Numbers Don't Lie
An 1878 newspaper hoax reported Thomas Edison’s newest invention could turn ______ into food and wine.
Ready to reveal?
Confirm your email to play the next question?
An 1878 newspaper hoax reported Thomas Edison’s newest invention could turn dirt into food and wine.
The BBC once claimed spaghetti noodles grew on trees.
The most convincing April Fools’ pranks often come from the most unexpected sources, which could be why the BBC has a history of successful hoaxes. This includes a 1957 joke, considered to be one of the first April Fools’ TV pranks, wherein the British broadcaster aired a two-and-a-half-minute segment claiming spaghetti noodles grew on trees in Switzerland. Footage showed Swiss noodle harvesters on ladders collecting noodles and drying them in the sun before dining on a large pasta dinner. While the prank likely would have fallen flat today, spaghetti wasn’t commonly eaten in the U.K. during the 1950s, which meant the dish was entirely unfamiliar to most viewers. But the hoax didn’t just prank viewers. Many BBC staffers were also fooled after being purposefully kept in the dark about the fictitious story — the production brainchild of cameraman Charles de Jaeger and a small crew — and were taken aback by a deluge of callers looking to acquire their own spaghetti trees.