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Resistance is futile....prepare to assimilate the planet's best gags, college pranks, practical jokes, hoaxes, and general foolishness in celebration of April 1 .... April Fool's Day.

April Fools Day History

Modern April Fools Day got its start during the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia (in honor of the god Saturn) when all class distinctions were abolished and slaves and their masters switched roles - temporarily, at least. Chaos ruled the day around the time of the spring equinox, which also marked the first day of the New Year under the ancient Julian calendar.

By the Middle Ages, Europeans retained the old Roman taste for a good time. So every spring, a Lord of Misrule, or King of Fools, was elected in towns & cities across Europe to celebrate.

Hundreds of years went by, and the practice was still being commemorated in Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame with its main character, Quasi Modo, performing as the King of Fools. Centuries later, a fairly hilarious look at gags that were popular in the 19th century was published under the title of April Fools and Other Fools.

Today, the tradition continues with gag gifts, dorm pranks, practical jokes and hoaxes being sprung on unsuspecting friends, office workers & family members on April 1 — with even otherwise august organizations like the BBC and Google having gotten into the act.

On the Web, discover more about the day and its origins, (along with more modern practical applications) with our look at April Fools Day...

More about April Fools Day jokes & pranks around the Web:

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time - Like it says, with an excellent round-up of all-time classics including The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, Burger King's Left Handed Whopper, Illegal Drunk Driving on the Internet. And more from the Museum of Hoaxes, including The Top Ten College Pranks of All Time.

The Fools Day - Check out great ideas for hoaxes, pranks and jokes in the office or for the entire family! Plus related trivia, history, quotes, funny party ideas and April Fools Day recipes.

The Pranksters Guide to Practical Jokes - Classic college dorm pranks with descriptions, including information on equipment required, proper execution, and related advice. Scroll down for "The Wet Towel," and "Powdery Stuff Under the Room Door" instructons.

Prank-O-Matic - More & more notorious college dorm pranks submitted by visitors.

TheFreeSite.com: April Fools' Day Freebies - Freeware programs for installing on unsuspecting victims' office workers to various effects - fake system crashes, or making it appear their hard drive is being cleaned & reformatted - and , the Fart Machine. Plus other heartlessly cruel and funny jokes with related links to April Fools clipart and e-cards.

April Fools on the net - No animals were harmed in the making of this Web page... with an archive of some of the funniest e-mail hoaxes ever written (and believed) including Microsoft Buys the Vatican, the JPEG virus, and dozens more dating back to 1994.

Urgo's List of April Fools Jokes on Websites - The best and worst of practical jokes pulled on unsuspecting visitors around the Web.

Care2 Animated April Fools Day Cards - One of our favorite animated e-card sites and their April Fools page is the cat's meow - in fact, also check out the crawling ants and flying pigs. The singing elephant takes the cake ...

April Fools R Us - Well-written and on-target stories too good not to be believed, along with true tales of foolishness, practical jokes and pranks from contributors, related links and an online store of gag gifts.

also see -> Teen Humor | Weird Web | Internet Hoaxes