Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:02 — 6.2MB) | Embed
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I have made the painful decision to make episode 442 of SILY the final episode, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum.
Today’s Fun Fact: Welcome to April! Today is April 1st so be sure and keep your eyes and ears open for anyone trying to trick you into believing something that’s not true. Some historians believe the April Fools’ customs began in France, although no one knows for sure. It may stem from a calendar change in 16th century France — the moving of New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1 when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. People who continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1st rather than the new date of January 1st were referred to as “April fools” and others played tricks on them. Here are some of the best April Fools jokes ever pulled off:
- 1996 – Taco Bell Corp. ran a full-page ad in several major newspapers claiming it had purchased the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the “Taco Liberty Bell.”
- 2010 – The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a parody web video celebrating President Obama as “truly the greatest president ever” and that he has “kept all his promises.”
- 1962 – Swedish national television broadcast a 5-minute special on how one could get color TV by placing a nylon stocking in front of the TV. A rather in-depth description on the physics behind the phenomenon was included. Thousands of people tried it.
- 1998 – New Mexicans for Science and Reason sent out a newsletter explaining that the Alabama legislature had voted to change the value of Pi from 3.1415(9265… etc) to the more pure, Biblical value of 3.0. The article quickly hit the internet and people went ballistic. Calls flooded into Alabama’s legislative offices protesting the change.
- 1998 – Burger King published a full page ad in USA Today announcing the creation of the ‘Left-Handed Whopper.’ They explained that the new Whopper would be the same, except “all condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger.” The next day, thousands of brilliant Lefties showed up to try their new favorite burger.
Friday Forum
Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Bonita. Bonita shares lessons she’s learning about parenting as one of her children becomes an adult. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278.
Join our SILY Facebook group and let’s get to know one-another!
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
Follow Golden Spiral Media on Twitter at GSMPodcasts and Facebook.com/GoldenSpiralMedia. To subscribe to Stuff I Learned yesterday, visit GoldenSpiralMedia.com/subscribe. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
[sc:stuff]