Surfing the Net with Kids: April Fool’s Day

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April Fool’s Day

I have to fess up that I’ve never been much of April Fool’s prankster.
My son suggested that on April 1 I announce the end of my weekly column.
Gasp! Just the thought of it! Urgh! Nope, I can’t even pretend to quit.
But April foolery is all around us (including on the Net), so keep your
sense of humor about you, and be careful out there!

http://www.mcphee.com/store/fishstory.html

“Until the 16th century, the new year was celebrated at the advent of
spring, near April 1st. In 1584, when the Gregorian calendar was
introduced, King Charles IX of France ruled that New
Year’s Day be moved to January 1st. Some of Charles’ subjects refused to
adopt the new calendar, and continued to observe the new year around April
1st. Naturally, these individuals were the butt
of many jokes and taunting, and earned the name “Poisson d’Avril” (April
Fish) because at that time of year the sun was in the zodiac sign of
Pisces, the fish.”

http://www.discover.com/science_news/fool.html

Each spring, many otherwise straitlaced scientific journals “lighten up
by burying an April Fools story among the usual, more serious scholarship.
Beginning in 1994, Discover Magazine joined in this illustrious
tradition.” Would you be fooled by a story about the discovery of small
ice-melting mammals that prey on penguins in the Antarctic? How about the
use of a multi-ton building-size bellow to blow away Los Angeles smog? At
this April Fools site, you’ll find Discover’s archive of five hoaxes,
along with readers’ comments.

http://www.bluemountain.com/eng3/april/index.html

“Hello. We at Blue Mountain Sweepstakes would like to congratulate you
on being our million dollar grand prize winner!” Although I don’t think
they’ll actually fool anyone, these April Fools e-cards are fun and very
simple to send. If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with
BlueMountain.com’s huge selection of animated electronic greetings for all
occasions (uh oh – I totally missed National Pig Day on March 1), then
today is as good a day as any to jump into the electronic greeting card
frenzy.

http://curiocity.com/brainstorm/fool/fool2.html

“You don’t have to have a lot of time or money to come up with good
April Fool’s Day pranks. People have been proving that for a long time.
Some of the best ‘gotcha’ jokes are really just everyday tricks for
everyday people.” Freezone presents ten classic April Fools pranks
including salt in the sugar bowl , placing a “Pinch Me” sign on someone’s
back, and taping down the telephone hook switch so that the phone keeps
ringing even after the handset is lifted.

http://www.bhip.com/features/1comics.htm

“Hey, isn’t that Dogbert sitting next to Mommy in Family Circus ? Sure
enough, the canine has replaced Barfy. But only for the day. Remember: it’s
the Great April Fool’s Day Comics Switcheroonie.” A fun look at how
forty-six of the nation’s top syndicated cartoonists played a prank on all
of us by drawing each other’s newspaper strips on April 1, 1997.

Surfing the Calendar Ireland National Day St. Patrick’s Day Mar 17, 2000 Pocahontas’ Death Anniversary Mar 21, 1617 Harry Houdini’s Birthday Mar 24, 1874 April Fool’s Day April 1, 2000 Chats & Contests

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