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April Fool's Day Archive, Contents:
| Before 1900: | Origin of April Fool's Day | 1700-1799 | 1800-1899 |
| Early 1900s: | 1900 | 1901 | 1915 | 1919 | 1920 | 1923 | 1925 |
| 1930s & 40s: | 1933 | 1934 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1940 | 1949 |
| 1950s & 60s: | 1950 | 1957 | 1959 | 1960 | 1962 | 1965 | 1969 |
| 1970s: | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| 1980s: | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 1990s: | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 2000s: | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 2010s: | 2010 | 2011 |
category
The Daily Mail's April Fool's Day Hoaxes
The Daily Mail's April Fool's Day Hoaxes
Jacqui Smith Goes Shopping (2009)
The Daily Mail ran a doctored photo of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith walking out of a lingerie store. The headline above it read, "Oh Jacqui, surely that can't be you?" Jacqui Smith had recently been embroiled in a scandal after her husband downloaded two pay-per-view adult films, the cost of which Smith then included as part of an MP expenses claim.
| Categories: Politics, Sex, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2009, Photo Hoaxes, Daily Mail. |
Silent Crisps (2009)
The Daily Mail revealed that Walkers Crisps had designed noise-free crisps, to be marketed as "Ready Silent Cri-sshhp." They would allow people to "eat loud snacks in the cinema without disturbing the person next to you." The crisp was said to have "the same flavour and crunchiness, except it comes already crushed." The snack food firm has been working with acoustics experts at the London Institute of Sound Performance (LISP) to produce the 'silent' crisp. LISP says that research showed 90pc of the loud crunching noise associated with a packet of crisps comes from the first bite. If successful they will be rolled out in the UK, Europe and in the Middle East through Walker's partner Deloof Neeb Evuoy.
| Categories: Food and Drink, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2009, Fictitious Products, Daily Mail. |
| Categories: Government, Politics, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2006, Daily Mail. |
The Queen Visits the Bookie (2004)
The Daily Mail ran a photo, allegedly taken by an Austrian tourist named Otto Breeching (an anagram for "bet on the corgi"), showing the Queen with her corgis at a bookmaker placing a bet on the Grand National: "The Daily Mail can reveal that the Queen has insisted on placing her bet in person every year since a flutter went disastrously wrong... And what of the latest wager? A betting shop spokesman would say only that the VIP customer had placed 'a sizeable sum' on one horse to win at the Aintree meeting on Saturday. He declined to name the horse, adding: 'If everyone finds out what she's putting her money on, all the odds will go crazy.'"
| Categories: Royalty, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2004, Daily Mail. |
Sky Becoming Less Blue (2001)
The British Mail on Sunday announced that the sky was becoming less blue. It cited a five-year study conducted at the Koenraad University in Amsterdam which had used special digital cameras and color charts to measure subtle shifts in the sky's color. The study's researchers had found that the "'coefficient of blueness'... has drastically diminished in five years from 9.3 per cent in 1996 to just 6.9 per cent this year." They attributed this color change to the effects of air pollution and the depleting ozone layer. The article explained, "Particles of airborne pollution are thought to be creating a thick blanket of dirty grey." This blanket of pollution was preventing the 'scattering' of sunlight as it passed through the atmosphere, causing the sky to darken. Astronomer Patrick Moore was quoted as saying, "There's an awful lot of pollution, making the sky turn a strange russety colour." The Mail on Sunday invited its readers to help the researchers in Amsterdam by taking part in a "mass observation" scheduled to occur between 10am and noon on April 1. A "Skyometer" had been printed on the right side of the page that provided a graded chart of different shades of blue. By holding this chart up to the sky, readers could determine which shade best matched the color of the sky. They were asked to mail their results to the Mail on Sunday, which would forward them to the Amsterdam researchers. The reference to astronomer Patrick Moore should have given readers a clue that the article was a hoax. Moore is famous for an April Fool's Day prank he perpetrated on the audience of BBC Radio back in 1976 in which he claimed that a rare alignment of the planets was temporarily going to lessen the earth's gravity.
| Categories: Climate, Science, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2001, Daily Mail. |
FatSox (2000)
The Daily Mail revealed that American scientists had invented "FatSox" — socks made out of a revolutionary new material that actually sucked fat out of a person's body as they sweated. The discovery promised to "speed up the fight against flab without any extra effort."The socks employed a nylon polymer that reacted with a newly-patented compound, Tetrafloramezathine, in order to draw fat out of the bloodstream: "As the exerciser warms up, molecules in the sock are activated by the increased blood flow and the material draws out the fatty liquids, or lipds, from the body through the sweat." After a good workout, the socks, and the fat, could simply be thrown away.
The socks had been tested on human "guinea pigs" at the Esporta Health Club in Crawley, Sussex. The club manager said, "Some of us were sceptical about these 'fat magnets' at first, but as your body gets hot you can really feel them working." As a result of the successful test, Esporta planned to offer the socks for sale, at £15.99 for a pack of three.
| Categories: Beauty and Grooming, Fashion, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 2000, Fictitious Products, Daily Mail. |
The Daily Mail published a photograph showing an ostrich burying its head in the sand, under the headline "The picture that will give all sceptics the bird." An accompanying article explained:
Despite years of trying, wildlife experts had been unable to find a single witness to confirm that the world's largest bird indulges in the extraordinary habit featured in the saying. Today, however, the Daily Mail can reveal that it does. Our picture means the sceptics can bury their heads in the sand no longer. It was taken by British wildlife photographer Jones Bloom, who ventured into the heart of Africa in his quest for the truth. He made contact with the Chostri Setear, a little-known tribe of the central Kalahari region whose members understand the ways of the ostrich better than any other people on earth... This week, after four years spent trying to win the tribe's confidence, Bloom was at last invited to accompany the Chostri Setear on a hunting expedition deep inside Ofolri Lap National Park...
'It was an astonishing experience,' Bloom said yesterday. 'For three hours we crept through the bush. When at last we spotted an ostrich, the lion cub ran straight at it. As soon as the bird saw it, it dived beak-first into the sand.'
As the photographer moved in to take his historic picture, the lion began to roar and the tribesmen bellowed their victory chant.
'Yet through it all,' said Bloom, 'the ostrich remained immobile, head buried, apparently convinced it had become invisible.
'At least I didn't have to ask it to keep still for the camera.'
'It was an astonishing experience,' Bloom said yesterday. 'For three hours we crept through the bush. When at last we spotted an ostrich, the lion cub ran straight at it. As soon as the bird saw it, it dived beak-first into the sand.'
As the photographer moved in to take his historic picture, the lion began to roar and the tribesmen bellowed their victory chant.
'Yet through it all,' said Bloom, 'the ostrich remained immobile, head buried, apparently convinced it had become invisible.
'At least I didn't have to ask it to keep still for the camera.'
| Categories: Animals, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 1994, Loof Lirpa, Daily Mail. |
Stonehenge To Move (1991)
The Daily Mail reported that on account of the "gradual slowing of the earth's rotation" the heel stone at Stonehenge had become out of line with the sun on Midsummer's Day. As a consequence there were plans afoot to dismantle the monument and re-assemble it "on another site of similar prominence." However, where to re-assemble it had become the source of controversy. The Ancient Society of Cosmologists wanted to re-assemble it on Mt. Snowdon. However, a Tokyo consortium had offered 484 billion yen to move it to Japan, saying it would "enhance Japan's status as the Land of the Rising Sun when re-sited on top of sacred Mount Fuji." This suggestion had sparked outrage among conservationists.
The Department of Transportation, meanwhile, was delighted, because it had "wanted for 25 years to upgrade the A303 by driving a motorway through the middle of [Stonehenge]."
Stonehenge faces a new dawn today
Monument to be moved because solstice sun is out of line
Stonehenge, the greatest monument to prehistoric civilisation in Britain, is to be moved.
Astronomers have discovered that the sun on Midsummer's Day now rises in a position badly out of line with the mystic Heel Stone which formed the centre of religious worship in ancient times.
The result is that the Ancient Society of Cosmologists, which dates back to Druids who performed rituals at the circle of stones on Salisbury Plain 4,500 years ago, has approved the move.
To correct the misalignment caused by the gradual slowing of the Earth's rotation, the world-famous monument is to be dismantled and re-assembled on another site of similar prominence. The plan to transport the stones, which attract 700,000 visitors every year, has outraged conservation groups and caused a split in the Ancient Society. Its Welsh members, based in Anglesey, were adamant last night that the only suitable alternative plot would be the summit of Snowdon. Their grand wizard, Dynwal Maughmud, said: "Everyone knows that much of the stone and iron pyrites (fool's gold) used in the construction of Stonehenge was mined in Wales."
A consortium of Tokyo businessmen is believed to have offered 484billion yen (2billion) for the monument, saying it will enhance Japan's status as the Land of the Rising Sun when re-sited on top of sacred Mount Fuji.
But so sensitive are the stones that archaeologists have ruled they must be moved in exactly the same way they were erected. Thousands of labourers will be hired and trained in prehistoric building techniques. Each of the slabs, weighing up to 50 tons, will be dug out and dragged to the new site using an estimated three miles of ropes, 12,500 timber beams and 3,000 rollers.
A decision on the future of Stonehenge will be made today and work will start in exactly a year. Moving the monument will delight Transport Department officials who have wanted for 25 years to upgrade the A303 by driving a motorway through the middle of it.
Monument to be moved because solstice sun is out of line
Stonehenge, the greatest monument to prehistoric civilisation in Britain, is to be moved.
Astronomers have discovered that the sun on Midsummer's Day now rises in a position badly out of line with the mystic Heel Stone which formed the centre of religious worship in ancient times.
The result is that the Ancient Society of Cosmologists, which dates back to Druids who performed rituals at the circle of stones on Salisbury Plain 4,500 years ago, has approved the move.
To correct the misalignment caused by the gradual slowing of the Earth's rotation, the world-famous monument is to be dismantled and re-assembled on another site of similar prominence. The plan to transport the stones, which attract 700,000 visitors every year, has outraged conservation groups and caused a split in the Ancient Society. Its Welsh members, based in Anglesey, were adamant last night that the only suitable alternative plot would be the summit of Snowdon. Their grand wizard, Dynwal Maughmud, said: "Everyone knows that much of the stone and iron pyrites (fool's gold) used in the construction of Stonehenge was mined in Wales."
A consortium of Tokyo businessmen is believed to have offered 484billion yen (2billion) for the monument, saying it will enhance Japan's status as the Land of the Rising Sun when re-sited on top of sacred Mount Fuji.
But so sensitive are the stones that archaeologists have ruled they must be moved in exactly the same way they were erected. Thousands of labourers will be hired and trained in prehistoric building techniques. Each of the slabs, weighing up to 50 tons, will be dug out and dragged to the new site using an estimated three miles of ropes, 12,500 timber beams and 3,000 rollers.
A decision on the future of Stonehenge will be made today and work will start in exactly a year. Moving the monument will delight Transport Department officials who have wanted for 25 years to upgrade the A303 by driving a motorway through the middle of it.
| Categories: National Landmarks, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 1991, Daily Mail. |
The Napoleonic Chunnel (1988)
The Daily Mail revealed the discovery of a tunnel linking England and France that had been constructed during the Napoleonic wars. Supposedly the tunnel was wide enough to allow an ass carrying two barrels of brandy to pass through it. The tunnel had supposedly been discovered beneath Dover Castle. The article explained, "It would have been used to rescue aristocrats from Napoleonic France, to transfer spies and to trade British goods with Europe."
| Categories: History and Archaeology, Traffic and Transportation, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 1988, Daily Mail. |
The Interfering Brassieres (1982)
The Daily Mail advised women to conduct a simple test to determine if their bra was "rogue": "After wearing the bra for at least half an hour, take it off and shake it a few inches above the TV." The paper displayed a picture of a model shaking her bra above a TV in order to show women how to perform the test.
Hundreds of readers took the article seriously. Among the readers who were fooled was the chief engineer of British Telecom who, according to later reports, upon reading the article immediately called his office and asked that all his female employees be checked to see if their bras were interfering with any electronic equipment.
| Categories: Fashion, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 1982, Fake Warnings, Daily Mail. |
The 26-Day Marathon (1981)
The Daily Mail showed pictures of Nakajimi running and reported that he was still somewhere out on the roads of England, determined to finish the race. Supposedly he had been spotted occasionally, still running.
The translation error was attributed to Timothy Bryant, an import director, who said, "I translated the rules and sent them off to him. But I have only been learning Japanese for two years, and I must have made a mistake. He seems to be taking this marathon to be something like the very long races they have over there."
| Categories: International Relations, Sports, Newspapers, United Kingdom, 1981, Daily Mail. |