Tonight’s SPECIAL edition of Nonsense News @ 9 is all about the April Fool’s pranks people were a little crazy to try and fool people with, or just, showing how gullible some people can really be! Here’s back in the day:
62 years ago – In a 1957 April Fool’s Prank, the BBC announced that because of a mild winter in Switzerland, spaghetti trees were producing more spaghetti than normal. And they showed footage of people pulling strands of spaghetti off tree branches.
People immediately started calling in asking how to grow their own spaghetti tree. So the BBC told them, quote, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
34 years ago – In a 1985 April Fool’s Prank, “Sports Illustrated”claimed a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch was planning to play for the Mets. They said he could throw 168 miles an hour, and that he trained at a monastery in Tibet.
Mets fans went nuts, and the magazine was flooded with requests for more information on a guy who didn’t exist.
23 years ago – In a 1996 April Fool’s Prank, Taco Bell said they had bought the Liberty Bell and were renaming it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” Outrage ensued.
19 years ago – In another cruel April Fool’s Prank from 2000, a Romanian newspaper announced that dozens of prisoners would be released from prison. So their families showed up to take them home, only to find out it was all a joke. The newspaper later published an apology.
10 years ago – In a 2009 April Fool’s Prank, FunnyOrDie.com devoted their ENTIRE website to Reba McEntire . . . right down to renaming the front page Reba Or Die.
Nine years ago – In a 2010 April Fool’s Prank, Ben And Jerry’s announced the world’s first virtual ice cream. They claimed you could test the flavor of the ice cream just by licking your computer screen. If only this one were true.
Eight years ago – In a 2011 April Fool’s Prank, the guys in Hanson pretended to have a Slipknot cover album in the works. And to sell it, they leaked a video of the band rehearsing the Slipknot song “Wait and Bleed” in their hotel room.
Seven years ago – In a 2012 April Fool’s Prank, Mitt Romney’s campaign staff had Paul Ryan introduce Mitt at a pancake breakfast, that was supposedly filled with supporters but when Romney walked in, the room was empty.
Five years ago – In a series of 2014 April Fool’s Pranks, NPR tried to convince people that Keanu Reeves was remaking“Citizen Kane” . . . starring himself as a fictionalized version of Fox News billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
