(Page 2 of 4)

Not True: Spaghetti Trees and Pickle Orchards

In 1957, BBC television reported "a record spaghetti harvest" in the Italian Alps. Video showed farmers snipping away at bounteous "spaghetti trees" with extra-large scissors. With no hint of humor, the reporter credited the bumper crop to new methods of controlling the ravenous spaghetti weevil. The BBC's switchboard was jammed with calls from hundreds of people seeking to farm spaghetti.

Paying tribute to this BBC prank in 1970, NBC commentator John Chancellor reported on America's remarkable pickle crop. The legendary news reporter showed images of what he described as "dill pickle orchards" (actually, apple trees) at the Dimbledor Pickle Farm in West Virginia.

Not True: Big Ben Goes Digital

In 1980, to keep up with the times, Big Ben would be turned into a digital clock tower, or so the BBC reported. The news organization said it received a huge number of angry calls protesting the move, as well as a few inquiries as to whether parts of the famed clock would be for sale.

Not True: Pepsi Earlobes

Want a lifetime discount on Pepsi? Just tattoo the corporate logo on your ear. National Public Radio reported that teenagers actually called the station after that 1994 April Fools' report, hoping to cash in on the promised 10 percent discount.

Not True: John and Yoko's Sex-Change Surgeries

In 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released a statement saying they were about to undergo side-by-side sex-change operations. The report failed to turn Ono into a major recording artist, and Lennon never had a chance to record "Nowhere Woman."