Will you be this year’s ‘April fish’? Businesses have a long history of using April Fools’ Day to try and prank us all

historyanalysisThe Conversation: Arts + Culture (US)1508 · France

Will you be this year’s ‘April fish’? Businesses have a long history of using April Fools’ Day to try and prank us all

the gist

April Fools' Day traces back to at least 1508, when a French poem first mentioned a poisson d'avril, an 'April fish' for someone tricked on the day. In 1698 an advert invited people to see the washing of the Lions at the Tower of London. Organisations began using the day for hoaxes from the 1950s. In 1955 Popular Electronics ran a fake article on 'contra-polar energy', with lamps that make darkness. In 1957 the BBC's Panorama reported on a Swiss spaghetti harvest from trees, and hundreds of viewers called asking where they could buy spaghetti trees. The hoax worked because the BBC's trusted reporter lent it credibility.

so what

Brands now run professionally planned 'prankvertising', and research suggests these pranks can make brands seem friendlier, even when the product is fake. The tradition shows how trusted institutions can make a joke believable.

fun fact

The 1957 Panorama spaghetti hoax was largely the work of cameraman Charles de Jaeger, who liked playing practical jokes.

The Conversation

Illustrative photo · Lars Andersen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

source: The Conversation: Arts + Culture (US) ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗