April Fool’s Day is on the first of April every year. It is a day when people can play tricks, practical jokes and hoaxes on each other. No one really knows the exact origin of this day. The writer Mark Twain famously said: “This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four days.” In some countries, you have until noon to play your jokes. If you play a trick on someone after midday, you are the April Fool. In other countries, April Fool’s Day lasts the whole day. On this day, you never know what or who to believe. Even newspapers and television stations play April Fool’s jokes on their readers and viewers. Sometimes people actually think the real news is an April Fool’s joke.

Some of the most famous April Fool’s jokes are quite amazing. My favourite happened in 1957. The BBC showed a documentary of people in Switzerland cutting spaghetti from spaghetti trees. Lots of people contacted the BBC asking how they could grow their own spaghetti trees! Another good one was the “left-handed burger” advertised by Burger King on April 1st, 1998. They said all of the juice would drip out of the right hand side of the burger. Many customers asked the Burger King staff for the traditional right-handed burger. Other classic jokes include the BBC’s 1965 news of “Smell-o-vision” and Google’s 2008 invitation for people to apply to be astronauts to live on the website’s new base on Mars. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything!

http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/04/april_fools_day....

* What are some tricks people play on April Fool's Day?
* What is the background of this day?
* Do you have the same tradition in your country?
* Do you play tricks on April 1st?
* What sort of tricks do you play?
* Have you ever tried fooling your family on April Fool's Day?
* Do you always look forward to April Fool's Day?

http://iteslj.org/questions/aprilfools.html

The Funny American Laws

Alabama:
1) Peanuts are not allowed to be sold in Lee County, Alabama after sunset on Wednesdays.
2) You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.
Alaska:
1. Kangaroos are not allowed in barber shops at any time.
California:
1. Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water.
2. It is illegal to eat an orange in your bath tub
Colorado:
1. It is illegal for a woman wearing a red dress to be out on the streets after 7 p.m.
2. It is illegal to drive a black car on Sunday in Denver.
Connecticut:
1. You are not allowed to walk across a street on your hands.
Florida:
1. Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.
2. In Miami, it is forbidden to imitate an animal.
3. In Miami it is illegal to park your elephant on 8th Street on Sundays after 1pm.
Hawaii:
1. In Hawaii you will be fined if you do not own a boat.
Illinois:
It is illegal to eat in a restaurant if it is on fire.
1. The English language is not to be spoken.
2. City Laws in Illinois:
1. Chicago
1. It is illegal to give a dog whiskey.
2. It is forbidden to fish while sitting on a giraffe's neck.
2. Evanston
1. Bowling is forbidden.
2. It is unlawful to change clothes in an automobile with the curtains drawn, except in case of fire.

3. Galesburg
1. There is a $1,000 dollar fine for beating rats with baseball bats.
4. Kirkland
Bees are not allowed to fly over the village or through any of Kirkland's streets.
Indiana:
1. In South Bend, Indiana, it is illegal to make a monkey smoke a cigarette.
Iowa:
1. Kisses may last for as much as, but no more than, five minutes.
2. A man with a moustache may never kiss a woman in public.
3. Within the city limits of Ottumwa a man may not wink at any woman he does not know.
Kansas:
1. It is illegal to put ice cream on cherry pie
Kentucky:
1. By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground".
2. A woman can not buy a hat without the husband's permission
Louisana:
1. It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.
2. Biting someone with your natural teeth is "simple assault", while biting someone with your false teeth is "aggravated assault".
Michigan:
1. A woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.
South Carolina
1. It is legal to beat your wife on a Sunday morning on the steps of the state house.
Tennessee:
1. It's illegal for frogs to croak after 11 p.m.

An Illinois man left the snowballed streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail.
Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter, and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor dead.
At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
Your Loving Husband.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.