Some of the greatest April Fools' pranks of all time. SourcesĪ Brief, Totally Sincere History of April Fools’ Day. Google notoriously hosts an annual April Fools' Day prank that has included everything from “telepathic search” to the ability to play Pac Man on Google Maps.įor the average trickster, there is always the classic April Fools' Day prank of covering the toilet with plastic wrap or swapping the contents of sugar and salt containers. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich. In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1992, National Public Radio ran a spot with former President Richard Nixon saying he was running for president again… only it was an actor, not Nixon, and the segment was all an April Fools' Day prank that caught the country by surprise. In 1985, Sports Illustrated writer George Plimpton tricked many readers when he ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour. In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees. The vernal (spring) equinox is the time of year when the number of. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences. All Memes Winter Solstice Caption this Meme Blank Winter Solstice by SteveChianos. The Moon Festival, is celebrated in Chinese and Vietnamese communities all over the world on the day of the Harvest Moon, which is the Full Moon closest to the September equinox.In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools' Day hoaxes. The Christian church replaced many early Pagan celebrations with Christianized versions.The Christian celebration closest to the fall equinox is Michaelmas, on September 29, and is mainly observed by the Catholic church. Below is a list of the astronomical season changes we can expect to see following the upcoming winter solstice next month: Vernal Equinox (Spring): March 20. Modern and ancient cultures have different ways of celebrating the equinox. Also refractions in the sunlight mean people see the sunrise before they see the sun.Īcross the planet, times of sunrise vary according to longitude and latitude, meaning the date when day and night are closest in length is different from place to place. When that happens the center of the sun is still below the horizon. Sunrises occur when the crown of the sun rises over the eastern horizon. This happens on March 19, 20, or 21 every year. The March equinox is the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equatoran imaginary line in the sky above Earth’s equatorfrom south to north. This is a result of differences in the sunrises across the world. On the equinox, the Earths axis is perpendicular to the Suns rays. The only points not to experience nearly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night equally are the north and south poles where there will be a shift from permanent day to permanent night.īecause of discrepancies, 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night isn't exactly what happens, but it is close. Over the rest of the year the subsolar point will move northward at the September equinox making days longer in the northern hemisphere and shorter in the southern hemisphere. The biannual equinoxes occur when the plane of the equator passes the center of the sun.Īt that point, usually around September 20 and March 20 every year, the tilt of the Earth's axis is, unlike its usual orientation, neither inclining away from or towards the sun.ĭuring the equinox the subsolar point, the place directly below the center of the sun, is at the equator. This is the result of the changes to the planet's rotational axis which sits at an angle. Read more: As fall equinox approaches, was Stonehenge used to predict astronomical events?Īs the Earth makes its orbit around the sun, the relative position of the northern and southern hemispheres change over the course of the year. In theory the orientation of the earth towards the sun on the day of the equinox means across the planet we will experience a day and a night of equal length-equinox translates from Latin to mean 'equal night.' September 22 marks the 2017 fall equinox in the United States and the start of autumn across the northern hemisphere-at the same time in the southern hemisphere the vernal equinox marks the start of spring.
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