The Internet claims that this image shows a 140-year-old tortoise wearing her 5-day-old son as a hat. Is this true or false?
By now the 'poo in beards' story that went viral earlier this month has been thoroughly debunked. But what people may not know is that there was a very similar media scare about germs in beards over 100 years ago, in 1912.
Were these women members of one of the most feared of all London's street gangs in the 1880's, a group of female toughs known as the Clockwork Oranges?
A widely shared photo has been identified as a young boy in Nepal comforting his sister following the deadly earthquake. But the photo was actually taken in Vietnam in 2007. more…
Do Mr. Burger and Mr. Fries really have tombstones next to each other? more…
This image has circulated online since at least 2013, and recently it's been doing the rounds again. Often it's given the caption, "Best Manhole Cover. Ever." Is it real or photoshopped? Honestly, I'm not sure. But my best guess is that it's a 'real' photo, but that isn't a genuine, functional manhole cover. more…
On March 27, 1940, the front page of The Daily Princetonian carried a photo that it described as the "Composite Princetonian." It said the photo had been created by analyzing the photos of 2100 Princeton students, then selecting 12 who exemplified the varieties of types on campus. The photos of these 12 were combined into a single composite photo. The next day the truth was revealed. The composite photo was actually a doctored photo of Errol Flynn, minus his mustache and given a crew haircut.
Does this photo show a killer whale attacking a bear? No, it's just an April Fool photo hoax that's apparently still fooling some people.
Edward Mordake is said to be an Englishman who was born with a second face on the back of his head — a face that eventually drove him mad. But was he a real person? I say no. I argue that he was actually the literary creation of the 19th-century poet Charles Lotin Hildreth. more…
'Canard' is the French word for duck, but in both French and English it can also mean a false or absurd story. According to one theory, the word acquired this meaning on account of a 19th Century experiment involving cannibalistic ducks. But is this theory true, or is it itself a canard? more…
The Oomedoodle is a legless bird native to Australia. It is so named because of the distinctive cry it makes every time it lands on its exposed nether regions: "Oomedoodle! Oomedoodle!" They're said to be highly intelligent and make great pets because of their facility with language (even better than that of parrots). However, owners should be warned that their language tends to be vulgar.
Throughout the 20th century, a brief story ran repeatedly in newspapers about a sign at a power plant that read, "To touch these wires means instant death. Anyone disregarding this notice will be placed under arrest." The story was most likely an urban legend masquerading as news. There's no good evidence that this sign ever hung anywhere. more…
Grainy video of a streaker at a football game was posted online in late March and quickly went viral, with over 2 millions views in less than 2 days. But it turned out to be a stunt by DishLATINO, as revealed on their YouTube channel on April 1. The streaker was actually Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez.
Standard Digital News offers a round-up of April Fool's Day hoaxes that's a bit different. The 10 best ever from Kenya. I hadn't heard of any of them before. more…
For many years, I've had Burger King's left-handed whopper hoax from 1998 listed as one of the most popular April Fool hoaxes of all time. But in all that time, I had never seen a copy of the actual ad that Burger King ran in USA Today. I tried contacting Burger King repeatedly asking for a copy, and they ignored me. And no libraries had back issues of USA Today that included the ads. But finally, I managed to track down a copy at the Library of Congress. So here it is. The original left-handed whopper ad.
