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April Fools Day
This page
has now taken complete control of your computer.
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: A Semi-Serious 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
by Victor Hugo's character, Quasi Modo, as the King
of Fools in Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Centuries
later, a fairly hilarious look at gags popular the 19th century
was included in April
Fools and Other Fools, published in 1881.
April
Fools Day on the Web
Today,
the tradition continues with gag gifts, dorm pranks, practical
jokes and hoaxes being sprung on unsuspecting friends &
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...
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 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, equipment required, 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' computers 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.
Celebrated
Holidays in the U.S. - April Fools Day - A good read
about the history of the day including everything from medieval
France to American college dorm pranks, courtesy of (no joke)
the U.S.Embassy office in Stockholm, Sweden.
also
see -> Teen
Humor | Weird
Web | Internet
Hoaxes
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