April Fool’s Day: 4 disastrous pranks, from school shooting to volcanic eruption

April Fool's Day: Ideas so bad they were sure to backfire. (Representational image)

Pranks have the tendency to go horribly wrong, and this is most clearly demonstrated on April Fool’s Day. Here is a look at four April Fool’s pranks over the years that proved disastrous.

School shooting prank

On April Fool’s day in 2014, Angela Timmons, a woman working at a school South Carolina, texted her daughter in New York that there was a shooter on campus.

Timmons' daughter called 911 and the police rushed to the spot, only to find out that it was a prank, according a report in a New York daily.

The woman was arrested and charged for breaching peace and disturbing a school, according to the report.

Volcanic eruption Prank

In 1980, a television channel in Massachusetts aired a fake news report about a volcanic eruption in Milton town as an April Fool’s Day prank, causing people to try and flee their homes in panic. The producer of the broadcast was sacked.

The end of the world

In 1940, Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, one of the United States’ most popular museums, put out a press release announcing the end of the world, triggering confusion and panic.

“Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia,” the note said, according to Gizmodo website. This is no April Fool joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of the Fels Planetarium of this city.”

The prank was meant to promote a new exhibit at the museum but ended up in the sacking of press agent William Castellini.

Prank leading to cliff collapse

In 2001, a radio jockey in England’s seaside Brighton city announced that a replica of the ill-fated Titanic could be seen from the cliffs at Beachy Head. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the replica. The cliffs reportedly developed cracks because of the rush and collapsed a few days later.