April Fools Day 2026
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No April Fool’s Day pranks from us today, but I thought I’d dig into why we celebrate April Fool’s Day in the first place, and then suss out some of the best April Fool’s Day hoaxes, pranks, jokes… whatever you prefer to call them… of all time.
First, why do we celebrate? I searched and searched, and the definitive answer is… no one really knows.
Many postulate that the ‘holiday’ traces its roots back to 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII, based the suggestions of the Italian scientist Luigi Lilio, with some modifications by the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, Christopher Clavius, decreed that a reformed calendar would be implemented in Catholic Europe (Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland and the Catholic state of Germany). Protestant and Orthodox countries were decidedly opposed to taking direction from the Pope, so it was bit confusing.
Pope Gregory X111 for whom the Gregorian calendar is named.
Though the Gregorian calendar was more accurate than the Julian calendar (instituted by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE), the change required to make the transition was a bit bizarre… 10 days had to be dropped from the calendar to align the Spring Equinox with the actual equinox on or around March 21st. Additionally, the Julian calendar celebrated the beginning of the new year around March 25th, while the new calendar officially recognized the new year as January 1st. The Church chose October to make the transition so none of the Christian festival dates would be messed up. So… the day following October 4, 1582 was October 15.
After that lengthy explanation… back to April Fool’s Day. Since communication wasn’t all that great back in the 16th century, some folks didn’t get the memo about the major calendar change and celebrated the new year the way they always had… in the last week of March. Folks ‘in the know’ made fun of them. In France, they were called ‘poisson d’avril’ (April fish)… gullible people. Over the years, for some reason, the tradition spread and continued, and here we are. This is probably as good an explanation as any for celebrating the day. Thanks to https://www.history.com/articles/april-fools-day for the information.
So on to the best (in my opinion and that of history collection.com) April Fool’s Day pranks ever...
First, was the BBC’s report in 1957 that Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop harvest. Photos showed lots of pics of Swiss farmers picking spaghetti off trees.
The big Pasta Harvest
On April Fool’s Day 1985, George Plimpton, Sports Illustrated writer, introduced rookie pitcher Sidd Finch to the world. The right-handed pitcher, Mets #21, could blaze a ball over the plate at 168 mph. He got his junior high school art teacher friend, Joe Berton, to pose as Sidd. It was quite the hoot.
Joe Berton aka Mets #21 ace pitcher, Sidd Finch
Then in 1996, Taco Bell announced it had contracted to buy the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia and rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. President Clinton’s Press Secretary at the time, Mike McCurry, quipped that Ford Motor Company had also purchased the the Lincoln Memorial, renaming it the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
Let taco freedom ring!
Burger King made a splash in 1998 when it advertised its “Left-Handed Whopper.” Southpaws were admittedly at a definite disadvantage, they said, when eating Whopper, which required two hands. By rotating the placement of condiments like pickles 180 degrees, they could redistribute “the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments [would] skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger." Yup, some folks fell for it.
And the very best one…
In 1992, at Los Angeles’ LAX airport, an 85-foot-long bright yellow banner with 20-foot-high red letters was placed by airport executives in the sight line of arriving passengers. It read “Welcome to Chicago”. I imagine there was a bit of confusion and mayhem on those arriving planes.
And the local time is…
I’m sure you’ve played your share of pranks in the past. Our biggest prank was back in 2015 when we were still aboard Nine of Cups. Take a look at our blog that day.