Hoffman York & Compton, a Milwaukee advertising firm, released promotional material introducing the Caballo XL, described as a revolutionary new South American car built around 'five-wheel drive' technology:
Conventional auto technology has the steering wheel rigidly anchored to a gear reducer. And that gear reducer has always been firmly riveted to the main frame… We've introduced a unique shock absorbing system to the entire steering command, including wheel, shaft and driver's seat. By integrating the steering wheel to the seat we've isolated it, and you, from the frame. That, in turn, virtually eliminates all of the bone shattering vibration that can rob you of control.
As a result, drivers would be able to drive at speeds in excess of 160 mph over rough, bumpy roads. The small firm later said that it issued the release in order to drum up business from the car industry by showing that it could play in the big leagues.
MTV, VH-1, and Nick at Nite turned over their airwaves (and their 50 million viewers) to the HA! network, a comedy channel which broadcast in their place for the day. No one in the broadcast industry had been informed that the switch would take place. The broadcast was the debut of the MTV-backed HA! network. MTV had hoped that the prank would give the fledgling network some much-needed publicity.
Intel employees circulated a spoof newsletter revealing historical discoveries related to chip-making, such as the fact that archaeologists had uncovered evidence of the existence of chip-making factories in Ancient Egypt. The newsletter quoted eminent archaeologist Lord Dhrystone as saying, "We never imagined we'd find an active semiconductor industry in a major goat-herding area. Too much dust."
The newsletter also revealed the unknown origins of the famous "Moore's law." Apparently Gordon Moore, Intel Chairman, had once scribbled on the back of a phone bill the phrase 'Buy Intel chips. They'll get twice as big every year or so,' as he brainstormed about ways to get people to buy more Intel chips. It was his secretary, Jean Jones, who rewrote the phrase to the more famous, "The number of transistors on a chip will double every 18 months."
The
News of the World reported that the two halves of the Channel Tunnel, being built simultaneously from the coasts of France and England, would miss each other by 14 feet. The reason—French engineers had insisted on using metric specifications in their blueprints. The error would cost $14 billion to fix.
