What are some of the best, and worst, pranks you have pulled on others, and that others have pulled on you? Use the comment section to submit your ideas, brags & moans.
Wiki may not be the be all & end all source of information, but it's my starting place for general holiday info:
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good-humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.
Traditionally, in some countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Australia, Cyprus, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool" and taunted "April Fool's Day's past and gone, You're the fool for making one."[1] Elsewhere, such as in France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Ireland, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. In France and Italy children (and adults, when appropriate) traditionally tack paper fish on each other's back as a trick and shout "april fish!" in their local language ("poisson d'avril!" and "pesce d'aprile!" in French and Italianrespectively).
The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of January 1 as New Year's Day in the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.
Some of the most well known pranks include:
- Write-only memory: Signetics advertised write-only memory (WOM) IC databooks in 1972 through the late 1970s.[1]
- Decimal time: Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10.[2]
- Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell". When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.[3]
- A 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, dated April 1, featured a story by George Plimpton on a baseball player, Hayden Siddhartha Finch, a New York Mets pitchingprospect who could throw the ball 168 miles per hour (270 km/h) and who had a number of eccentric quirks, such as playing with one barefoot and one hiking boot. Plimpton later expanded the piece into a full-length novel on Finch's life. Sports Illustrated frequently cites the story as one of the more memorable in the magazine's history.[4]
By newspapers
- In The Guardian newspaper, in the United Kingdom, on April Fool's Day, 1977, a fictional mid-ocean state of San Serriffe was created in a seven-page supplement.[10]
[edit]By websites
- Kremvax: In 1984, in one of the earliest on-line hoaxes, a message was circulated that Usenet had been opened to users in the Soviet Union.[11]
- Dead fairy hoax: In 2007, an illusion designer for magicians posted on his website some images illustrating the corpse of an unknown eight-inch creation, which was claimed to be the mummified remains of afairy. He later sold the fairy on eBay for £280.[12]
- Expedia ran a prank on April 1, 2009, offering flights to Mars. This was internally known as Project Dawnstar.
- Google has a tradition of perpetrating April Fools' Day hoaxes.
Some of the best pranks ever so says the Huffington Post:
Here, an entire web site dedicated to April Fool's:
Their top 3 prank ideas today:
Nailed Ya!
Find a small picture, a wall calendar, or similar item that can be hung up. Take a nail and use wire cutters to cut off the nail head, then glue the nail head to the item you're going to hang. Now glue a magnet to the back of the item. Take the item to the kitchen, along with a hammer. Stick the item to the refrigerator with the magnet, then start making a loud banging sound with the hammer. Hopefully, your victim will come to investigate the noise, and "catch" you nailing a picture to the refrigerator. (Note: you can play this trick on other surfaces as well wherever your victim will freak out about having a nail hole!)
Submitted by Emily
Pulling A Con
Is there a ceiling fan with an overhead light that your victim turns on using a pull cord? Trick them by substituting a fake pull cord attached to a cup of confetti balanced on top of the fan blade. Many fan cords detach which will make this easy to set up--otherwise use a substitute cord and tuck the real cord out of sight. They will pull the cord and get a big surprise!
Hanky Painty
First scope out a local park, college, or other public area that has benches where people frequently sit. Note the color of the benches. Now find some paint that matches the color of the benches. Take some old clothes and paint stripes on the back of the clothes - make them look like you sat on a freshly-painted bench. Let the clothes dry, then put them on. Now go to the park. Tape a "Wet Paint" sign to the bench, then sit down with your back covering the sign so no one can see it. Wait for someone to come and sit next to you. When you are sure they are watching, stand up with your back showing and act upset that you just realized you sat in paint (point to the sign which is now visible). The person will freak out thinking they sat in paint!
Submitted by Scott M.
April Fool's Day Atrocities
The Top 10 Worst April Fool's Day Hoaxes Ever (Article):
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/worstaprilfools.html
100 Worst April Fools Pranks Ever (Article):
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/100_Worst_April_Fools_Jokes
Two Videos that ought to get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuWF0Wuo4y8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=-vQ2RVqJCNM
The Top 10 Worst April Fool's Day Hoaxes Ever (Article):
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/worstaprilfools.html
100 Worst April Fools Pranks Ever (Article):
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/100_Worst_April_Fools_Jokes
Two Videos that ought to get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuWF0Wuo4y8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=-vQ2RVqJCNM
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