Once again, April Fools' Day is on us - it's time to wonder what pranks are in store for us at home, in the office, or even online. Maybe, just maybe, there's a pail of water waiting to fall on your head when you open that door after reading this post. It's a cliché scenario, but it's still entirely possible and it still works like a charm.
With that, let's take a look back at the funniest, most effective pranks in the past that has also worked like a charm on a lot of people.
Spaghetti Tree
This is probably the most famous April Fools' Day prank ever, even 57 years after it was done. People are reminded of this epic stunt by various "best pranks ever" lists that come out on the first day of April this year - or with any humorous talk about pasta. In 1957, BBC announced that there were "bumper harvests" of spaghetti growing on trees in southern Switzerland, a country famous for its chocolate and banks.
The accompanying images of people pulling noodles off trees and placing them in baskets apparently made the report convincing. As a result, the network received hundreds of calls about the news, asking how they "could grow their own spaghetti tree," The Mirror recalled. BBC's reply: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
Left-Handed Burger
Those who fell for this joke probably missed their geometry classes.
In 1998, Burger King did a full page ad in USA Today for a new and special product. "Burger King announced a solution for the 1.4 million left-handed customers visiting their restaurants every day: the Left-Handed Whopper. Burger King said all the condiments were rotated 180° to suit the left-handed burger connoisseur," Time reported.
The next day, many lined up to order the said sandwich, with right-handed people eager to make sure that they got the right Whopper for themselves. "The thought that a burger is basically, you know, a circle apparently never crossed their minds," the American publication wryly observed.
Planetary Alignment
"In 1976, British astronomer Patrick Moore told BBC radio listeners that at 9.47am a rare alignment of Pluto and Saturn would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth," The Week explained. The respected astronomer then said that if people jumped at that moment, they may sense the difference. Many later phoned that they did feel the "floating sensation" Moore described.
DIY Color TV
There were still no color TV networks in Sweden in 1962. Aside from this, the country only had one TV channel. However, Kjell Stensson, their "technical expert," taught viewers how to get their black-and-white TV sets to broadcast images in color.
"Researchers, he said, had recently discovered that covering your television screen with a pair of tights would cause the light to bend in such a way that it would appear as if the image was in color. All viewers had to do, Stensson said, was to cut open a pair of stockings and tape them over the screen of their television set," The Mirror explained. Thousands believed him.
What's the funniest, cleverest prank you've ever heard of?
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