Never has there been a crueler April 1 hoax than the story that appeared in the Romanian newspaper Opinia in 2000, reporting that the inmates of Baia Mare prison were finally going to be released. Approximately 60 people went there in anticipation of a highly emotional reunion with their incarcerated loved ones, only for nobody to emerge from jail. The subsequent outcry shamed Opinia into publishing an apology.
Top 10 Shocking Hoaxes
Georgians were in for the shock of their lives on March 13 when the progovernment Imedi station reported Russian tanks were invading again, barely 18 months on from the short war of 2008. In honor of this bizarre news hoax, TIME takes look at more of history's most outrageous deceptions