April Fools' Day
April 1 · Level 10 · #77 of 2238
April Fools' Day gives practical jokes and delightfully implausible stories their annual moment in the spotlight. Its origins are disputed, but the best pranks have something in common: everyone gets to enjoy the reveal.
How it is celebrated: friends play harmless tricks, while businesses and news outlets publish made-up announcements. In France and Italy, a familiar prank involves secretly attaching a paper fish to someone's back.
In 1957, the BBC broadcast a report about spaghetti being harvested from trees. Some viewers subsequently asked how they could grow a spaghetti tree themselves.