■历史上十大经典愚人节玩笑
The Classical Jokes on April Fool’s Day
1. The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
Spaghetti harvest 1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically[34] replied, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
2. Sidd Finch
Sidd Finch 1985: Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch,
名人语库
～Max Eastman
——马科斯·伊斯曼
1.瑞士面条树丰收
1957年面条树丰收：广受关注的BBC新闻上，帕诺拉玛宣称，幸亏去年冬天气候温暖，加上那吃意大利面的可怕的象鼻虫被有效消灭，瑞士农民们才得以享受意大利面条大丰收。此外，新闻上还伴随着这样的镜头：瑞士农民正在从树上拉下一股又一股意大利面条，还有大量观众围观。许多人还特意打电话来问BBC，怎样种植意大利面树。而BBC则就此对外回答：“把面条枝插在一罐番茄酱里，然后乖乖等着。”
2.西德·芬奇
1985年西德·芬奇：《体育画报》刊登了一则关于新人投手的故事，他的名字叫西德·芬奇，代表“大都会”队参加比赛，据说他能准确地
and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the “art of the pitch” in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the “great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa”. Mets fans celebrated their teams’ amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. In reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.
3. Instant Color TV
Image 1962: In 1962 there was only one TV channel in Sweden, and it broadcasting black and white. The station’s technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1，1970.
4. The Taco Liberty Bell
Taco Liberty Bell 1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford
投出时速168英里的球，比之前的记录还要快65mph（英里每小时）。令人惊讶的是，西德·芬奇之前从没玩过棒球。他不过曾在一位名号“大诗圣米莱尔斯巴喇嘛”的手下学习“投球的艺术”。“大都会”队的球迷们因他们支持的球队有幸找到一位如此天赋的球员而欢庆，而《体育画报》也被缠着追问更多关于此事的消息。事实上，这位传奇球员只是存在于文章作者乔治·普林顿的想象中。
3.即时彩色电视
1962年画面：1962年，瑞典只有一个电视频道，而且只能播放黑白电视。该电台的技术专家谢尔·斯坦森出现在新闻上，宣称多亏了一项新技术，观众们可以将现有的电台转换成彩色接收。他们只需要拿一双尼龙袜，盖在电视屏幕上。接下来，斯坦森还演示了这个过程。有成千上万的人上当受骗。事实上，在瑞典，日常的彩色电视到1970年4月1日才开始播出。
4.塔可自由钟
1996年塔可自由钟：塔可钟公司宣称他们引进了自由钟，并且将其重命名为塔可自由钟。千百名义愤填膺的市民打电话给自由钟所在的费城国家历史公园，表达他们的愤怒。直到几小时后，塔可钟公司透露，这只是一场恶作剧，他们的神经才得以安静下来。当天最精彩的环节，就数他们针对塔可钟出售的事去咨询白宫的新闻秘书了。这位秘书站着想了想，回答说，林肯纪念馆也在出售。他说，那就是如今著名的福特
Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
5. San Serriffe
Image 1977: The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian’s phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic[35] holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer’s terminology.
6. Nixon for President
1992: National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon’s voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.
7. Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
林肯水星汽车纪念碑。
5.圣·泽里弗
1977年：英国《卫报》发表了一篇长达7页的特别副刊，讲述了印度洋海上一个由7个分号形状的岛屿组成的小共和国——圣·泽里弗。一些文章还亲切地描述了这个隐蔽国家的地理和文化。该国内的两大岛屿分别是上卡西和下卡西，首都是波多尼，主席是皮卡将军。读者们想知道更多关于这田园般的度假区的消息，于是《卫报》所在部门的电话响了一整天。只有少部分人注意到，有关该岛的一切事物都是由印刷术语命名的。
6.尼克松当总统
1992年：美国国家公共电台的谈话节目宣称，理查德·尼克松会来一次惊人的举动——再次竞选总统。他的新运动的口号是：“我之前从没做过错事，将来也不会。”伴随着此番宣言，还有尼克松的候选演讲视频。观众们都很认真地回应此番宣告，听众们还不断打电话表示震惊和宣泄愤怒。当节目进行到第二阶段时，主持人约翰·霍肯伯里才透露，这只是一场恶作剧。尼克松的声音是由喜剧演员里奇·利特模仿的。
1998: The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the “Biblical value” of 3.0. Soon the article made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly spread around the world, forwarded by email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by physicist Mark Boslough.
8. The Left-Handed Whopper
1998: Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper（lettuce, tomato, hamburger, patty, etc.）, but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, “many others requested their own ‘right handed’ version.”
9. Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer 1995: Discover Magazine reported that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had found a new
7.阿拉巴马州更改π值
1998年：1998年4月，新墨西哥人科学与推理组织发表的通讯上说，阿拉巴马州议会已经投票决定将数学常数π（圆周率）的值从3.14159改为“圣经值”3.0。不久，这条消息就传到网上，并且很快在世界范围内传播开来，还通过邮件转发。之后，阿拉巴马立法机构收到了立法捍卫者们打进的成百上千个电话，由此可以清楚地看出这篇文章传播得有多远。最初，文章是由物理学家马克思·波斯罗写的，他当时只是打算将其作为一次限制进化论讲授的恶作剧。
8.左手汉堡
1998年：汉堡王在《今日美国》上发布了一整页广告，声称他们的菜单上增添了一个新的项目：专为3200万左撇子美国人设计的“左手汉堡”。据广告上说，新的汉堡包括了以前汉堡的原料（生菜、土豆、汉堡、小馅饼等），可是所有的作料都特意为他们的左撇子顾客旋转了180°。第二天，汉堡王接着又发布一条消息，透露说尽管左手汉堡只是一次恶作剧，但仍然有上千顾客去到他们店里要新品三明治。据新闻稿所言，与此同时，“还有许多客人要点他们的‘右手’汉堡。”
9.热裸体钻冰虫
1995年热裸体钻冰虫：据《发现》杂志报导，享誉甚高的野生动
species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837.“To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin,” the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.
10. Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
1976: The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9：47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical[36] event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth’s own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9：47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.
物生物学家阿普里勒·帕索在南极洲发现了一个新的物种：热裸体钻冰虫。这种头上有硬骨的迷人生物，由大量血管喂食后，就会变得滚烫，因而能快速蛀穿冰块。它们利用这种能力捕食企鹅，融掉企鹅脚下的冰块，使它们沉入雪浆里，然后那些“烫头”就会钻进里面将它们吃掉。经过多番研究，帕索博士认为，知名南极探险家菲利普·帕伊森1837年的神秘失踪可能与那些“烫头”有关。“对于那些蛀冰虫来说，他或许就像一只企鹅。”文章引用了她的话。就这篇文章，《发现》杂志收到的回复，比历史上任何一篇文章的回复都高。
10.行星相遇降低引力
1976年：英国天文学家帕特里克·摩尔于上午9点47分在BBC第二广播上宣布，将会发生一场千载难逢的天文事件，观众们可以在自己的家里见证。冥王星将会从木星旁边行过，造成暂时的引力叠加，而这将会中和或减少地球自身的万有引力。摩尔告诉观众们，如果人们刚好在这个引力叠加的时刻跳起来，那么他们将会体验一回神奇的悬浮感。9点47分时, BBC2开始接到听众们打来的上百个电话，说他们的确体验到了这种感受。一位女性甚至说她和她的11位朋友从椅子上飞了起来，在房间里四处飘荡。