April Fool’s Day is the one day in the whole year when people play pranks on one another throughout the world.  The origin of April Fool’s day is so old that sometimes it is rumored to be date back to the time of Noah and the ark. Besides, every culture has its own theory as to the origin of April Fool’s Day. Since our childhood, we have been warned to be aware of the pranks and jokes for at least one day in a year. However, we are so cautious on this day that sometimes even true news gets passed around as a joke. Thanks to Reddit, we have compiled a list of ten real news stories on April Fool’s Day that everyone thought was fake.

1 Due to a huge underground fire in London on April 1, 2015, lots of businesses and shows shut down and the power was knocked out in that particular part of the city. A lot of people woke up and saw that on the news and thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke.

An electrical fault in the Victorian tunnels led to an underground fire in central London in 2015. It took thirty-six hours to put it out and caused a mass power outage. About 5,000 people were evacuated from Holborn during this blaze. Since the fire was caused on the 1st of April, however, when people saw it on news they thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke. (source)

2 On April 1, 2015, Matt Hamill, a deaf MMA fighter passed a car going the wrong way on the freeway. He turned his truck around, chased the car down and stopped it with his own vehicle. Then he smashed the window to rescue a baby in the back seat while the mother was barely conscious. Due to the date when this event occurred it was at first regarded as a prank.

Matt Hamil, also known as “The Hammer”, is a mixed martial artist and wrestler who was born deaf. On April 1, 2015, he was driving in New York when a car drove past him going the in the wrong direction. Hamil immediately knew something was wrong so he turned his truck around and soon caught up to the car.

When the car finally stopped, Hamil tried opening the door. When he couldn’t pry the door open, he broke through the glass window and rescued an infant from the back seat. A female driver who was both unresponsive and unconscious was occupying the front seat. Later, police confirmed that the woman was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Due to the date when this event occurred it was at first regarded as a prank.(source)

3 In 2015 a ship ran aground in the Delaware River on April Fool’s Day. Everyone who saw it on Facebook thought it was a prank.

When the video footage of a ship running aground near Burlington Bristol Bridge was made available on Facebook in 2015, most people thought it was a prank. This was because the incident took place on April Fool’s Day. This incident was real, however, and took place in the Delaware River when the ship lost its propulsion system. (source)

4 Kona Tsunami pounded the northeastern shores of the Big Island of Hawaii on April 1, 1946. It swept away more than 1,300 homes and killed 159 people in a matter of moments. Most people on the island dismissed the initial warning as April Fool’s Day prank.

An earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale struck the ocean floor of Alaska at approximately 2:00 a.m. Hawaiian time. This earthquake generated waves of enormous magnitude traveling at an average of 500 miles per hour towards the Hawaiian Islands. When this unusually powerful tsunami hit the northeastern shores of Kona, also known as Big Island, it caused mass destruction of property and death. Reports on this tsunami show that most people dismissed the warnings of their friends and families as of April Fool’s Day pranks. One person later reported that at first, he considered his brother’s warning as a joke. Finally, though, his brother’s terror-filled face and the sights and sounds convinced him that he was not kidding. (1, 2)

5 In New Zealand, BMW posted a newspaper advertisement that said bring in your old car and they’ll swap it for a brand new one. It turns out the offer was real and a lady swapped an old Nissan Avenir for a brand new BMW.

In 2015 BMW released an advertisement titled “April Fools Day Special”. The ad said, “Be the first person to bring your car, along with this coupon, into the BMW Newmarket dealership this morning, ask for Tom and we’ll swap your old car, whatever it is, for a brand new BMW”.

Such ads, especially on April Fool’s Day, look like pranks but when Tianna Marsh saw it in the New Zealand Herald she decided to take a chance. She, along with her friend, arrived at Newmarket BMW dealership shortly after 5 a.m. Upon arriving, she was wondering whether it was a joke and she would go back with a matchbox-sized, toy car instead of a real BMW. But to her surprise, the ad turned out to be real and she swapped her 15-year-old Nissan Avenir for a brand new BMW 1 Series worth about $50,000. (source)