Article April Fools Day - 1983
Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1983.
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Table of Contents
The Origin of April Fool’s Day
The debate over the origins of April Fool’s Day has been long-standing and entirely inconclusive. Joseph Boskin, a History professor at Boston University, added a scholarly voice to this debate by explaining to a reporter from the Associated Press that April Fool’s Day had begun during the Roman Empire. According to him, a court jester had boasted to Emperor Constantine that the fools and jesters of the court could rule the kingdom better than the Emperor could. In response, Constantine decreed that the court fools would be given a chance to prove this boast, and he set aside one day of the year upon which a fool would rule the kingdom. The first year Constantine appointed a jester named Kugel to rule who immediately decreed that only the absurd would be allowed in the kingdom on that day. Therefore the tradition of April Fools was born. The Associated Press reporter transmitted Boskin’s story to news media throughout the country who ran it in their papers. However, not a word of this history was true, which Boskin admitted two weeks later. Boston University issued a statement apologizing for the joke, and many papers published corrections.
Dihydrogen Oxide
The Durand Express, a Michigan weekly, reported alarming news concerning a dangerous chemical that had been found in the city’s water pipes. The chemical was known as dihydrogen oxide. The paper explained that inhalation of this chemical “nearly always results in death,” and that “vapors from it cause severe blistering of the skin which can be fatal if extensive.” At the end of the article the paper revealed that the chemical formula of this substance was H20 (water).
The Perrier Channel
On Cable Magazine editor Peter Funt reported that Warner-Amex had decided to add two channels to its entertainment line-up. These channels would deliver Perrier and beer, on demand, through the cable lines.