April Fool's Day History
The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1. These people were labeled "fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands," sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a "poisson d'avril" or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.
This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way.
In Scotland, for instance, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts of these jokes are known as April 'Gowk', another name for cuckoo bird. The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance.
In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered back luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.
In Rome, the holiday is known as Festival of Hilaria, celebrating the resurrection of the god Attis, is on March 25 and is also referred to as "Roman Laughing Day."
In Portugal, April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday before lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their friends.
The Huli Festival is celebrated on March 31 in India. People play jokes on one another and smear colors on one another celebrating the arrival of Spring.
So, no matter where you happen to be in the world on April 1, don't be surprised if April fools fall playfully upon you. Famous & Funny April Fools Practical Jokes
Year 2007
Buy Cloned Celebrity Parts
Okay, so you and your spouse have already had liposuction, facelifts, tummy tucks, butt lifts, chin implants and what not.
And, it is assumed you also bought someone else's sperm and used someone else's egg to conceive "your" child.
Well, if this is true, then you may just want to follow the next logical step and buy cloned celebrity parts. If you want to live life like a rock star and be as famous as a movie star, then why not incorporate some movie start parts into your own body. Hey, modern science rocks, ya know! Swinging Dead Cats in Vogue in Kazakhstan
In an attempt to Westernize yet put their own flavor on things, the Russian Republic of Kazakhstan has replaced the Hammer throw with the Dead Cat Toss. Though the translation is not spot on, the idea behind the dead cat toss is the same as the hammer throw: distance.
Participants swing a dead cat
Participants wind up, with cat in hand and fling the dead animal as far as they can without going over the line. This competition started in the farming regions outside of Astana and then eventually migrated into the suburban setting.
According to Kazakhstan farmer Boris Gabovski, "In the country there are many dead cats to be found. So, we just fling them. We had no idea that this would catch on in a sport." Apparently, it has since the Kazakhstan Dead Cat Tossing team made their way to Anaheim, California recently to show off the finer points to interested suburban Americans (in photo). Britney Spears and American Idol's Sanjaya Malakar Marry
Britney Spears and Sanjaya Malakar from American Idol married in a secret wedding today. At the Little Chapel in Las Vegas the two tied the knot with two of the Idol judges in attendance.
Apparently Simon Cowell, who has had a crush on Britney for years, bailed from attending at the last moment. Britney and Sanjaya because attracted to one another when other industry insiders decided their vocal talent was exactly the same and paired the two together in a fantasy tabloid dating game.
The lovely couple has decided that all of their children will also be named Sanjaya and they will all grow up to have drug dependency problems as well. McDonald's Microsoft Merger
The McDonald's and Microsoft merger is now inevitable. The two giant conglomerates that have taken over the world have decided to merge to further their dominion over the universe. The new company McSoft, Inc. will have a huge legal department and obscene amounts of extra money.
The McSoft merger will mean that people will become even more overly dependent upon their products than they already are. In fact, the evil master plan is for people to never leave their computers as fast food will be delivered to them and charge to their credit cards whenever the Microsoft Wifi Hungerscan sensing the user needs a meal. What do you think? Hey, Supersize this, pal! Google Copernicus Hiring
Google Copernicus is looking for and hiring qualified employees who don't mind relocating to the Moon. The extraterrestrial adventure will be a bonus for anyone's resume and quite a quantum leap for mankind as well.
The otherworldly search experiments dubbed HiDeHiDeHo will provide a unique opportunity to go where no search engine algorithm has gone before. Friends and relatives will be able to keep track of the new hires by using the Google Moon application to track their movements upon this rotating rock.
New applicants are invited to shoot for the stars on this one. And, if they come up short, hey, there's always the Moon.
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