Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

I couldn’t quite believe my ears when I first heard the news.

Dragons aren’t mythical beasts, they’ve found one in Peru.

It was hidden in the jungle, far away from view, but they’re taking it to Paris now, to put it in a zoo.

Pity the poor dragon, oh what a hullabaloo!

(And if you believed any of that, then I guess the joke’s on you.)

Yes, it’s that time of year coming again. April, the month of mirth and merriment. Back home in the UK, we call the first of the month “April Fools’ Day”. It’s an annual celebration that dates back to at least the 17th century and likely originated somewhere in continental Europe, according to Alex Boese, author of The Museum of Hoaxes: A History of Outrageous Pranks and Deceptions.

The tradition lives on today in the form of practical jokes played on unsuspecting victims. Newspapers and other media outlets also get in on the fun by spreading silly spoofs on April 1.

Usually, these stories feature something fairly fantastical or even outright absurd, such as the infamous “spaghetti-tree hoax” broadcast by the BBC in 1957.

At that time, pasta was a something of a novelty in Britain, and many were unaware of its exact provenance. Hundreds of the program’s viewers were thus fooled into thinking it grew on trees, with a large number even phoning in the next day to ask for more information on cultivating their own spaghetti. Greg Fountain