April Fools Day - 1977
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1977.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1978
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1978.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

April Fools Day - 1979
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1979.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1980
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1980.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1981
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1981.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1982
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1982.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1983
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1983.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1984
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1984.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900 |…

April Fools Day - 1985
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1985.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

April Fools Day - 1986
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1986.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

April Fools Day - 1987
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1987.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

April Fools Day - 1988
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1988.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

April Fools Day - 1989
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1989.April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 | 1878 | 1888 | 1900…

Captain Crunch
Type: Hacker. Summary: In the early seventies, a group of hackers called “phone phreaks” emerged, earning notoriety by creating high-tech ways to beat the costs of long distance calls. “Cap’n Crunch” was the most notorious of them all. Posted by: Elliot Feldman blue box John Draper is one of Silicon…

Captain Midnight
Type: Hacker. Summary: In 1986 a tech-savvy hacker interrupted a cable channel broadcast with his own transmission. Posted by: Elliot Feldman On April 27, 1986, late night HBO subscribers watching the movie “The Falcon and the Snowman” were surprised by a sudden interruption of service. A color bar test pattern…

Casablanca Rejected
Type: Literary Hoax. Summary: The script of Casablanca was sent to over 200 movie agents. A large number of them rejected it, many with disparaging remarks about its quality. Too much dialogue, not enough exposition, weak story line Casablanca is arguably the most famous movie in the history of film.…

Dominion of Melchizedek
Type: Fictitious Country. Summary: The Dominion of Melchizedek was a non-existent island country established by father and son con artists, Evan and Mark Pedley. Posted by: Elliot Feldman Melchizedek is a country that has no physical presence on the planet, yet its home to hundreds of financial institutions. … Wait…

Doris Lessing as Jane Somers
Type: Literary hoax (of the spurious submission type) Summary: Doris Lessing used a pseudonym to submit copies of a new work by herself to the publishers of her previous works. In 1983 the novel The Diary of a Good Neighbor was published in Great Britain and United States. It told…

Filipino Monkey
Type: Rogue radio operator. Summary: For decades a mysterious prankster has interrupted ship-to-ship radio communications with obscenities and threats. The Filipino Monkey is the name of an infamous rogue radio operator who interjects lewd jokes, threats, obscenities, and animal noises into ship-to-ship radio communications conducted on VHF marine channel 16…

Hitler Diaries
Type: Forgery. Summary: A fake set of diaries, supposedly written by Adolf Hitler, became one of the most costly forgeries in history. Gerd Heidemann (right) and Wolf Hess (left), son of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess, pose with a volume of the Hitler diaries. April, 1983. Table of Contents The Beginning:…

Interfering Brassieres
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoax. Summary: An article warned women that their bras might be causing television interference. April Fool’s Day Content in the Museum of HoaxesTop 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes—The Origin of April Fool’s Day—April Fool’s Hoaxes by Year1698 | 1708 | 1844 | 1860 | 1866 |…

Lady Liberty on Lake Mendota
Type: College Prank. Summary: The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pail and Shovel Party promised that, if elected to student government, they would move the Statue of Liberty to Lake Mendota, and they made good on their promise. Lady Liberty sinks into Lake Mendota. (Photograph by Ravi Kochhar). In February 1979 an…

Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
Type: Anti-corporate rumor. Summary: Despite a persistent rumor to the contrary, Neiman Marcus has never sold a cookie recipe for $250. URBAN LEGEND HAIKU Recipe was good, But it cost me too much dough. And now I am broke. (by AB) That’s a good cookie. I’ll get that Neiman Marcus.…

Press Your Luck Scandal
Type: Beating the System. Summary: A contestant became a big winner on a game show by realizing that the computerized game sequence was not random. Posted by: Elliot Feldman Michael Larson plays Press Your LuckOn May 19, 1984, Michael Larson, an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Lebanon, Ohio, won…

San Serriffe
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoax. Summary: On April 1, 1977 the Guardian published a seven-page supplement devoted to the previously unknown island state of San Serriffe. Table of Contents The Creation of San Serriffe The Special Report San Serriffe Geography San Serriffe Culture San Serriffe Advertisements The Response The Sequel…

Sidd Finch
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoax. Summary: Sports Illustrated claimed that the new pitcher for the New York Mets could pitch a baseball at 168 mph. Sidd Finch is listed at #2 in the Museum’s list of the Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time. SIDD FINCH HAIKUThe Buddha…

The Steps Experiment
Type: Literary Hoax (an example of a spurious submission hoax). Summary: The script of Jerzy Kosinski’s award-winning novel Steps was submitted under a false name to fourteen different publishers, all of whom rejected it. Artwork accompanying Ross’s 1979 article describing the Steps Experiment. In 1975 Chuck Ross was selling cable…

Vilcabamba
Type: Anthropological Hoax. Summary: During the 1970s, the Ecuadorian town of Vilcabamba became famous because of the apparent longevity of its residents. The town’s small population appeared to include numerous people over the age of 100. Later researchers discovered that the town’s elderly residents were systematically exaggerating their ages. In…