April Fools Day, April 1st

April Fools Day

My dad's birthday is April Fools Day. (My mom's birthday is Washington's Birthday, and one of my brother's birthday is Columbus Day, and another brother's birthday is intermittently on Mother's Day, which is probably why I am so interested in holidays, but I digress.) I love April Fools Day, and most of all I love April Fools jokes from the media.

One year when I was in Oregon to celebrate my Dad's birthday and, I think, Easter, there was a radio broadcast stating that Oregon had passed a new law that required all pets, including cats and ferrets, to wear car harnesses. According to the broadcast, any violation would receive a citation and a fine. The broadcast went on for quite a long time, and the funniest part of the prank was the amazing number of callers who called in completely outraged by the "new law." But, to be fair, I believed it, and argued with my Dad about the merits of the new law for at least five minutes.

The British really know how to celebrate April Fools. The Guardian (a newspaper) published on April 1, 1977 a seven page article about the republic of San Serriffe, located in the Indian Ocean and consisting of two semi-colon-shaped islands named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. This became a running joke at the Guardian, who has published follow up articles on April Fools Day in 1978, 1980, and 1999.

Another British AF's joke, which I'm sure that you have read about, was the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest. If you haven't seen it already, you should watch it on BBC's On This Day.

If you want to read about the top 100 April Fools Day hoaxes from around the world, you should read about them here. They really are quite funny.

For April Fools 2007, we have several hoaxes floating about the internet.

1. From Google, the best April Fools Day search engine, we can get Free Wireless Internet, and don't forget the page that tells you how to install.

2. And again from Google, Gmail Paper, and

3. we can read about No Privacy Anymore, or

4. where to go to get a Tattoo for Your Toddler

Happy April Fools Day!