It’s the first of April tomorrow and you know what that means – April Fools Day!

But if you were planning a joke of entirely impractical proportions, you might just want to check that it hasn’t been done before. So to be useful, we’ve combined our top 5 April Fools practical jokes of all time.

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957. The BBC news show Panorama was behind this one when it announced that the Swiss were finally experiencing a record spaghetti crop. Yes, now that the evil spaghetti weevil had been conquered, the peasants were busy day and night pulling strands of pasta from the trees.
Did it work? Panorama received record viewership for that show and thousands of people called in to ask how they could grow spaghetti. So yes, sadly, it seemed to work.

Pluto and Jupiter cause a stir in 1976. A British astronomer announced on BBC Radio that a once in a lifetime event was about to occur. Pluto and Jupiter would pass each other at exactly the right moment to cause a temporary gravitational alignment that would negate Earth’s gravity. So if you jumped at 9:47am exactly, you would float.
Did it work? Apparently – the BBC received hundreds of claims that it had worked with one caller going so far as to claim that she and her friends had floated around the room for ages.

UFO Lands in London 1989: On the day before April Fools thousands of Londoners watching a UFO fly past and land in field on the outskirts of the city. Local police were called to deal with the alien invasion. However, the brave policemen took flight when a silver-suited figure emerged from the flying saucer. Turns out it was just Richard Branson in specially designed UFO-like hot air balloon.
Did it work? Yes and no. People fell for it, but Branson was supposed to land in the much more populated Hyde Park. Unfortunately the wind blew him off course.

The Left-Handed Whopper 1998: USA Today sported a full page ad announcing a brand new addition to the Burger King menu – the Left-Handed Whopper. In order not to discriminate against the 32 million American lefties, this new burger rotated all it ingredients by 180 degrees for comfy eating.
Did it work? Thousands of people were reported to have asked for the new burger, while even more people specifically requested the old right-handed version.

Flying Penguins 2008: A BBC film crew for the show Miracles of Evolution somehow managed to capture footage of flying penguins. Turns out these clever creatures finally got tired of huddling together for warmth in the freezing Antarctic winter and instead took to the skies to relax in the tropical sun of South America.

Watch the penguins fly:

Did it work? The video became an instant online hit with over 1,029,506 views on YouTube with comments like “amazing!! i had no idea some could fly wow!“ So yes.

You ever pulled off an April Fools Day stunt of epic proportions? Please share!