can you believe
they believed it
in many countries around the world,the first day of April is a day for playing tricks and pulling prank. many of the most amusing and memorable tricks that have been played on this day, also known as April Fool's day, have been perpetrated by the media.
perhaps one of the funniest April Fool's prank to have ever been pulled off happened on April 1,1957. On this day, a well-respected British news show called Panorama aired a segment focusing on a supposed spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland! The anchorman explained that the mild winter had resulted in a huge spaghetti crop. As the anchorman gave details about the "spaghetti crop," video footage was shown of Swiss people pulling fresh, long strands of spaghetti off of "spaghetti trees" and putting them in baskets.
Convincing viewers wasn't very difficult. Apparently this people. Hundreds of fascinated viewers called into the television station wanting to find out how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. They were told,"Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best. "As one studio worker remembers,"The more people called, the harder we laughed."
Another nationally broadcast April Fool's joke occurred in Sweden in 1962. At the time the country had only one television channel, and it broadcast in black and white. The station had their technical expert announce to the viewers that a new technology had been created. Astonished viewers listened as he explained that this technology would make it possible to see color images on their black and white television sets. Accomplishing this was easy, he assured the audience. He explained that all that viewers needed to do to convert their black and white televisions to color was to pull a nylon stocking over the screen. He also advised moving one's head very carefully back and forth to see the best picture. Many viewers got excited, and thousands tried it. Today many Swedes still recall family members running around the house trying to find nylon stockings to place over their television set.
Another remarkable April Fool's day prank was pulled by an Australian news program in 1975. On the program that evening it was announced that Australia would be converting to "metric time." it was explained that under metric time, there would be 100 seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in an hour, and 20 hours in a day. it was also explained that seconds would become millid, minutes become centid, and hours become decid. The report had many convincing details, including an interview with South Australia's deputy premier and a shot of Adelaide's town hall clock, with its "new" 10-hour metric clock face. Many people fell for the thick. Some even got angry about it. One viewer was particularly irritated because, as he explained, he had just bought a new clock and thought that it was now useless.
Sometimes it seems the sillier the hoax, the more likely people are to fall for it! So the next time you hear something that sounds too silly to be true, look at your calendar and make sure that it isn't April first!