The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest:
On April 1st 1957, the respected BBC news 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."
Nixon for President
The April 1992 broadcast of National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation revealed 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 to the announcement by 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.
The Sydney Iceberg:
Dick Smith, a prominent businessman of Sydney had promised the locals to tow an iceberg from Antarctica. His intention was to carve the gigantic yet fresh iceberg in small cubes which he would sell to the public. Eventually, on the April Fool’s Day of 1978, entire city along with media community arrived at the Sydney Harbor to take a glimpse of the huge iceberg. Then it started raining and entire populace witnessed the wash away process of shaving cream and firefighting foam from which the iceberg was really made of.
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