April 1, 2005

New Zealand

Australia

Malaysia

India

Germany

• German's biggest newspaper BILD teams up with beer brewer Veltins to create personalized fake BILD headlines.
  

  Denmark

• The danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet reports that the film Indiana Jones IV, will be filmed this year in Denmark, partly in Copenhagen and partly on the island of Bornholm. [1]
• NOS Jeugdjournaal, Dutch Journal for Kids announced that the government wants to prohibit using MSN Messenger for children under the age of 14. Thousands of children called a special telephone number to vote against the plan, and were told it was a joke.
• A newspaper (?) published an image of a zebra whose patterning was chequered, as opposed to the conventional stripes. Readers were invited to visit the zoo in which it was born.

  Britain

• BMW printed a full page ad in a number of UK newspapers (including The Guardian, The Independent, and the Daily Mail) saying that in 2007 the EU was to ban right-handed cars being driven in mainland Europe (effectively banning every British car), and that they had invented steering wheel-less technology. Also at this fake site.
• Mugglenet is replaced with a page stating that J.K. Rowling has taken legal action against the site, causing it to be shut down. (It also contained a fake countdown to "Harry Potter 5: The Pillar of Storgé")
• The BBC report that a think-tank has suggested that disabled people should not appear on television until after the 9pm watershed.
• Bush twins to join Air Force tech unit in Iraq
• The Independent: Jamie Oliver is to be the new Conservative candidate of the Arundel and South Downs after the saga of Howard Flight.
• King Arthur Pendragon claimed that English Heritage had handed ownership of Stonehenge to the Druids, as part of a project to place a roof and restore the ancient temple to its former glory [1]
• The BBC's Newsround website reported that brainbands help children pass exams.
• The Today programme on BBC Radio 4 reported that, as a result of an obscure 19th century rule of succession of the House of Saxe-Coburg, Camilla Parker-Bowles's son, Thomas Parker-Bowles, who is older than Prince William, will become second in line to the British throne following the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla on 8 April 2005.
• The Guardian reported that Charles, Prince of Wales had been appointed 'Countryside Tsar' by Tony Blair in the run-up to the imminent general election. The ban on foxhunting will be revoked, as long as it is made into a sport of the people.
• The Sun reported that EU bureaucrats wanted to ban April Fools' Day because of physical and mental injury caused to the victims of jokes; and that gypsies had camped in Windsor Castle, claiming a centuries-old right to pitch tents there.
  

  Canada

• In The Globe and Mail, BMW offered a free pair of "314t" cross-trainers to anyone who purchased a new 3-Series.
• The Toronto Star reports that Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton to star in a 2005 remake of Casablanca
• The Canadian site Urban Exploration Resource (UER) posted a mock up of the images posted by the MPAA when popular Bittorrent site Lokitorrent.com was shut down. Urban Exploration Resource Lokitorrent, after MPAA takeover
• Eminent Montreal ping-pong player Yank Hang bombs local gym after losing to James "Chucky" Chung in final round of play.

  United States

• Jennifer Government: NationStates claims to be forbidden by the Department of Homeworld Security. [1] (also contains a reference to 1984)
• National Public Radio's news program All Things Considered reports on New England's maple syrup industry downturn and the dangers of leaving maple trees untapped. [1]
• The Manhattan College Quadrangle reports that campus food-service operator, Sodexho, has replaced food service workers with strippers.[1]
• MiceAge.com posts a spoofed article about Disney Casino Adventure, a Vegas-style makeover of the Disney California Adventure theme park at Disneyland.
• Peter Gammons announces on the Dan Patrick radio show that Pete Rose is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• CollegeHumor sold to Philip Morris USA. CollegeHumor.com
• FBI Crackdown on VCR use is a ruse based on P2P legal proceedings and paranoia.
• A&W Restaurants announce new deal of "Two grandpas for five dollars".
• Santa Fe Institute [1] changed their splash page to Greek fonts.
  

  Events mistaken as April Fool's Day hoaxes

  
  Genuine events that had been interpreted as April Fools included:
• Christopher Eccleston quits Doctor Who (2005) after one series [1]
• Mitch Hedberg's death
• Frank Perdue's death
• The announcement of the tea tablet
• Zinedine Zidane playing again with the France national football team
• Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 64-Bit Versions are RTM and can be downloaded from MSDN
• British Home Secretary Charles Clarke is being asked to pardon Anne Boleyn for the crimes of adultery, incest and witchcraft for which she was beheaded in 1536. [1]
• [1] Google doubles Gmail disk space quota to 2Gb.
• [1] Google offers Ride Finder for real time information on taxi cabs in selected cities.
• [1] Fairfax County, Virginia imposes ambulance charge.
• [1] The BBC asks to interview long-deceased singer Bob Marley.
• [1] Nintendo-Reloaded was the previous name for the upcoming console, which is now called Revolution.
• Best Buy to end Rebates

  See also

• April 1, 2004
• Wikinews article about the April Fool's Day edits on Wikipedia
• BBC list of ten news stories from the day which sounded like - but weren't - hoaxes

  External link

• A long list of supposed 2005 April Fool's