Nordstjernan to run the New York Times

The Swedish newspaper in America will take over the day-to-day running of the venerable New York based newspaper as of April 1.  

  • 'Be ready for unexpected guests...' A spoof with a well-known commercial for Gevalia coffee. April Fools' Day in Denmark 2001- a [Swedish] subway car has broken through and surfaced on the square in front of the Copenhagen town hall. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons/Lars Andersen
  • Not really... unfortunately; April Fool's Day in Swedish History - It’s been said that the origins of April Fools' Day stem from the Roman festival of Hilaria, which in reality was held on March 25, and the Medieval Feast of the Fools, which was held on December 28. Be that as it may,
    April Fools’ Day (Första April in Swedish) is celebrated in many countries, though it is not a national holiday it is a day when people are allowed to play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other. In Swedish there’s a rhyme that goes: “April, april din dumma sill, jag kan lura dig vart jag vill” (April, April you silly herring, I can fool you anywhere I want to), which concludes a successful practical joke.

  • April 1 ("första april") is also in Sweden a day to pull someone's leg. If you succeed in doing it, then you add: “April, april din dumma sill, jag kan lura dig vart jag vill”. Image: nordstjernan.com
  • Some of the more famous April first jokes in Swedish mass media are the following:

  • 1950: On April 1, 1950, the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten (GP) reports that the island of Öland has loosened from the ocean bed and is floating towards the Swedish coast.

  • 1962: Before there was such a thing as color TV in Sweden, Kjell Stensson explained, during a news segment on TV, that new equipment had been installed in the TV-building, which meant there was no need to buy a new TV in order to view programs in color. It was enough, Stensson said, to pull a nylon stocking over the TV screen.

  • 1980:

  • If you fail to trick someone on April first, you can always try again a month later on May first (although this is not as common a day for jokes). If you succeed to trick the person in question then you say: “Maj, maj måne jag kan lura dig till Skåne” (May, May moon, I can trick you to Skåne).