Community Corner

Top 100 April Fool's Day Pranks

The Museum of Hoaxes, a San Diego-based website dedicated to jokesters and urban legends, has chronicled the best hoaxes of all time.

Need inspiration for a fun April Fool's Day joke this Sunday? Believe it or not, there is an entire website dedicated to you pranksters … The Museum of Hoaxes. And, the San Diego-based website has a list of the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time!

According to a note on the website from the curator, Alex Boese, the list was created in the late 1990s. Since then, it has inspired spinoff lists … even an iPhone app!

Here are a few pranks to get you started:

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April Fool's Day Hoax #1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

On April Fool's Day, 1957, a BBC news show announced that the weather had eliminated a pest known as the "spaghetti weevil." So, the report said Swiss farmers were enjoying a healthy crop of spaghetti from their spaghetti trees. According to The Museum of Hoaxes, "It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fool's Day hoax."

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April Fool's Day Hoax #4: The Taco Liberty Bell

This year it's Doritos Locos Tacos, which are no joke. But back in 1996, the Taco Bell Corporation took out ads in six major news papers on April Fool's Day. The ads announced the company had bought the Liberty Bell and would rename it the "Taco Liberty Bell." The news outraged citizens who called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia, where the bell was located. Hours later, Taco Bell revealed the joke.

April Fool's Day Hoax #7: The Value of Pi Changed by State of Alabama

An article in the April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason claimed that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value "of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0." The article ended up on the Internet and angry people began calling the Alabama legislature.

We only highlighted three hoaxes, which means there are 97 more to browse! Unless, Pali Patch is just pulling your leg!!!

  • For more April Fool's Day Hoaxes from The Museum of Hoaxes, click here.
  • For The Museum of Hoaxes website, click here.

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