Although its origins remain a mystery, there are several theories as to how April Fool's Day started. An ancient Roman festival, Hilaria, that was held at the end of March involved people dressing up in disguises to celebrate the festival, is one of the many ancient festivals historians have linked to April Fool's Day. Other theories regarding the beginnings of April Fool's involve France switching from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, as well as the vernal equinox (or first day of spring), which was when Mother Nature "fooled" people with the weather.
Due to the rise of April Fool's jokes in modern times, here's a list of the best (in my opinion) April Fool's pranks of all time.
The Spaghetti Harvest
On April 1st, 1957 BBC news broadcasted Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from "spaghetti trees," to which people called in and asked how to grow their own spaghetti trees, and received the response of "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
San Serriffe
In 1977, The Guardian published a long article about two islands in the form of a semicolon named Lower Caisse and Upper Caisse. Almost everything else relating to the islands was named after printing terminology.
Taco Bell Liberty Bell
In 1996 Taco Bell took out full-page ads in six major newspapers claiming that the company would buy the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and rename it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When word got to the White House, press secretary Mike McCurry said that Lincoln Memorial was also sold and renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
DWI on the Internet
In the April 1994 issue of PC Computing, an article was written regarding a law that would pass in Congress about using the internet while drunk. The explanation as to why the bill would pass was because the internet is known as the "information highway" and Congress thinks being drunk on any highway is bad.
Amazon Echo with Petlexa
For April Fool's this year, Amazon released new technology: the Echo, but it could be used with pets. In the commercial, a cat meows and Alexa orders it a jumbo sushi platter. A few seconds later, Alexa throws a ball to a dog that breaks a picture frame, the dog whimpers and Alexa orders a new picture frame.
Google Gnome
You've heard of Google Home, but what about a Google Gnome for your yard? Well, Google came out with the Gnome this April Fool's. But surprise, it does not handle any "indoor" requests (such as ordering more food or what have you).
SOURCES:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-f...
