast of Foolish people. The second version is that this holiday came to us from India, where people celebrated the time of jokes and fun, and this day fell on March 31st. If you look into history, then in the ancient world only the Irish were satisfied, and then the reason for their fun was New Year.

Also, one of the versions can be considered that once the Neapolitan king decided to celebrate the successful completion of the earthquake, and a fish was presented to him as a gift. A year later, he demanded to repeat the fun, but such a fish was no longer found and a replacement was made for him, the king saw a catch and he liked it. So he decided to arrange a day every year with unexpected surprises.

The celebration of the first of April came to Russia during the period when Peter I reigned. It was he who gave life to such a holiday that pleases us to this day.

Probably, everyone remembers from childhood how jokes about the "white back". Despite the fact that the children have already grown up, the enthusiasm always remains the same. In the era of new technologies, jokes have become more common and interesting. You can send sms jokes on April 1 and thus prank your friend or just a person you don't know. But never forget the consequences. should not be cruel or thoughtless.

Newspapers and magazines around the world also often join in the general April Fools' holiday spirit, and here are some examples of how they had fun in different time:

In 1994, Pepsi announced that teenagers who got a tattoo on their ears that would include the company logo would be able to buy Pepsi-Cola at a 10% discount for life. There was no end to young people ...

In 1992, the London Times published a note that the territory of Belgium would soon be divided between two countries: the north would be annexed to the Netherlands, and the south to the territory of France. The joke caused a huge wave of indignation, and the British Foreign Secretary was forced to explain himself on TV.

In 1950, Danish television reported that it had finally collapsed. The next time they announced that the government has a new technology that can detect televisions that have not been licensed. But if you wrap the device with foil, it will not be able to "detect". A few hours later, all the foil was bought in stores.

If you want to prank a large number of people, you can arrange with friends and make safe April Fools' jokes on the streets of the city.

For example:

Pour dry formula into an empty Tide powder box, for example, and somewhere in a decent public place you take out this "yummy" from your bag, from your pocket - a spoon, and with a happy look you start to eat this thing. Huge attention surrounding provided!

For girls, this variant of the draw is possible: wake up your boyfriend early on April Fools' morning and tell him: "Congratulations! You will become a dad in 9 months (well, or 8 or 7 or ... depending on your situation)!".

And finally, one more option - call somewhere at 2 a.m. and speak in such a sweet and polite voice:

"Good night! Good offices wishes you pleasant dreams.

If it doesn't work the first time, you can repeat.

It must be remembered that all your April Fools' jokes should be harmless and bring only joy to others.

So here it is April 1! Looking forward to the celebration laugh day, or, as this holiday is also called, - fool's day, we offer several innocent ways to prank friends, relatives or colleagues without running into serious trouble: after all, the main rule of April Fools' pranks is to be as inoffensive as possible.

It is believed that this holiday originates in the XVI century. Sometimes it is associated with the king's decree Charles IX of France dated 1564, according to which the celebration of the New Year was postponed from April 1 to January 1. And for those who, out of habit, continued to celebrate new year holidays On April 1, instead of gifts, empty boxes were given as a warning. There are other legends about the appearance of this holiday, they say, which has almost ancient Roman roots.

More about why and how April 1 is celebrated, as well as options for congratulating friends and colleagues on this happy holidays read in material Federal News Agency .

How to prank friends and acquaintances on April 1

The easiest way is to play acquaintances or friends by calling them early with some idiotic information, hoping that those waking up, as they say, will lead. The main thing here is to maintain a serious tone yourself and not “split”.

Lots of options. For example, Petersburgers, who are very sensitive to the problem of preserving the historical appearance of their native city, will be impressed by any shocking information on this topic:

- Run faster, cut down Summer garden (not far from the truth, by the way, if we recall the “peculiar” reconstruction of this monument of landscape gardening art);

- removed from the pedestal Bronze Horseman(horses Klodt, monument Catherine etc. - run quickly, they are loading it just in time, we will try to stop it together).

Etc. The main thing here is to choose a place nearby that is significant for the person being played, so that he can quickly run.

In Moscow, metropolitan attractions, such as a monument, will do well Minin and Pozharsky or creations Zurab Tsereteli.

Or, if we are talking about a young man of military age, you can ask someone who does not know him to call and say: do not go anywhere, now the military commissar will come to you, bring a summons to the army. To the objection that he white ticket, the session was handed over on time, and the like - to answer: well, you will explain it to the commander of your military unit.

There are even more “funny” jokes - a letter or a call to a guy from a girl with assurances that she is allegedly pregnant from him. However, such sparkling jokes are fraught with serious scandals and even a break in relations.

April Fool's SMS jokes

And you can, as they say, not bother and write any such nonsense to the person being played in an SMS message.

There are also ready-made options for SMS jokes, we offer some of them:

- Attention! A virus has been found on your phone, which can be eliminated by guessing who sent this SMS and sending him some kind of SMS joke. Otherwise, your phone will die of boredom.

– Congratulations! Your phone number has won a gypsy girl! If you do not pick up the prize within 24 hours, we will send a camp!

- Raise your head. I can't see you well. Sniper.

- Hi! While you are reading this SMS, I am walking with your girlfriend! Joke. She's walking with someone else!

- All-Russian campaign against scammers is being carried out. Send SMS to number / enter your number/ with the words "not a sucker". The more you send SMS with the words "not a sucker" - the more you are not a sucker.

“What if they find the cannon with which you killed the old woman?”

“You are so deeply mistaken that you are even mistaken about the depth of your error.

- You live in my heart. You live in my soul. You live in my thoughts. You live in your head... When will you pay the rent?

- Moroccan cockroaches are dying out! Rs 100 has been withdrawn from your account. on the research work! Thank you!

- 100 rubles were withdrawn from your personal account. for the gardening of the moon. Thanks for your help, Lunatics.

- I want! I really want to! I really want! You have no idea how much I want this! I want you now... Smile!

April fool's pranks for friends

We also offer several options for “time-tested” April Fools’ pranks that you can try out on household members, friends and colleagues (unless, of course, they are boring).

You hand out a brand new hundred-ruble note to your friend and say: “It seems that they slipped a counterfeit banknote in the store, we bet for 100 rubles that you can’t distinguish it from the real one? I barely found it." You can either “win” a bet, or congratulate a friend on April 1st.

The famous computer prank for "lamers". For this you need:

• Lure the victim from the computer for 5-10 minutes.
• Open a text editor and write: "Your computer has been hacked by Anonymous hackers" (or any other equally intelligent text).
• Take a screenshot of the screen (press PrintScreen on the keyboard).
• Open the Paint program and paste the image from the clipboard (Ctrl + V).
• Save the document, remember the path to it, close the graphic editor.
• Find the picture you made in the explorer, right-click on it and select "Set as desktop background image".
• When the victim is completely frightened, congratulate on April 1 and restore everything as it was.

The famous mop and water bowl prank, for which you will need:

• a bowl of water (preferably plastic);
• mop;
• chair or stepladder;

We take a bowl of water, climb onto a stool or stepladder and press the bowl against the ceiling. We call the victim of the prank and ask for help to support the bowl with a nearby mop. We get down and leave, taking the stool / stepladder with us. Further on the choice: either observe or shoot a video. We are waiting for the victim to not stand it and let go of the bowl. Congratulations to the wet sacrifice on April 1st.

A very dangerous prank: on the morning of April 1, the wife leaves in the family car, allegedly on business. Calls her husband 30-40 minutes later unknown man and rudely demands monetary compensation for broken car, into which the wife of the person being played allegedly entered. A wife crying into the phone completes the picture. The main thing is that upon arrival at the place of the “accident”, the husband finds more common friends who, in which case, will be able to protect the prankster from his righteous anger.

In our country, it is difficult to find a person who would never have been played on April 1. The choice is wide: from the banal "White Back" to complex productions with the participation of a large number acquaintances and strangers. Only the emotions that the person being played are experiencing are important: it is not every day that a serious and adult person manages to feel like a fool, and then also laugh at it with pleasure.

By the way, it is still not known where and when exactly people first decided to make April 1 April Fool's Day. Whether Medieval Europe, or Ancient Greece or Egypt. One thing is certain: all of Europe has been laughing with pleasure for several centuries. The Germans, with whom Peter the Great was very friendly, brought this custom to Russia, where he also found fertile ground.

There is a well-known historical rally when a theater troupe held a large-scale advertising company new incredible interesting performance, which gathered the whole of St. Petersburg, including Peter himself. When the hall was filled, and the wings parted, all the spectators saw a huge banner with the inscription "April 1st!". The emperor laughed, and with him the whole people. And he still laughs and plays pranks on each other to this day.

To keep up, you can also come up with April Fools' jokes for your neighbors, relatives, friends of colleagues or just random people in advance.

April Fool's Pranks over colleagues




At work, a person spends an incredibly long time, but it is most often filled with serious matters that have little to do with funny jokes and draws, but not the first of April. Here are some ideas you can implement:

1. Green keyboard. To do this, you will need an old keyboard, preferably the same as the object of the draw. It is necessary to pull out the buttons, lay cotton between them and fill in the seeds of lawn grass. Then the buttons return to their place. It is necessary to water this "garden" from time to time from a syringe. It will take you from one to two weeks to grow, but what will be the surprise of a colleague when he sees such "green technologies" on his table ...

2. Frozen computer. Before a colleague comes to work, you need to be a little smart with his computer: take a screenshot of the desktop, set it as wallpaper, and then move all shortcuts off the visible screen. You can also make the taskbar floating or remove it altogether. This is especially effective for people who are not too well versed in computers. After everyone laughs, you need to select "Arrange icons by ..." on the desktop and return everything to its place.

3. Not that! This draw is good for large office centers. On the door of an employee who leaves the office as rarely as possible, you just need to hang a sign “Toilet”, and along the corridor there are several signs leading here. For some time (as long as his patience lasts), he will observe the surprised faces of people who see an ordinary worker instead of the desired "solitude office".

Of course, the work-office jokes do not end there, come up with new ones, we will also laugh with you with pleasure.

Many people prefer to gather in a company on this day to laugh heartily at old pranks, and at the same time try out new ones. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Sugar cocaine. All you need is powdered sugar, a mirror and everything else that is usually used in films. Then you tell how a friend gave you some cocaine and suggest you try it. Further options are possible.

2. A slightly more complex modification of this joke, suitable for a smoking company. Your friend (perhaps the same one) has given you some good cigarettes (shisha tobacco). When the objects of the draw have tried, the fun begins. You can turn on quiet meditative music, run a chicken into the room or a painted dog (hello from Stilyag). The most important thing is that everyone else pretends not to notice or understand anything. Depending on the impressionability of a friend, a joke can last up to a nervous breakdown, but it’s better not to bring it to that.

April Fool's jokes in a public place




The funniest thing is playing pranks on people you don't know. After all, they will never expect this from you.

1. In every city there is some kind of water body: a river, a lake, rates, etc. If you pass near it on your way to work, suddenly turn to the window, start pointing your finger and shouting joyfully: “Look, dolphins! Dolphins!

2. An old, but no less fun prank that needs several people. One puts on a hat with deer antlers, followed by several running with huge water pistols, inflatable guns or other clearly fake weapons. First, the “victim” runs, followed by the “hunters” with the question, have the people seen the deer?

3. Once in England, a gorilla entered a supermarket, took a cart, filled it with bananas and slowly walked to the checkout. Of course, it was just a man in a suit, but the reaction of eyewitnesses deserves repetition. Would you like to rent a suit like this?

April Fools scripts in the family




The most terrible pranks often take place in the family circle, where people know each other, all the vices and weaknesses. The main thing is that all family members have a sense of humor and know how not to be offended by such jokes:

1. You can freeze the keys to the office of someone close to you in a mug of water. Cheerful mat and indignation will be your reward.

2. Dye in shampoo or flour in hair dryer will surely make your sister happy when she gets ready.

3. And mom will be surprised at the products in the refrigerator, each of which will be drawn funny face or smiley.

4. You can also surprise your husband: draw three stripes on a pregnancy test and make him happy “We will have twins!”.

But remember the main thing: while you are thinking over and preparing pranks for your friends, relatives and colleagues, they also do not waste time, they have probably already prepared for you. Therefore, you will also get an incredible and exciting opportunity to feel like a fool and laugh not only at others, but also at yourself. And besides pranks, you can surprise your friends and family with a delicious pre-cooked meal. Both relevant and after funny jokes you can have a tea party.

People are very gullible creatures and are ready to believe anything, even if it sounds like outright nonsense. Many of us take advantage of this and arrange over each other funny pranks. But it's much more interesting to draw on a scale whole country with the help of the media!

I bring to your attention the 10 most successful and interesting April Fool's jokes of the media that misled gullible citizens in different countries peace.

1. HARVEST SPAGHETTI.

The BBC report on April 1, 1957 is still considered the most unsurpassed joke of the 20th century. In its "Panorama" program, the BBC showed a story about a bumper spaghetti harvest in Switzerland. “Switzerland is experiencing an unprecedented spaghetti harvest this year,” said the news anchor, “of course, in this country, spaghetti harvesting does not reach such an industrial scale as in Italy. Many of you have probably seen pictures of the grandiose plantations in the Po Valley. In Switzerland, it’s more of a family affair…”

The story was accompanied by documentary footage: a family of Swiss farmers unanimously picks pasta from trees and puts it in baskets. This was followed by many phone calls to the BBC studios in which people were interested in where such trees could be purchased and how to grow them. Thousands of people asked to send pasta seedlings. Particularly inquisitive people expressed surprise that pasta grows vertically, and not horizontally. But most were interested in the question: "How to grow spaghetti trees on your site?". The editors of the TV channel tactfully answered them: “Plant a spaghetti sprout in a jar of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

2. COLOR TV.

1962 In Sweden at that time there was only one TV channel and it broadcast exclusively in black and white. On April 1, the channel's technical engineer, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news and announced a new technology that would allow viewers to receive color on their old black and white televisions. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over the TV screens, which Stensson did on air as an example. Like thousands of people at their screens with him. The most interesting thing is that real regular color broadcasting appeared in Sweden in 1970, on April 1st.

3. DISSOLUTION OF BELGIUM.

The London Times newspaper in 1992 published the news that a decision had been made to dissolve Belgium. By decision of the world community, the south of the country was to go to France, and the north to the Netherlands. This note caused a real shock to the people of London and quickly went beyond it. The reaction to the prank reached such proportions that the British Foreign Secretary had to personally apologize for it.

4. NIXON FOR PRESIDENT!!!

1992: Public national radio broadcast "Voice of the Nation" announced that Richard Nixon, much to his surprise, was about to become President again. His new campaign slogan read: "I've done nothing wrong and I won't do it again." As evidence, the announcement was accompanied by a recording of Nixon's campaign speech. Listeners reacted immediately, filling the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. It wasn't until the second half of the show that host John Hockenberry announced that the statement was a joke. And Nixon's voice was parodied by comedian Rich Little.

5. HOT HEADED ICE WORMS.

In 1985, the April issue of Discover magazine announced the discovery by highly respected biologist Aprile Pazzo of a new species of worm in Antarctica, which they called "hot-headed shellless ice worms." The new kind was notable for the fact that these worms could move in the centuries-old thickness of ice at high speed, literally melting the ice in front of them due to the high temperature of the bone plates on the head, which were heated by numerous blood vessels. The worms used this feature to hunt penguins by melting the ice underneath them and attacking them after they fell into the hole. But the most shocking thing in this article was the hypothesis presented, according to which hotheaded worms could be involved in mysterious disappearance Philippe Poisson, an Antarctic explorer, in 1837. “For ice worms, we are perhaps no different from penguins,” the researcher was quoted as saying. This article received as many letters of feedback as never came to any article in the entire existence of the journal.

6. LEFT-HANDED HAMBURGER.

In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new dish to their menu - the "Left-Handed Burger" - specially made for left-handed people. As advertised, the new burger included the same ingredients as the original (lettuce, tomato, bun, etc.), but all ingredients were flipped 180 degrees for left-handed enjoyment. AT next days Burger King announced that despite the fact that the news of the new burger was a joke, thousands of people came to their restaurants and asked for "left-handed burgers." At the same time, according to the news, many right-handers were asking for a "right-handed burger."

7. CHANGING THE VALUE OF PI.

On April 1, 1998, the New Mexicans for Science and Reason published an article stating that Alabama lawmakers had decided to change the value of pi from 3.14159 to 3. The argument was that the number 3 corresponds more to the "biblical meaning" of the number "Pi" than its well-established version. At first, the article did not receive much publicity, but when it was first published on the Internet, it instantly spread to well-known news sites, after which paper and gigabytes of paper and gigabytes began to arrive in the reception of the state leadership - emails demanding to cancel this decision. Over time, it turned out that this article was a joke protesting against attempts to vote for the abolition of the study of the theory of evolution in school. The author of the joke was the scientist Mark Boslow.

8. UNIQUE EVENT.

At the end of March 1976, British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 a "grand event in the history of astronomy." It was reported that on April 1 at 9:47 am, the planet Pluto will pass behind Jupiter, which will lead to a temporary decrease in the strength of the earth's gravity, which will result in the opportunity to experience a feeling of weightlessness for some time. Moore told listeners that if they jumped into the air, just as the alignment was taking place, they might experience a strange floating sensation. Literally a few minutes after the appointed time, the radio station began to receive calls from people who, on their own experience, felt the amazing effect of flying, and one woman even claimed that she soared for several minutes in her room along with a table and chairs.

9. Mammoth.

In the late 90s, on April 1, the issue “ Komsomolskaya Pravda”, which spoke of a sensational find. The article talked about the fact that a baby mammoth was found in a frozen state in Chukotka. The sensations did not end there - the baby mammoth was warmed up, he feels great, and in good health he was placed in one of the Moscow zoos.