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Friday, March 31, 2017

Roundup of April Fool's day links: history, pranks, and hoaxes

There will definitely be some overlap in these collections of pranks and hoaxes (for example, no list would be complete without Burger King’s 1998 full page ad for the Left-handed Whopper or the BBC’s excellent 1957 Spaghetti Tree hoax), but there is a lot of different stuff, as well, at each of the links. Feel free to add more in the comments!


Awesome April Fool's Day Pranks Your Kids Will Totally Fall For.

More prank ideas.

April Fool's Day idea: Make your own meatloaf donuts.

6 People Who Went to Great Lengths for their Pranks.

How To Easily Create A Realistic Looking Head In A Jar.

The 14 Greatest Hoaxes of All Time and Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time.

Fake death reports, disaster warnings, and hangings - The Top 10 Worst April Fool's Day Hoaxes Ever. Personal favorite:
Saddam Hussein and his sons may have been ruthless, power-hungry dictators, but that didn't stop them from trying to give the people of Iraq a good chuckle every April Fool's Day. On April 1, 1998 the Babil newspaper, owned by Hussein's son Uday, informed its readers that President Clinton had decided to lift sanctions against Iraq, only to admit later that it was just joking. One can imagine the knee-slapping guffaws when readers realized how they'd been taken for a ride. The laughs continued in 1999 when Uday mischievously announced that the monthly food rations would be supplemented to include bananas, Pepsi, and chocolate. Again, just a joke. At this point, the Husseins appear to have run out of material, because in 2000 they recycled the sanction-lifting gag, and in 2001 trotted out the ration-supplement crowd-pleaser one more time. 
Ambrose Bierce on April Fool's day from the Devil's Dictionary:
April Fool, n. The March fool with another month added to his folly.
ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include the day Niagara Falls ran dry (with bonus Niagara Falls sketches done by Abbott & Costello and by The Three Stooges), how movie theater concessions got so expensive, brutalist sand sculptures, and, for Van Gogh’s birthday, his rarely-seen sketchbooks and the unexpected math behind “Starry Night”.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thursday links

It's Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday - here are his rarely-seen sketchbooks and the unexpected math behind Starry Night.

Who Owns Your Face? Advertising companies, tech giants, data collectors, and the federal government, it turns out.


On March 30, 1848, Niagara Falls Ran Dry. Bonus: Niagara Falls sketch by Abbott & Costello and The Three Stooges.

Great Migrations: Following human genes around the world.

The United States v. Paramount and How Movie Theater Concessions Got So Expensive.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include how big land animals can get, where to hide from nuclear bombs, a collection of vintage celebrity endorsements, and the origin stories of famous sports.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Recreating History - side by side comparison of real historical footage with movie re-creations

From filmmaker Vugar Efendi, this interesting side by side comparison of real footage of historical events with movie re-creations:




Monday, March 27, 2017

Monday links

A Collection of Vintage Celebrity Endorsements.

Where to Hide If a Nuclear Bomb Goes Off In Your Area.


Two Infographics: Spring Cleaning Checklist and Best Ways to Die.



ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the history of dentures, a set of uninspirational quotes, flying water taxis in Paris, and why barns are painted red.