April Fools' Day

Today is 1 April, also known as April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day. The day is traditionally marked by playing tricks on friends, family and neighbours, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. In England, and some other countries, the pranks must be played out by noon, after this time the person playing the trick is regarded as the 'April Fool'. In certain countries such as Ireland, France and the United States the jokes last all day. No one really knows when or where the tradition started but many theories have been suggested. The one I like best is that in France 1 April used to be counted as the first day of the year. When King Charles IX changed that to 1 January, some people stayed with 1 April. Those who did were called 'April Fools' and were taunted by their neighbours. Some well known pranks from the past include:

San Serriffe The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising this fictional resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse) its capital (Bodoni) and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that San Serriffe (sans serif) did not exist except as references to typeface terminology.

Smell-o-vision In 1965 the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trials success. In 2007 the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.

Tower of Pisa The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950's that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.

Left Handed Whoppers In 1998 Burger King ran an ad in 'USA Today' saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the "old" right-handed burgers.

So, be careful what you see, hear or read before lunchtime today!