The best April Fool’s Day pranks played that many people believed

While the majority of media outlets take their responsibility seriously, there are always a few that like to play outrageous pranks on their readers, viewers or listeners.

Last year we showed you some memorable April Fool's Day pranks including the left-handed Whopper, but we have come across some even better ones.

CBC reported in 2008 the CN Tower had a plan to reclaim its title as world's largest free-standing structure, a title it lost to a tower in Dubai. Plans were underway to add an extension to the top. "I think it will be a good thing," said one woman in the article. "Get the tourists back here so we can brag that we've got the tallest building in the world."

However, this prank was overshadowed in 2008 by the BBC/Daily Mirror/Daily Telegarph piece showing new footage with flying penguins.

They said camera crews filming in the Antarctic discovered the birds and came to learn they flew to South American rainforests to bask in the sun during the winter.

Adding to the prank, the reporter was called professor Alid Loyas, an anagram of April Fool's Day. The video has been viewed almost 1.8 times. A followup video explained how they did the special effects.

In 1975 an Australian news program announced the country would soon be converting to "metric time". There would be 100 seconds to the minute, 100 minutes to the hour and 20 hours to the day.

To keep with metric traditions, seconds would be called millidays, minutes would be called centidays and hours would be decidays. The story even featured a politician commending the new system.

Unfortunately, department store managers were inundated with questions about how to convert their clocks. We wonder if Canada would have followed to keep with our metric system.

In 1962 a Swedish TV channel broadcasting in black and white explained new technology allowed people to instantly convert their TV sets to display colour. All people needed to do was pull a nylon stocking over the screen and light would bend in such a way it would appear as if the image was in colour.

Many Swedes recall their fathers rushing through the house looking for stockings. Regular colour broadcasts were not available in Sweden until April 1, 1970, but this time it was not a prank. We wonder if there is a product that can magically transform a regular TV into a 3D set?

Our final prank also has to do with one of Canada's most recognizable buildings - the CN Tower. In 1976 the Toronto Star printed a picture of King Kong hanging from the top on the front page of the newspaper.

The origins of the day are a bit of a mystery, but in 1983 the Associated Press reported this mystery has been solved. A professor discovered the celebration began during the Roman Empire when a court jester boasted to Emperor Constantine the fools and jesters could rule the empire better.

The emperor set aside one day a year for them to prove this and the first jester appointed to rule decreed only the absurd be allowed. This joke was published in newspapers everywhere and corrections had to be printed a few weeks later.

The actual origins are believed to date back to the 16th Century when New Year's Day was moved from March 25 to Jan. 1. New Year's used to be New Year's week ending April 1 and people may have been making fun of those who still celebrated on April 1.

Hopefully, Friday will bring some more memorable stories.

(CP Photo)