17 Hilarious April Fools Pranks Through History That Went Terribly Wrong

People elected rhino for president.

If executed properly, April Fool’s pranks are capable of gifting a smile. Once out of control, they can backfire. Instead of gathering claps then can lead to slaps.

History is marked with some astounding incidents that force us to question the audacity of people who not only thought of those ideas but also executed them.

Let’s dive into the pranks that went wrong, compelling the pranksters to pay the price.

1. Poor advertisement stunt

Who wouldn’t take the matter seriously if the renowned authorities issue a statement?

Everyone right? Something similar happened with the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia in 1940 when a museum spokesperson, William Castellini, delivered a press release, scaring thousands.

Is says:

Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fools’ joke.

No one could deem it as an April Fool’s prank — thanks to the clever disclaimer. But the scientists were next-level advertisers, for they created the whole dramatic sequence for the promotion of the planetarium show on cosmic apocalypses.

Their act did cause panic around the town, resulting in William Castellini’s firing from his post.

Lesson? He should have taken some marketing lessons instead of risking his job.

2. Voting for Favorite Criminal

This one is super interesting: Police pranked the public. The department must have thought it was their chance. They might have gotten bored of sitting on the other side of the table, where they receive prank calls regarding crime incidents.

In 2015, the UK’s Manchester Police Department flipped the scenario for a good laugh. They tweeted about voting for a criminal to get freed — the criminal with the most votes will not only be released but also win a holiday.

Isn’t it such a bizarre idea? Interestingly, this prank was taken seriously by people who knew of their children’s murderer in jail.

Upon realizing it to be just a prank, angry parents didn’t only lash but also demanded the tweet be removed.

3. The power of this prank shook nature

DJs are famous for throwing pranks, especially on April Fool’s Day — but yet people still believe them, so odd.

Something similar happened in 2001 when a Brighton DJ broadcasted a story about a ship that looked like Titanic being seen from cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex.

The listeners rushed to the spot to catch the glimpse, but of course, were disappointed.

Next, what tragic followed was the development of enormous five-foot cracks, owing to the crowd’s mass. Police rushed to the incident, forcing people to vacate the area.

Interestingly, two days later, the cliff collapsed —fortunately no human life was lost. Do you see the power of one prank here? It shook nature.

4. A Volcanic Eruption in Massachusetts

News reporters contributed a colorful history in pranking people. One such incident took place in 1980 in Milton, Massachusetts, where reporters broke the hill erupting news.

They factually claimed the news and visually shared an old Mount St Helens footage, Washington, close to bursting.

It was not until the very end of the report that people were shown a card displaying an April Fool’s sign, but it was too late — police were not only bombarded with calls but in charge of handling people who fled their homes in panic.

Consequence? The executive producer, Homer Ciley, bearing the news, was fired for breaching FCC (Federal Communications Commission)regulations.

It was not definitely good news to broadcast as part of the April Fool’s prank — poor judgment indeed.

5. Written in the stars

This indeed is one of the elaborate pranks in the history of April Fool’s tradition, where the prankster persisted in pranking.

An English astrologer John Partridge was famous for making bogus predictions to the public. Apart from his inaccurate series of predictions, he was known for criticizing the church.

The man was in trouble when he got the attention of the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift, who played an elaborate prank on him.

He started the fun by writing under pseudo of Isaac Bickerstaff, predicting Partridge’s death. He unrolled the prediction of fever sweeping London in early April, enveloping Partridge, who would then die of a raging fever.

Swift even predicted the time of Partridge’s death in the almanac, of March 29, 1708, at 11 pm. Irate Partridge published a rebuttal of the almanac, claiming the author to be a fraud.

Swift didn’t stop there but prepared solid documentation to supplement his act. Acting as a revenue official on 1st April, swift later confirmed the death. The news had reached the public. People started partridge in surprise when he walked down the streets on April 1st.

The back and forth exchange of publications continued when Partridge distributed a pamphlet stating he was alive. As an answer to this, Swift claimed the booklet was written by someone else, and in essence, Partridge was dead.

This April Fool’s prank had a slightly different result. What? Partridge was discredited — he even stopped publishing pamphlets that claimed he was alive.

6. A man squeezed in a wine bottle

We have several examples where the media was successful in fooling people. Another medium of media — the newspapers practiced this tradition.

On Jan 1749, a London newspaper advertised an upcoming show — a show where all kinds of odd tricks will fascinate an onlooker.

They promised to show a man squeezed in a wine bottle singing. People were amazed even by the thought of seeing a man with his entire body inside the bottle.

This promise was further garnished with another lie — any person can handle the bottle and see through it closely. Apart from showing the man in the bottle, the ad promised tricks like communicating with the dead.

This ad was nothing but a bet between the Earl of Chesterfield and Duke of Portland where duke challenged he could advertise absurd impossibility, yet people will fill the playhouse to see the show — and guess what? The duke won the bet.

In the night show, every seat was filled, every heart excited — but no performer showed up, as there was none. The audience rioted upon the realization of being fooled but too late.

7. Animals can better govern the state

People do get not only blind in love but also blind in other scenarios of life, especially illogical ones. Similar was the case in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where people couldn’t realize a clear-cut line of reality and prank.

Tired of the city’s worsening economic and social situation, mainly inflated prices and overflowing sewers, in 1959, students nominated a rhinoceros for City Council.

Cacareco, the rhino, was four years old when she was moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo’s zoo. Students knew that none of the 540 candidates fighting for 45 council seats would address the city problems. Thus they decided to vote for the famous rhino.

The rhino won by a sweeping majority, a whopping 100,000 votes — the closest runner-up had only 10,000 votes. Her victory made a point: people didn’t deem other humans capable enough.

Of course, the election board disqualified the rhino, who could not serve on the council— but this didn’t stop Cacareco from marking Brazilian history of elections with an unparalleled tale of fascination.

8. Newspaper terrified 130,000 people

Al-Jafr is a small town in Jordan, where one will not find many foreign visitors. Instead of stressing the visit from the foreign friends, the newspaper targeted aliens — the interplanetary strangers.

On April 1, 2010, the Al-Ghad newspaper wrote about an alien spacecraft being sighted near the desert carrying 10-foot aliens.

Terrified by the news, residents didn’t send their children to school. Responding to the news, the mayor promptly acted, almost evacuating 130,000 people.

Upon the prank’s revelation, the town’s populace became outraged. Fearing the lawsuit, the newspaper editors apologized, repeatedly conveying their mission was to entertain, not scare.

9. Power of a badass woman

This tale is insanely gripping, for it portrays what measure one should take when being awfully pranked.

The owners of a Hooters restaurant in Florida forgot to realize the boundaries between playing with someone’s sentiments and playing for fun — thus faced the consequences.

The Hooters’ owners fabricated a contest, faking the promise of gifting new Toyota automobiles to the server selling the most beer. Berry, a 27-year-old, Hooters server was made to believe she won the car in 2001.

The audacity of the company didn’t end with just a promise. Instead, they pushed the prank further by blindfolding Jodee Berry, taking her to the parking lot, to only give her a Yoda doll — by Toyota, they meant Toy Yoda. Yes, not funny.

This April Fool’s prank didn’t amuse Berry as she hired a lawyer, sued the restaurant for damages, and got enough money to actually afford a Toyota!

Lesson: Speak up for the damage — even if it’s an emotional one.

10. The tap water terror

Another of Dj’s pranks: The tap water horror. On April 1, 2002, Kansas City radio hosts broadcasted local tap water news containing a higher concentration of dihydrogen monoxide, which could cause sweating, skin-pruning, and urination.

Terrified by the side effects, people panicked — mainly those who didn’t know dihydrogen monoxide was nothing but a chemical name for water.

Receiving hundreds of residents’ complaints, the police officer raged and criticized DJs. Government officials called a prank an act of terrorism.

The DJs were not charged; thus, such an act was repeated in 2013 by disc jockeys in Florida — they got yanked off the air, facing felony charges.

11. Coining the origins for April Fool’s Day

How smart is it to fool people with the origin of April Fool’s Day? Such smartness was adopted in 1984 by Professor Joseph Boskin of Boston University when an Associated Press reporter asked him about the tradition’s origins.

Professor Joseph Boskin had to answer the hungry press, thus inventing a story. He invented a joker Kugel, who requested the Roman emperor to get his position for a day — challenging he’ll do a better job. During that day, Kugel encouraged the pranks and absurd acts, forming the origins of April Fool’s Day.

This story, which makes a little sense, spread like wildfire, from one media to another. Surprisingly it was not until weeks later that people realized they were April fooled — Kugel is nothing but a Jewish pudding!

12. Deharmonzing International relations

Disturbance of political harmony is the last thing countries would want and that too with a petty April Fool’s Day prank.

An Israeli intelligence officer fabricated a piece of news stating Nabih Berri, an Islamic leader of the Amal movement, was wounded in an assassination attempt. This April Fool’s prank was broadcasted on several Israeli radio stations.

Luckily, it was retracted before tension could flare up on the international level — but this did not save the prankster from facing the consequences.

The intelligence officer was court-martialed, and the Israeli defense minister was grilled in the parliament. Takeaway? Politicians should maintain a healthy distance from pranks.

13. The misleading prank

This prank geared a massive protest around. On April 1, 1992, a guy claiming to be former President Richard M. Nixon (R-California) told National Public Radio he was running for president.

Failing to realize the date was 1st April, many listeners believed the announcement to be official and actually by Richard Nixon. Nixon was unpopular because of his resignation after the Watergate scandal.

The guy later apologized for causing outrage, promising he wouldn’t attempt any such thing again.

14. Disappointment for left-handed foodies

Even foodies were not spared of the tradition, as on April 1, 1998, Burger King pranked them to offer different versions of Whopper specially designed for all the lefties.

Failing to realize it was an April Fool’s prank, hungry left-handed people actually flooded Burger King locations only to be disappointed.

15. A flying saucer

If you know about Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, you might have also read about his love for April fool’s tradition.

In 1989, his prank looked more realistic when owing to environmental conditions, it occurred on March 31 instead.

A flying saucer was spotted outside London that landed in a nearby field. To investigate the UFO’s arrival, police officers drove to the Surrey field and were surprised to find an actual flying saucer.

A door opened, revealing a silver figure walking out of the spaceship. Terrified officers ran away, without realizing it was a human in silver attire — Branson’s friend Dan Cameron, while Branson was hiding behind him.

Interestingly, it was not even a flying saucer, but a hot air balloon!

16. Google doesn’t know it all

Even Google, in 2016, decided to get a little funny with the introduction of the mic drop.

Adding a “mic drop” button in their email program allowed users to send animated gifs, and after its use, the email chain would get disabled — as dropping the mic literally meant nothing more to say.

The mic drop feature placement backfired, as it was right next to the send button, which caused countless hapless — people did send mic drop to future employers, clients, bosses, spouses, etc.

Disabling the button didn’t undo the damage! Google admitted that it was an epic disaster through which they fooled no one but themselves.

17. A tragic outcome

This was initially a hilarious attempt that turned into a tragedy.

John Ahrens of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1896, intended to prank his wife by disguising himself as a tramp. He wore a white mask, knocked on the door, greeted his wife, and asked her to cook dinner.

Poor lady not only fainted but died after an hour. What is more tragic is the duration of their marriage, which lasted only a few months. His prank gave him nothing but grief and that too for a lifetime.

Some April Fool’s pranks went terribly wrong, forcing us to ask the question: was the fun worth the loss?

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