Believe it or not, people believed the BBC report, forgetting it was reported on April 01st, or April Fools Day!
Here are some quick and quirky facts about April Fools Day.
• April Fools Day likely dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar (April 01 was the beginning of the new year) to the Gregorian calendar (which made January 01 the new year)
• Consequently, those who were slow to receive this news and continued to celebrate the new year on April 01st were called “April Fools” and made the object of jokes.
• There is a record of the English playing practical jokes on each other beginning in 1700. By the 18th century, April Fools became a two day celebration in England.
• Another public April Fools Day joke took place in 1996, when Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, tricked people by announcing it had purchases Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.