Exciting news from moon
It was the year 1835. A journalist from a popular New York newspaper of that time, The Sun, came up with a fun idea. In a series of six articles, he wrote about the discovery of fantastic creatures like beavers, unicorns, bison and bat-winged humanoids living on the moon. He attributed the discovery to none other than the famous astronomer, Sir John Herschel. Initially greatly amused by this, Herschel soon found himself in a soup as people started asking questions, completely falling for the hoax. The silver lining? The newspaper’s circulation improved dramatically!
How spaghetti grows
We know what spaghetti is but there were hundreds of folks who weren’t familiar with the famous Italian food in the 1950s. The BBC took advantage of this on April 1, 1957. It took only a 3-minute video footage showing people sincerely plucking spaghetti strands from trees to grab attention. Many people eagerly called the BBC to find out how to grow their own spaghetti trees. And the reply they got? “Place some spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best!”
Transforming a B&W television
Back in 1962, SVT, the only television network in Sweden, came up with a way to tease people. Imagine someone telling you that it was possible to watch your favourite programme in colour and that all you needed was a pair of stockings! A ‘technical expert informed people that when stockings were stretched in front of their black and white television sets, light would be filtered out in a way that would allow them to see the broadcast in full colour! For best results, he added, it would be necessary to move their heads from side to side. Apparently, thousands of viewers fell for it and probably looked silly trying it out.
News for Asterix fans
In 1993, The Independent newspaper engaged in an archaeological prank that made Asterix fans cry out in joy. They announced the discovery of a 6000-year-old village near Lannion, France. That was a clever move because that was exactly where Asterix’s creator had placed the story. They went on to mention finding Celtic coins with images of wild boar (boar was Obelix’s favourite food!) They threw in the fact that the expedition was led by a team from the Oxford University for that extra layer of credibility.
Iceberg in Sydney Harbour
It was the year 1978, and people who went for a casual stroll near Sydney Harbour couldn’t believe their eyes! A gigantic iceberg was hovering close to the shore. Electronics entrepreneur, Dick Smith, informed people that the iceberg had been towed all the way from Antarctica. It fooled even the Navy, as they offered to help moor the iceberg. It was a rainstorm that exposed the prank – the iceberg was actually a large barge wrapped in white plastic and covered in foam!
Picture Credit : Google
