What’s the one thing that everyone celebrates in the month of April? That’s right. Christmas. The time where everybody’s out to search for the Easter bunny hiding those subtle Easter eggs in the garden bushes – a tradition that we closely associate to Vikings. The weather’s all rainy and humid, which is perfect for an exhilarating surf for all soccer players out there. Everybody’s looking for a delightful cone of ice-cream to go with their maple syrup for breakfast to get those Summer body gains. Half of my friends are dying to go to the beach to experience the surreal wildlife safari, which is a prime tourist attraction for anyone who likes to eat cereal for dinner. Without further ado, let’s not spoil the fun and see what Estimator’s got in store for you readers. Happy New Year!
Considering the fact that you’re still trying to process what you’ve just read, I’m pretty sure you know what the occasion is. Now for those of you who still don’t have a clue, it’s April Fools’ Day! In honour of this event, it seems utterly befitting to utilize this opportunity to have a nice throwback to the greatest April Fools pranks played in the history of mankind.
The Old Treasure Trap
Back in the mid-1800s, Boston Post announced that a cave full of treasure had been discovered beneath Boston Common. It had supposedly been uncovered by workmen as they removed a tree from the Common, unearthing a stone stairway that led to an underground cave. In this cave, the “treasure” included jewels, priceless-stoned weapons, and the likes. Of course, the Common was empty of all jewel-bearing caverns, as the crowd of treasure seekers (gathered within minutes of the Post’s publishing) eventually discovered to its disappointment.
Fairly Fairy Fare
In 2007, a sculptor with the name of Dan Baines pulled the most legendary fantasy-themed act of poetic justice. Essentially, the mastermind posted pictures of what appeared to be the remains of a dead “fairy” on his website. The ingenuity behind it was implicit from all the claimed “evidence” and possession of the “mummified-figure” along the lines of “examined by anthropologists and forensic experts who can confirm…” He went so far as to get what looked like an X-Ray of this supernatural being, eliciting the most of his audience’s imagination. While it did end up getting sold on eBay for 280 quid, Baines later claimed that he kept getting responses that tried to convince him about the “real” existence of this “fairy”, weeks after revealing his hoax to the public.
Calendar Catastrophe
To the origin of April Fools’ Day, dating to the good old days of the late 1500s, France switched its dates from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one, which most of the world utilizes to this day. To those who feigned ignorance or failed to recognize the update to the system, it became a grand circus with them as the main event. (Metaphorically, of course). In essence, they ended up being ridiculed for their hefty partying to celebrate a "New Year, New Me" in the middle of April. Like a few of us these days
Google’s fool
In the first year of the 21st century, Google’s MentalPlex hoax invited guests to try out a mental image projector. In brief, while they stared at an animated GIF screen, a bunch of error messages popped up:
- Error 005: KUT Weak or no signal detected. Upgrade transmitter and retry.
- Error 666: Multiple transmitters detected. Silence voices in your head and try again.
- Error 05: Brainwaves received in analog. Please re-think in digital.
- Error 4P: Unclear on whether your search is about money or monkeys. Please try again.
- Error 445: Searching on this topic is prohibited under international law.
- Error CKR8: That information is protected under the National Security Act.
- Error 104: That information was lost with the Martian Lander. Please try again.
- Error 007: Query is unclear. Try again after removing hat, glasses and shoes.
- Error 008: Interference detected. Remove aluminum foil and remote control devices.
- Error: Insufficient conviction. Please clap hands 3 times, while chanting "I believe" and try again.
Big Mood - Error: MentalPlex™ has determined that this is not your final answer. Please try again.
To top it off, here’s a compilation of a couple other pranks that broke the internet: