Since time immemorial, European newspapers, public relations firms and even government agencies have taken part in that most silly of traditions: April Fools jokes.

Media organizations have a particularly amusing history of freaking people out with their zany, but weirdly believable, stories. Among the most infamous was the 1957 "spaghetti harvest" gag, in which the BBC broadcast a report about spaghetti crops in Italy, prompting the organization to be bombarded with calls from readers wanting their very own spaghetti bushes.

Nothing this year can compete, but several attempts came close. Behold, a selection of the best gags of April Fools' Day, 2011:

Ronaldo Sold to Spain?

According to Britain's Independent newspaper , Portugal's Finance Ministry has come up with a novel way to prevent the country's impending economic collapse: Sell Ronaldo to Spain. The world famous soccer star was said to support the €160 million ($226 million) deal, seeing how he is a "patriot," the newspaper reported. The article's authors were, of course, sure to throw in a British connection. Englanders are supposedly also mulling how to secure Ronaldo's services, likely by offering an even bigger payout than the Spaniards.

Ryanair Offers Child-Free Flights

The bargain-basement Irish airiline Ryanair shot out a press release  advertising "child free" flights starting in October. It claimed a survey of 1,000 people showed that more than half of passengers would gladly pay more to avoid other people's kids. The fake survey also determined that 36 percent of those surveyed have had flights "ruined" by loud children and 50 percent complained that parents expected special treatment because of their children.

A New Girlfriend Who Looks Like Your Old One!

The German fashion website stylight.de is not exactly an international trendsetter. But it announced an innovative new web match-making concept on Friday. The new site, allegedly called myGirlFinder.de, allows you to upload a photo of your ex-girlfriend before, seconds later, spitting out possible matches from dozens of the largest online dating sites, all of them chosen to resemble your previous partner.

"It is no secret that men tend to stay loyal to a certain type of woman," said stylight head Benjamin Günther. "After the first test runs, we were astounded ourselves at how well this new technology works! Some of the test subjects were unable to tell the women who came up in their search results apart from their ex girlfriend."

European Commission to Generate Electricity in Gyms

Herbert Reul, a German member of the European Parliament, detailed a spoof proposal to generate electricity from health clubs, claiming that lots of energy could be harvested from people riding stationary bikes. Beginning in 2012, he claimed all gyms in the European Union would be powered by customer-produced energy. One of his ideas was offering lower membership fees to those who produce more energy.

South American Indians to Get Potato Money

In a breathless press release, the human rights organization Survival International said that indigenous South Americans would receive 1 percent of worldwide potato sales  after a United Nations ruling.

Though the release was tongue in cheek, it made the point that tribal peoples have played a big role in developing food for Western world's diets. It also took shots at ranchers, loggers and oil companies who the organization says have taken land from natives.