11 of the Most Iconic Pranks Ever Pulled

Think your epic prank of filling your friend's dorm room with hundreds of water-filled plastic cups was impressive? These massive pranks made global news and will definitely set the bar high for you.

The BBC's bold claim that Big Ben would go digital left viewers in disbelief.

Back in 1980, the BBC World Service broadcasted a shocking report that Big Ben would be fitted with a digital clock. They even promised to give away the historic clock’s hands to the first four callers. While most people were outraged, a Japanese sailor quickly phoned in, eager to claim the unusual prize.

A massive iceberg floats into Sydney Harbour.

On April 1, 1978, Sydneysiders woke up to the sight of a huge iceberg drifting in Sydney Harbour. Just days earlier, electronics mogul Dick Smith had announced that an iceberg he was towing from Antarctica would arrive in the city that week—although he purposely left out the exact date to avoid spoiling the surprise. The public was mesmerized, with the Australian Navy even offering to help moor the iceberg. But when a rainstorm hit, the iceberg was revealed to be nothing more than a barge wrapped in white plastic and fire-fighting foam.

Taco Bell buys the Liberty Bell.

In 1996, Taco Bell took corporate sponsorship to a whole new level by attempting to buy a piece of American history. On April 1, the fast-food chain took out full-page ads in six major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, announcing that it had 'purchased' the Liberty Bell in order to help reduce the national debt. The (fictional) announcement stated that the Liberty Bell would still be available to the public, but would alternate between Philadelphia and Taco Bell’s headquarters in Irvine, California.

Following a flood of distressed calls, including from aides to two U.S. senators, the National Park Service, and Taco Bell's headquarters, the company issued a real press release to reveal the prank. They also pledged to donate $50,000 for the Liberty Bell’s maintenance. 'For those who didn’t get the joke and care about the bell, just think about how much more recognition we’ve given it in one day,' Taco Bell’s spokesperson remarked. 'There’s been a terrific response from people I’ve spoken with, and some even said, ‘Thanks for making me realize how we need to take care of our monuments.’'

A British television show convinces viewers that spaghetti grows on trees.

In 1957, the BBC current affairs program Panorama began a broadcast with the words, 'It isn't only in Britain that spring this year has taken everyone by surprise. Here in Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into bloom, at least a fortnight earlier than usual. But what, you may ask, does the early arrival of bees and blossoms have to do with food? Well, it’s simply that the unusually mild winter has resulted in an exceptionally bountiful spaghetti harvest.'

The three-minute segment featured footage of Swiss harvesters picking spaghetti from tree branches. Hundreds of Britons, many of whom weren’t regular pasta eaters, called the BBC asking how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. Without missing a beat, the BBC advised, 'Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'

Wisconsin students relocate Lady Liberty to Lake Mendota.

In 1978, University of Wisconsin students Leon Varjian and Jim Mallon made an audacious campaign promise to win seats in the Wisconsin Student Association: they would relocate the Statue of Liberty to Lake Mendota. After winning the election, they set out to fulfill their unusual promise in February 1979. With $4000 of student fees, the duo spent three days constructing a Lady Liberty replica from plywood, chicken wire, papier-mâché, and muslin cloth, finally installing it on the frozen lake.

This wasn’t Varjian’s first prank (although it might have been his most elaborate); in 1977, he campaigned to rename the school the 'University of New Jersey' (his home state), so students could attend a prestigious East Coast institution without leaving Wisconsin. Mallon, on the other hand, went on to create the iconic cult comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

MIT students create a massive game of Tetris on a building.

In the 1980s, students at MIT envisioned turning the 295-foot Green Building into a gigantic, playable Tetris game. By 2012, their dream had become a reality. It took the hackers four years of planning and two months of intense work to create what MIT’s student newspaper The Tech dubbed the 'holy grail of hacks.' Through a complex system of wirelessly controlled LED lights, they turned 153 windows of the building into falling Tetris blocks, which could be manipulated by players standing at a podium.

Caltech pranks the Rose Bowl.

In 1961, during 'The Great Rose Bowl Hoax,' Caltech students pulled off a prank on the University of Washington Huskies during their halftime card stunt show. The pranksters broke into the dormitory housing the Huskies’ cheerleaders and secretly swapped their thousands of instruction cards. When the Huskies fans flipped their signs at halftime, they unknowingly spelled out Caltech, shocking everyone in the stadium. The prank quickly made headlines across the nation.

The best part? Caltech didn’t even have a football team. The Huskies were actually playing the University of Minnesota in that Rose Bowl game.

NPR announces Nixon is running for president again.

In 1992, National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation aired a segment claiming that Richard Nixon, who had resigned in 1974 following the Watergate scandal, was re-entering the presidential race for the Republican nomination. To support their story, NPR played a clip of Nixon stating, 'I never did anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.'

As expected, callers bombarded NPR with questions and complaints. It wasn’t until the second half of the program that host John Hockenberry revealed the entire segment was an April Fools’ Day prank. Comedian Rich Little, known as 'The Man of a Thousand Voices,' was behind the 'Nixon' speech.

A Swedish news station convinces viewers that stockings can turn their black-and-white TVs into color.

In 1962, Sweden’s only television network, SVT, aired an April Fools' Day broadcast claiming that viewers could watch their normally black-and-white TV broadcasts in color... if they had the right materials.

Kjell Stensson, a 'technical expert,' explained in elaborate, scientific detail that stretching a pair of nylon stockings over their TV screens would filter the light and allow viewers to see color. To enhance the effect, Stensson advised viewers to move their heads from side to side as they watched. Needless to say, many of the thousands of viewers who fell for this prank were left looking rather silly.

An Easter Island statue washes up in the Netherlands.

While Swedes were covering their TVs with stockings, the Dutch were left amazed when a man discovered what appeared to be an Easter Island statue on a beach near Zandvoort, Netherlands. A few days later, on April 1, an expert flew in from Norway, confirmed the statue’s authenticity, and claimed it had been carried from the South Pacific to Europe. The statue was then displayed for the public in the town center.

By the end of the day, the sculpture’s creator, Dutch artist Edo van Tetterode, admitted to planting the 'artifact' on the beach. The following year, Tetterode founded the National April 1st Society and, continuing until his death in 1996, began awarding a small bronze Easter Island head trophy to the individual responsible for the best prank of the year.

Alabama changes the value of pi.

In 1998, the Alabama state legislature made a groundbreaking decision that would forever alter math, science, and the world: they declared that the value of the mathematical constant pi would be 3.0, instead of the traditional 3.14159. At least, that’s what the April issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter claimed. The article, written by April Holiday and attributed to the 'Associalized Press,' detailed the reasoning behind Alabama’s new law, asserting that 3.0 was a 'biblical value.' The hoax quickly went viral, but the true scale of its success wasn’t revealed until Alabama lawmakers began receiving a flood of protests.