Happy April Fools' Day! In celebration, HistoryFacts surveyed what they've deemed "The Greatest April Fools' Day Pranks in History." Of course, a prank's greatness lies in the eye of the beholder (or victim) but here are a couple of my favorites they included:
Planetary alignment will let you float!
On April 1, 1976, renowned British astronomer Patrick Moore pulled off a memorable April Fools' prank on BBC Radio 2. He announced that at exactly 9:47 a.m., a rare alignment of Jupiter and Pluto would combine their gravitational forces, temporarily reducing Earth's gravity. Moore suggested that if listeners jumped at that precise moment, they might float off the ground.*
"Of course, there were an untold number of listeners who took Moore's tongue-in-cheek announcement quite seriously," HistoryFacts recounts. "One caller described how she and 11 friends had all floated around a room together, while another demanded monetary damages for soaring too high and banging his head on the ceiling."
Whopper for lefties!
On April 1, 1998, Burger King announced the "Left-Handed Whopper," a reconfigured burger that was "rotated a full 180 degrees" and provided lefties with a "better grip."
"A follow-up release from Burger King described how thousands of customers had gone to their restaurants to request left-handed Whoppers, with others specifying that they still preferred the right-handed version," HistoryFacts reports.
Previously:
• Why this major security company is ditching April Fools' Day for good
• Volkswagen shares drop 3.7% after April Fool's name change to Voltswagen
