On March 13, 1769, the London Public Advertiser printed: "The mistake of Noah sending the dove out of the ark before the water had abated, on the first day of April, and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought proper, whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by sending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual message upon which the bird was sent by the patriarch".

Sweden's SVT (Sveriges Television) brought their technical expert, Kjell Stensson, onto the news to brief the public on a new technology that could convert their existing sets to display color. Stensson explained that all viewers had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen, and the mesh would cause the light to bend in such a way that it would appear as if the image was in color. Many Swedes today still remember their fathers rushing through the house trying to find stockings to place over the TV set.

The holiday was originally known as "Huntigowk Day" in Scotland. The name is a corruption of "hunt the gowk", gowk being Scots for a cuckoo or a foolish person. The traditional prank is to ask someone to deliver a sealed message that supposedly requests help of some sort. In fact, the message reads "Dinna laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile." The recipient is required, upon reading the note, to agree to help on one condition--that the messenger first deliver another message. The victim is then sent on their way with with an identical sealed message, with the same result.

On April 1, 1992, National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation revealed that, in a surprise move, Richard Nixon was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Voters were outraged until they realized that Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

In 1965, BBC TV played another epic April Fools' joke on their viewers, airing an interview with a man who had invented a new technology called "Smellovision" that allowed viewers to experience aromas produced in the television studio. The inventor explained that his machine broke scents down into their component molecules which were then transmitted through the screen. He demonstrated by placing some coffee beans and onions into the smellovision and asking viewers to report whether they smelled anything at home. Viewers called in from across the country to confirm that they had indeed experienced these scents. Some even claimed the onions made their eyes water!