Today is April Fools’ Day, a mildly confusing holiday that for some reason folks are being grouchy about this year? Maybe that’s just what I’m seeing on The Internet™.
Anyway, to remind you all of the magic of the season, I looked up some of the greatest April Fools Day pranks of all time.
April 1st, 1340: Niels Ebbesen, now commonly revered as a Danish hero, chops the head off of Gerald III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg, a German prince who is now commonly vilified by the Danes as a tyrant. Nice prank, Niels!
April 1st, 1789: The United States House of Representatives elects the first Speaker of the House: Frederick Muhlenberg. Got him!!!!
April 1st, 1826: Samuel Morey receives a patent for an internal combustion engine, which included the first recorded example of a carburetor. Now we have cars, which kill 1.25 million people a year worldwide. Joke’s on us! Good one, Sam.
April 1st, 1889: The University of Northern Colorado is established.
April 1st, 1924: Canada forms the Royal Canadian Air Force, an elite pranking organization that went on to play a lot of good practical jokes on the Nazi’s during World War II with its friends. Credit to Canada for the prank that keeps on pranking!
April 1st, 1937: New Zealand forms the Royal New Zealand Air Force, in a really funny copycat prank on their friend Canada.
April 1st, 1939: Franco announces that the Spanish Civil War is over. Joke’s on Europe! Watch what happens the next six years!
April 1st, 1946: Earth’s tectonic plates get in on the action, shaking the Aleutian Islands with an earthquake of 8.6 magnitude. Unfortunately, the prank goes awry, as the ocean sends a tsunami to Hawaii that kills dozens.
April 1st, 1947: Some New Zealand sailors start the only mutiny we know of in the entire history of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Their superiors were, no doubt, surprised.
April 1st, 1948: The Faroe Islands are granted autonomy by Denmark. *giggling* Good luck out there guys! *more giggling*
April 1st, 1970: Nixon signs a law requiring the Surgeon General to write a warning on every single tobacco product in the United States. Who says Nixon didn’t have a sense of humor??
April 1st, 1976: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne form Apple Inc. Hilarious joke.
April 1st, 1997: Look out, here comes a space prank! Comet Hale-Bopp came the closest towards Earth it ever did, only to reach the edge of its orbit and start going away again. Whoa, you got us, Bopp!
Now, some of these went a little far, so be careful if you’re out there pranking, but have a good time out there, and don’t all start your Air Forces at once!
Big thanks, as always, goes out to Wikipedia. Specifically, thank you to whoever maintains the April 1st page.
