Gotcha! The Gift of April First

This IS for real.....

From Wikipedia we get this:

The origins of this custom are complex and a matter of much debate. It is likely a relic of the once common festivities held on the vernal equinox, which began on the 25th of March, old New Year's Day, and ended on the 2nd of April.

Though the 1st of April appears to have been observed as a general festival in Great Britain in antiquity, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom. In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gowk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gowks," the cuckoo being a term of contempt, as it is in many countries.

One of the earliest connections of the day with fools is Chaucer's story the Nun's Priest's Tale (c.1400), which concerns two fools and takes place "thritty dayes and two" from the beginning of March, which is April 1. The significance of this is difficult to determine.
--Link

NPR gets into the act:

Every year National Public Radio in the United States does an extensive news story on April 1st. These usually start off more or less reasonably, and get more and more unusual. A recent example is the story on the "iBod" a portable body control device. It also runs false sponsor mentions, such as "Support for NPR comes from the Soylent Corporation, manufacturing protein-rich food products in a variety of colors. Soylent Green is People.”
--Wikipedia

Here's # 29 on the list of the Top 100 hoaxes (which can be found here)

#29: Wisconsin State Capitol Collapses
In 1933 the Madison Capital-Times solemnly announced that the Wisconsin state capitol building lay in ruins following a series of mysterious explosions. The explosions were attributed to "large quantities of gas, generated through many weeks of verbose debate in the Senate and Assembly chambers." Accompanying the article was a picture showing the capitol building collapsing. By modern standards the picture looks slightly phony, but readers in 1933 were fooled—and outraged. One reader wrote in declaring that the hoax "was not only tactless and void of humor, but also a hideous jest."

I thought it should have had something to do with cheese.

Here's a good one that can be traced back to 1698!

Late in March 1860 numerous people throughout London received the following invitation:

“Tower of London—Admit Bearer and Friend to view annual ceremony of Washing the White Lions on Sunday, April 1, 1860. Admittance only at White Gate. It is particularly requested that no gratuities be given to wardens or attendants.”

By twelve o’clock on April 1st a large crowd had gathered outside the tower. However, no lions had been kept in the tower for decades, so the people went home disappointed. This prank had a very long pedigree. An instance of it was recorded as far back as 1698. It had also been regularly perpetrated (on a smaller scale) upon unsuspecting out-of-towners.
--Link

Last October The List Universe published the list of the top April Fool's Day Hoaxes over the years. Surprisingly I knew what the top one would be- and I was not surprised by number two. I remember them both. (Gee- a living link with history!)

They are all classics. It is hard to beat such incredible creativity.

Here it is... watch #1, which is now 51 years old.