the swiss spaghetti harvest
瑞士麵條樹
spaghetti harvest1957: the respected bbc news show panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. it accompanied this announcement with footage of swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. huge numbers of viewers were taken in. many called the bbc wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. to this the bbc diplomatically replied, place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.
1957年愚人節bbc新聞中說，瑞士的麵條樹大豐收，農民都在樹上收割麵條。大量觀眾上當受騙，打電話來諮詢麵條樹的種植方法。bbc對此的回覆是：把一根麵條插在番茄醬里，然後就等著吧。
sidd finch
虛擬棒球天才
sidd finch1985: sports illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the mets. his name was sidd finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. this was 65 mph faster than the previous record. surprisingly, sidd finch had never even played the game before. instead, he had mastered the art of the pitch in a tibetan monastery under the guidance of the great poet-saint lama milaraspa. mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and sports illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, george plimpton.
1985年愚人節，運動畫刊雜誌發布一條假訊息，稱一個名為sidd finch的新人棒球投球手，能投出168mph時速的球，比當時記錄高出65mph；而且這位新人之前都沒有玩過棒球！他在一個西藏的寺廟裡學會了投球的藝術。大批棒球冬粉因此被騙。其實這個只是文章作者瞎編的。
instant color tv
即時彩色電視
image1962: in 1962 there was only one tv channel in sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. the station's technical expert, kjell stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. all they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. thousands of people were taken in. regular color broadcasts only commenced in sweden on april 1, 1970.
1962年愚人節，當時瑞典還只有一個電視頻道，而且是黑白的。電視台的技術人員當天在新聞中說，彩色電視已經研發成功，用戶只需拿一雙尼龍襪蓋在電視螢幕上就行。還真有人信了。
the taco liberty bell
塔可自由鐘
taco liberty bell1996: the taco bell corporation announced it had bought the liberty bell and was renaming it the taco liberty bell. hundreds of outraged citizens called the national historic park in philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. their nerves were only calmed when taco bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. the best line of the day came when white house press secretary mike mccurry was asked about the sale. thinking on his feet, he responded that the lincoln memorial had also been sold. it would now be known, he said, as the ford lincoln mercury memorial.
1996年愚人節，塔可鐘快餐公司說他們買下了美國費城獨立廳的大鐘，並重命名為塔可自由鐘。憤怒的市民打電話給費城的國家歷史公園，要求確認這個訊息。幾小時後塔可鐘快餐公司承認這只是個玩笑。當天最烏龍的事件還不在此。白宮會秘書mike mccurry被問到這件事時，隨機應變回答說，林肯紀念碑也被賣了，現在被命名為福特水星汽車紀念碑。
san serriffe
虛擬國家
image1977: the british newspaper the guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to san serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the indian ocean. a series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. its two main islands were named upper caisse and lower caisse. its capital was bodoni, and its leader was general pica. the guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology.
1977年愚人節，英國衛報發行了長達7頁的增刊，全是介紹san serriffe這個印度洋上的小島國的，據說那裡有好幾個分號形狀的小島。文章中大肆渲染了這裡的風情和民俗，介紹了它的城市和首都，甚至總統的名字。當天衛報編輯室的電話都被讀者打爆了，大家都想知道這樣美好的度假勝地在哪。只有少數人注意到，首都名字bodoni是印刷術語，是一種印刷字型的名稱。
nixon for president
尼克森復出
1992: national public radio's talk of the nation program announced that richard nixon, in a surprise move, was running for president again. his new campaign slogan was, i didn't do anything wrong, and i won't do it again. accompanying this announcement were audio clips of nixon delivering his candidacy speech. listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. only during the second half of the show did the host john hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian rich little.
1992年愚人節，全國公共廣播電台宣布，尼克森又要競選總統了，他的競選宣言是：我沒做錯事；我也不會再做錯事。新聞中還穿插了一段尼克森的講話。憤怒而驚訝的聽眾紛紛打電話來質問。隨後主持人承認這是假的，尼克森的聲音也是一個喜劇演員模仿的。
alabama changes the value of pi
圓周率值的修改
1998: the april 1998 issue of the new mexicans for science and reason newsletter contained an article claiming 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. soon the article made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly spread around the world, forwarded by email. it only became apparent how far the article had spread when the alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. the original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by physicist mark boslough.
1998年愚人節：new mexicans科學技術雜誌宣稱阿拉巴馬州要立法改變圓周率pi的值，很快這事被傳上網，通過電子郵件傳遍全世界。阿拉巴馬立法機構因此接到無數抗議電話。
the left-handed whopper
左撇子大漢堡
1998: burger king published a full page advertisement in usa today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a left-handed whopper specially designed for the 32 million left-handed americans. according to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. the following day burger king issued a follow-up release revealing that although the left-handed whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. simultaneously, according to the press release, many others requested their own 'right handed' version.
1998年愚人節，漢堡王在今日美國報紙上發布了真箇版面的廣告，介紹他們的新食物：左手漢堡，據說是專為左撇子人士設計，啥都沒變，就是全部鏇轉了180度（小編好奇：轉了180度有區別么？）成千上萬的顧客因此前來品嘗，而且有人要求設計“右手漢堡”。
hotheaded naked ice borers
熱性****鑿冰蟲
hotheaded naked ice borer1995: discover magazine reported that the highly respected wildlife biologist dr. aprile pazzo had found a new species in antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. these fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. they used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. after much research, dr. pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted antarctic explorer philippe poisson in 1837. to the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin, the article quoted her as saying. discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.
1995年愚人節。探索雜誌著名野生動物學家aprile pazzo博士在南極洲發現了一種新生物：熱性****鑿冰蟲。這種生物的頭上有盤狀骨頭，血液豐富，溫度很高，因此能夠穿透冰層。他們以此來捕食企鵝。pazzo博士同時聲稱，經過詳細調查，這種動物與1837年南極探險家philippe poisson的失蹤有關：“對這種蟲來說，他可能長得像企鵝。”探索雜誌上還從來沒有哪篇文章得到如此多的讀者反饋。
planetary alignment decreases gravity
萬有引力消失
1976: the british astronomer patrick moore announced on bbc radio 2 that at 9:47 am a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. the planet pluto would pass behind jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the earth's own gravity. moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. when 9:47 am arrived, bbc2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. one woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.
1976年愚人節，英國天文學家patrick moore說，早上9：47時，一個千載難逢的天文現象就要發生：冥王星會從木星後面經過，導致暫時的重力失調，抵消並消減地球上的萬有引力，因此人們能體會到一種奇妙的漂浮感覺。9：47，bbc電台接到無數電話，人們聲稱感到自己漂浮起來了。一個女人甚至說，她和她的朋友從椅子上飄起來，在房間裡蕩來蕩去。