Ducati Motor Holding

The company also races its motorcycles in MotoGP where it returns from a hiatus of over 30 years. However, modern Jews prefer to play pranks on April Fools' day. The company has enjoyed nine World Superbike championships in recent years. In Judaism, the traditional day of pranks, hoaxes and mockery is Purim. Ducati now manufactures several lines of motorcycles, from the nakeds Ducati Monster, to the supersport 600, 750, 900 Sport and Supersport, superbike 749 and 999, adventure-tourer Multistrada 600 and 1000 and tourer ST3S. It is believed that people should go out on this date in order to escape the bad luck of number 13. Ducati has since ceased production of what many called the bike of the 1990s, supplanting it with the 749 and 999. This day is called "Sizdah bedar" (Out-door thirteen).

In 1995, the company introduced the Ducati 916 model designed by Massimo Tamburini, a water-cooled version that allowed for higher output levels and a striking new bodywork that featured aggressive lines, underseat exhausts, and a single-sided swingarm. In Iran, people play jokes on each other on April 3, the 13th day of the Persian calendar new year (Norooz). After more than a decade of manufacturing, Ducati continues to create innovative changes to this classic motorcycle. The Flemish tradition is for children to lock out their parents or teachers, only letting them in if they promise to bring treats the same evening or the next day. The Monster, which has been out since 1994, has undergone the most changed of any motorcycle that Ducati has ever produced. This custom also exists in certain areas of Belgium, including the province of Antwerp. Today the Monster accounts for almost half of the company's worldwide sales. In Spanish-speaking countries, similar pranks are practiced on December 28, the Day of the Holy Innocents.

[1] In 1993, Miguel Angel Galuzzi introduced the Ducati Monster, a naked bike with exposed trellis and engine. The April 1 tradition in France includes poisson d'avril (literally "April's fish"), attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed. He introduced the Pantah 500 in 1979; its engine was updated in the 1990s in the supersport series. They told the truth on the following week's show, where outtakes of Redknapp messing up his lines were also shown. The chief designer of Ducati motorcycles was the late Fabio Taglioni (1920-2001).
. . The advent of the Internet as a worldwide communications medium has also assisted the pranksters in their work.

Although the exorbitant cost of servicing the Ducati's finicky engine can shock some owners, most will still agree that the improved ride quality, performance, and styling of Ducatis is worth the extra cost. Even normally serious news media consider April Fools' Day hoaxes fair game, and spotting them has become an annual pastime. This eliminates the power loss from oil viscosity drag on the engine even though the engagement may not be as smooth as the oiled versions. Many media organizations have either unwittingly or deliberately propagated hoaxes on April Fools' Day. While most other manufacturers have adopted wet-clutches (with the spinning parts bathed in oil) Ducati uses dry clutches in most of its motorcycles. Children born on this day will experience good luck in most matters, except when it comes to gambling. (Desmodromic valves are those which are positively closed by a leverage system, rather than relying on the more conventional springs to close the valves). It is believed that marriage on April Fools' Day is inadvisable for a man, for he will be permanently ruled by his wife.

Modern Ducatis remain among the dominant performance motorcycles available today despite the aging technology of Desmo engine, which is nearing its 50th year in production. It is said that one fooled by a pretty girl will later marry, or at least become friends, with her. Ducati is best known for high performance motorcycles characterized by trellis-style frames and large capacity four-stroke, 90-degree L-twin engines featuring a desmodromic valve design. Anyone who fails to respond with a sense of humor to the tricks played on them is also said to be liable to suffer bad luck. In December 2005 Ducati went back into Italian hands with the sale of Texas Pacific's stake to Investindustrial Holdings, the investment fund of Carlo and Andrea Bonomi. This stipulation may have been contrived by annoyed parents and school teachers wanting a respite from a full day of pranks. In 1996, Texas Pacific Group bought 51% of the company for $325 million and renamed the company Ducati Motor SpA. Those done afterwards are supposed to bring bad luck to the perpetrator.

In 1985, Cagiva bought Ducati. Traditionally, pranks are to be performed before noon. In the 1970s Ducati began producing large-displacement L-twin motorcycles and in 1973 released a L-twin with the trademark desmodromic valve design. A far more natural explanation would seem to be that the April fish would be a young fish and therefore easily caught. In the 1960s, Ducati earned its place in motorcycling history by producing the fastest 250cc road bike available, the Mach 1. This has been explained from the association of ideas arising from the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. From the first post-war bicycle-like low-displacement motorbikes Ducati has grown over the years into a racing giant that is consistently competitive in both the racing arena and the world motorcycle marketplace. In France the person befooled is known as poisson d'avril.

Ducati motorcycles have long been known for their excellence in design and performance. In Scotland the custom was known as "hunting the gowk," i.e. the cuckoo, and April-fools were "April-gowks," the cuckoo being there, as it is in most lands, a term of contempt. Ducati Motor Holding (NYSE: DMH) is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer located in Bologna. Though the 1st of April appears to have been anciently observed in Great Britain as a general festival, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom. Well before 1582 when King Charles IX of France brought in the new Gregorian calendar, French and Dutch references from respectively 1508 and 1539 describe April Fool's Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April. However, it is unlikely that this explanation of April Fool's Day’s origin is correct.

Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair butts for those wits who amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended ceremony on the 1st of April. They were the first nation to adopt the reformed Gregorian calendar, Charles IX in 1564 decreeing that the year should begin with the 1st of January. It has been plausibly suggested that Europe derived its April-fooling from the French [1]. The festival of the spring equinox is there termed the feast of Huli, the last day of which is the 31st of March, upon which the chief amusement is the befooling of people by sending them on fruitless errands.

This view gains support from the fact that the exact counterpart of April-fooling is found to have been an immemorial custom in India. What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New Year's day, the 25th of March, ended on the 1st of April. The origin of this custom has been much disputed, and many theories have been suggested, e.g. that it is a farcical commemoration of Christ being sent from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate, the crucifixion having taken place about the 1st of April. .

The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends and neighbours, or sending them on fools' errands, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day, though not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. There have been cases when a hoax in a newspaper caused many readers to send mail to a nonexistent address, causing problems at postal sorting offices. That prank, repeated across many people, causes serious problems for zoos' telephone exchanges.

Fant (or various others) at a number that turns out to be a zoo. E. L. Lion or Mr.

C. One type of April Fool's Day hoax is to leave a message telling someone to telephone Mr. 1 April, 2005. 1 April, 2004.

1 April, 2002. Redknapp was being 'interviewed' on the training ground where his goalkeepers were getting to grips with bigger goals. Using West Ham United manager, Harry Redknapp, the report claimed that the size of the goals would increase by two feet in height and four feet in length. The BBC's Saturday lunchtime show 'Football Focus' broadcast a piece centred on the upcoming change of the size of goals.

Seattle area TV program Almost Live! set up a phony broadcast room and dressed actors as TV anchors to pull an April Fool's joke of legendary proportions. The Space Needle collapsed in a windstorm on April 1st, 1989. It was later announced at the Sea FM dance party that it was a hoax. This left a huge number of under 21s angry and frustrated, and incited protests.

Change of drinking age: On the Gold Coast, Australia's biggest tourist destination (particularly amongst school leavers), radio station Sea FM announced the drinking age would be changed from 18 to 21. The station played pop songs until 7:00 am, when Stern came back on. Cancellation of the Howard Stern Show: The April 1st, 2004 show started off with an announcement by the station manager stating that due to increased pressure from the FCC, Viacom had cancelled the Howard Stern Show. Shuttle landing: In 1993, a San Diego radio station fooled many listeners into believing that the space shuttle had been diverted from Edwards Air Force Base and was about to make an emergency landing at a small local airport.

He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience "a strange floating sensation." Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked. that day. Defy Gravity: In 1976 British astronomer Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC2 that unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 a.m. Mainstream media (including Channel 9's Today Show) picked up the story.

New South Wales Premier Bob Carr was also in on the joke. Sydney Olympics: Australian radio station Triple J breakfast show co-host Adam Spencer announced in 1999 that he had a journalist on the line at the site of a secret IOC meeting and that Sydney had lost the 2000 Summer Olympics. This hoax can also be considered a parody of late 1990s media consolidations.). New Format: Radio station KFOG in San Francisco, claiming new corporate ownership, switched to a new format - the best 15 seconds of every song! All morning they mixed in bogus calls from perky listeners calling with compliments.

Both DJs were later jailed for creating a public nuisance. Several police were needed to deal with traffic gridlock and enraged listeners who threatened to harm the DJs responsible. Free Concert: Radio station 98.1 KISS in Chattanooga, Tennessee falsely announced in 2003 that rapper Eminem would be doing a free show in a discount store parking lot. The pair were fired shortly thereafter.

The rumor spread quickly across the city, eventually causing news stations to issue alerts denying the hoax. Menino happened to be on a flight at the time, lending truth to the prank as he could not be reached. Death of a Mayor: In 1998, local shock jocks Opie and Anthony reported that Boston mayor Thomas Menino had been killed in a car accident. Google's hoaxes.

April 1st RFC. "Uninventing the wheel" to counter the "EU ban" on right-hand drive cars. Marque-Wiper - mini-wipers for each exterior "BMW" logo coming as standard on all future models ,. SHEF ("Satellite Hypersensitive Electromagnetic Foodration") Technology, which sees the car's GPS systems synchronise with home appliances to perfectly cook a meal for the instant you return home ,.

IDS ("Insect Deflector Screen") Technology - using elastic solutions to bounce insects off the windscreen as you drive. MINI cars being used in upcoming space missions to Mars,. The "Toot and Calm Horn", which calms rather than aggravates other drivers, so reducing the risk of road rage,. Annual BMW Innovations see a new "cutting-edge invention" by BMW advertised across British newspapers every year , examples including: