13 April fools’ pranks that went horribly wrong

There are many theories as to the origins of April Fools’ Day, but some historians believe the day originated in 1582 when France switched over to the Gregorian calendar, which changed New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1. Back in those days, the news took a little longer to reach everyone, and those who were a bit slow on the uptake (celebrating New Year’s Day on April 1, for example) became the butt of pranks, including having paper fish glued onto their backs – because fish are easy to catch. People still refer to easily fooled people as “fish” to this day. They would call them “gullible,” except – ahem – that word isn’t in the dictionary.

In 1708, Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift set up an epic April Fools’ prank by pretending to be an astrologer by the name of Isaac Bickerstaff. He published a set of predictions, the most notable of which was that a celebrity-astrologer of the time, John Partridge would die on March 29. On March 30, Swift circulated an anonymous account of Partridge’s death of fever. On April 1, someone knocked on the Partridge’s door to set up funeral arrangements. Partridge, of course, was alive and well, but for the rest of his life, he had to insist he was not dead. The prediction finally came true seven years later without Partridge ever finding out the real identity of Isaac Bickerstaff.

Check out these April Fools’ Day pranks from around the world.

For April Fools’ Day in 1980, Boston TV news producer, Homer Cilley, (it actually rhymes with “silly”) produced a television broadcast about a hill in Milton, Massachusetts, that had begun oozing lava and spewing flames. He included fake warnings from then-president Jimmy Carter and real footage from Mt St Helens eruptions that implied the Massachusetts volcano had fully erupted. “April Fool” read the card at the end of the segment, but hundreds of panicked citizens flooded law enforcement phone lines anyway. Cilley was promptly fired for failing to exercise “good news judgment” and breaching regulations.

Read on for everything you need to know about volcanoes.

In 1986, an Israeli intelligence officer played an April Fools’ prank involving fake news that an Islamic leader had been seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Haha? No. Not really. The news caused an immediate flare-up in tensions in the region, and the high-ranking prankster was court martialled.

On April 1, 1992, a man claiming to be Richard Nixon told NPR he would be running for president and that, “I never did anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Despite the date, thousands believed it was actually Richard Nixon announcing another bid for the presidency. Of course, it wasn’t actually Nixon speaking, but that didn’t stop the outrage, and many began gearing up to protest.

Read on for the US presidential mysteries that were never solved.

On April 1, 1998, Burger King announced it would now offer a version of the Whopper that had been carefully designed for left-handed people. The joke was on Burger King, however, when stores across the country were flooded with orders for the left-handed Whopper.

In 2001, a DJ in England decided to prank his listeners on April 1 by broadcasting that a ship that looked suspiciously like the Titanic could be seen from the cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex. Hundreds of listeners believed him, trekking to the cliffs to catch a glimpse. Unfortunately, all the foot traffic caused a large crack in the cliff face. A few days later, it fell into the sea.

Check out these famous hoaxes that (almost) fooled everyone.

On April 1, 2002, a couple of US DJs announced the local water supply had been found to contain high levels of “dihydrogen monoxide” (DHMO), whose side effects included sweating, urination, and skin-pruning. Hundreds of citizens flooded the water department and the police with distressed phone calls. Too bad dihydrogen monoxide is actually H20 – the chemical name for water. The DJs were widely criticised and accused of “terrorism” by one government official. In 2013, two more (slow to learn) DJs pulled the same prank. The resulting clamour got the DJs yanked off the air and nearly saddled with felony charges.

Don’t miss these genius tricks to guarantee you’ll drink enough water.

For April Fools’ in 2003, a clothing store employee in the US decided to call her boss and tell him that someone was robbing the store at gunpoint. Before she had time to call him back and confess to the prank, her boss had called the police. Four patrol cars rolled up to the store. The employee was arrested for inducing panic.

A newspaper in Jordan ran an April 1, 2010, article claiming a UFO had landed near the town of Jafr. The mayor of Jafr’s response was to evacuate 13,000 people. Facing a potential lawsuit, the newspaper staff apologised publicly, saying “we meant to entertain, not scare people.”

Here are the most chilling UFO sightings ever recorded.