April Fools' Day Pranks

April Fools' Day is just over a week away, so get ready to get fooled! April Fools' Day falls on April 1^st each year, and is one of the most lighthearted days of the year. While its origin is a little uncertain, it has been contested that it is a celebration of the changing seasons or a start of a new year.

No matter the reason behind the day, April Fools' Day has always had a tradition of practical jokes. In 1632, Duke of Lorraine and his wife escaped a prison at Nantes by dressing up as peasants, and walking calmly right out of the front gate. When the guards were told about the prank, they simply laughed, thinking that it was a prank, leading to one of the earliest April Fools' Pranks in history.

Some of the most historic April Fools' pranks to ever happen include:

• A millionaire auctions off an iceberg - in 1978, millionaire Dick Smith announced that he would tow an iceberg from Antarctica and break it into smaller cubes to sell. He said that the cubes would work to freshen the taste of any drink that they were put in, and would be sold for 10 cents a cube. When the media was on site to report on the iceberg, it was discovered that the iceberg was actually just sheets that were covered in fire extinguishing foam and shaving cream.
• Loss of gravity - in 1976, BBC Radio 2 reported that Earth's gravity would decrease at a certain time of the day due to a very rare astronomical alignment of Pluto behind Jupiter. People were told to jump into the air at exactly 9:47 a.m. to feel weightless. Many people reported that they were actually floating through the air, even though it was eventually uncovered as a hoax.

All of us at Jack Stone Insurance Agency in Brentwood, California would like to wish you a happy April Fools' Day, and hope that you do not get tricked too bad!