I had originally planned an April Fools Day prank for here but decided against it. I will plan one for next year — consider that your warning. This has become a funny day in the United States. All over the internet there are some great jokes being pulled off. Steve Garufi, who just finished his bicycle ride across the country, is claiming on his site it was a hoax to impress women. Shoemoney has a humorous video he made about how to make $1000 in an hour with this great approach. His mannerism in it are hilarious. And so many others have some things that you don’t know for sure if it’s real or not!

I am trying to think of the best April Fool’s Day jokes. I remember the Gazette Telegraph in Colorado Springs reporting that Pikes Peak had blown its top, erupting like a volcano. There have been numerous am radio programs over the years that had me believing their outrageous pranks before realizing it. Here some good ones that have been pulled off over the years:

  • Taco Liberty BellThe Taco Liberty Bell 4-1-1996: The ad read, “In an effort to help the National Debt, Taco Bell is pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell, one of our country’s most historic treasures. It will now be called the Taco Liberty Bell and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country’s debt.” Later in the day it was admitted that it was just a hoax. Even White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about it and he replied that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold to the Ford Motor Company and would be renamed the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial.
  • NIXON Returns to Run Again 4-1-1992: NPR’s Talk of the Nation program reports that former President Nixon was running again. His slogan was “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again!” There were audio clips of him delivering the speech. Listeners called in expressing shock and outrage. Half way through, it was announced as a practical joke and that the President’s voice was that of impersonator Rich Little.
  • The Left-Handed Whopper 4-1-1998: This is a good one (and I am left handed.) Burger King took out an ad in USA TODAY announcing their new Left-Handed Whopper! It included all the ingredients, specially designed, as all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of the 32 million left-handed Americans. Now that is having it MY WAY.
  • Space Shuttle Landing in San Diego! 4-1-1993: A DJ at KGB-FM went on the air and reported that the Space Shuttle would be diverted from Edwards AFB to a landing at Montgomery Field, a small airport in a residential area. THOUSANDS headed over there which caused massive traffic jams. People came with cameras, and folding chairs. The kicker is that there wasn’t even a shuttle in flight at the time. The radio station was billed for the police time to direct and disperse the traffic.
  • The 26 Day Marathon 4-1-1981: It was reported that a Japanese long distance runner had entered the London Marathon and because of a translation error, was still out running, somewhere on the roads of England. 26 miles had become 26 days! The translation error had been attributed to an import director who had only been studying Japanese for a couple of years. He admits he must have made a mistake.

What a fun and funny day. Were you pranked today?

*****Hahaaaahahaaaa**** I have been had. I just learned the gmail custom time thing is a prank!! I have been seeing this stuff about the new time clock and email things for gmail accounts. I should have known — they always do something but it caught me off guard again.