The Day of the Fool

April Fool’s Day is a fun day of practical jokes, hoaxes and tall tales. Children over the world are in a merry mood trying to have a laugh by playing pranks on friends, family and neighbours.
While the history of the beginnings of April Fools’ Day is a little sketchy there are a number of tales related to its inception. It is related to the celebrations that took place from 25th March to 2nd April; celebrations during the vernal equinox. But it was in the 18th century that April Fool's Day prominently came to light.
A common explanation goes that France was one of the first countries that moved New Year’s Day from April 1st to January 1st before the adaptation of the Gregorian calendar. So all the festivities associated with April 1st was now observed on January 1st. Those who did not know about the change of date or who continued to celebrate New Year’s Day in April were the subject of ridicule. And as a joke or to fool others, people were sent New Year presents on April. Since then April 1st has been remembered as a day to play jokes on others.
Interestingly the media and public also made the best of April Fools’ Day by broadcasting sensational, untrue news to get a reaction. Some of the more publicized April Fools’ Day Jokes are:
In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times saying that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to reduce the country's debt and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell.
In 1957 the BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees.
In 1965, the BBC claimed to trying out a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers contacted the BBC to report the trial's success.
In the 1950s The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over.