Jonathan Swift, Notorious Prankster:

An English astrologer named John Partridge spent the better part of the 1600s selling almanacs in which he predicted (incorrectly) upcoming events, the deaths of notable individuals, and other such nonsense. However, when he sarcastically referred to the Church of England as “the infallible Church,” he drew the ire of satirist Jonathan Swift, who set off one of the most elaborate April Fools’ hoaxes in history. In January 1708, Swift wrote a letter, under the pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff, called “Predictions for the Year 1708.” In it, he “predicted” that Partridge was going to die of “a raging fever.” In March, Swift followed up with a letter from an imaginary government official, entitled “The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff’s Predictions,” in which the official endorsed the future-predicting prowess of the imaginary Bickerstaff. Finally, Swift published an elegy on March 30, in which Bickerstaff told the world of Partridge’s death. The news travelled slow in 1708, so it wasn’t until April 1 that most people found out about Partridge’s “death.” People were quite superstitious at that time, so when they saw Partridge, they assumed it was his ghost, or someone who looked strikingly similar to him. This hoax plagued Partridge for the rest of his life, and he was unable to sell anymore of his almanacs. To his credit, Swift was a lifelong fan of April Fools’ ruses.