The Killing Joke - 1896
John Ahrens, a farmer from
Nashville, played an April
Fool’s joke on his new wife with
disastrous results. He disguised
himself as a tramp, covered
his face with a white mask and
knocked at the door. When she
answered he ordered her to get
dinner for him. To his horror his
wife fell to the floor in a faint
and died an hour later. They had
only been married only a few
months and her death crazed him
with grief and remorse, and he
threatened to take his own life.
End of the World Joke - 1940
On 31st March Philadelphia radio station KYW broadcast the following message:
“Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 P.M.
Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fool’s joke. Confirmation can
be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, Director of the Fels Planetarium of this
city”.
The announcement came after a radio program by Jack Benny that had
been devoted to a discussion of how the world might end. The program had
mentioned the name of Orson Welles, who had been responsible for the
notorious War of the Worlds Panic Broadcast of 1938. The public reaction
to KYW’s announcement was dramatic. Newspapers, police stations and
the city’s information bureau received hundreds of calls from frightened
citizens.
KYW later issued an apology and an explanation. The
announcement was, of course, false, but the station denied
responsibility for it. It said that it had received the announcement
from William Castellini, press agent for the Franklin Institute and
had read it in good faith, believing it to be genuine. However,
Castellini had intended it as a publicity stunt to publicise an April
1st lecture at the planetarium titled “How Will the World End?”
Castellini later explained that he came up with the idea for the
stunt after hearing Benny’s program and thinking it a good chance
to get some publicity for the planetarium. He claimed, in his own
defense, that he had told “some of the people” at the
radio station about the announcement and
“thought they would know it was a stunt.”
Soon afterwards, the Franklin Institute
dismissed Castellini.
The Atomic Mist Joke – 1947
Less than two years after the catastrophic atom bombings
of Hroshima and Nagasaki, The Eindhoven Dagblad
newspaper reported that the Dutch town of Eindhoven
would be destroyed the next day by an “atomic
mist” blowing into the town. Panic resulted. Town
residents made frantic plans to leave, especially
those living near the Philips Incandescent
Lamp Company’s factories and laboratories,
Eindhoven’s main industry. Numerous
radio announcements were made to
calm residents and assure them that the
story was false. Municipal authorities
considered legal action against the
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