The History of April Fools’ Day
The origin of April Fools' Day is not altogether clear, though the French and Dutch have descriptions of April-fooling dating back to the sixteenth century. New Year's Day was originally on the first of April before the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582. In France, anyone who disliked or did not hear about the change was sent mock presents on the first of April. This is according to Wikipedia; I'm not pulling anyone's leg!

The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.

A Poem for April Fools' Day

There aren’t any clubs this week, but Marcin will be doing a lecture on the Kama Sutra this Friday. Ask the man himself for more information.

The Adventures of Bobby Callan #25

Bobby and Miss Brown were running down the street; they were being chased by several crapulous (drunk) men wearing afros and shouting insults. ‘Bobby Callan is gay!’ one of them shouted. Bobby was angered by this and he stopped running.
‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’ Miss Brown asked.
‘If someone says things about you which are not true, do you think it’s better to defend yourself or keep quiet?’
‘Well, if your life is in danger; I think it’s better just to run!’
Bobby turned to face the men; there were six of them. Miss Brown was standing behind him shaking with fear. One of the men stepped forward. He had the letters “MT” written on his T-shirt; Bobby wondered what they meant.
‘You’re a dead man, Bobby Callan!’ the man said, pointing his finger threateningly at him.
‘How do you know my name?’ Bobby asked.
Then Bobby noticed that one of them was carrying (not wearing) the magic atlas; it was not on his body, therefore he was carrying it. Inside was written “property of Bobby Callan”.
‘Give me back my magic atlas!’ Bobby demanded.
‘What does “give back” mean?’ the man asked.
‘It means “to return”’ he replied.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Mr Brown appeared.
‘Dad!’ Miss Brown said, surprised; ‘what are you doing here?’
‘No time for explanations,’ he said and began to attack the men. They stood and watched in amazement as Mr Brown defeated each of the six men with a combination of tai-chi and origami; it was quite a show. The man holding the atlas dropped it and ran away crying.
‘How did you get here?’ Bobby asked Mr Brown afterwards.
‘It was purely a snap decision by the writer; he thought it would be a nice addition to episode twenty-five.’
And a nice addition it was, too, as Mr Brown had saved them from certain death. Bobby would prefer to take poison or to be shot rather than to be beaten to death by six men wearing afros.
At five o’clock, Bobby and the Browns were sitting in a café drinking tea and eating a light meal consisting of ham, bread, and interrogative pronouns. Bobby was glad to have his magic atlas back, but was annoyed that some of the pages were missing.
Mr Brown insisted on taking his daughter back to Grantchester with him. After much debate, he gave Bobby an ultimatum: marry his daughter or be arrested for kidnapping. Naturally, Bobby chose the former of his options; besides he had grown quite attached to the eighteen-year-old Callan book star. Bobby was ten years her senior but it didn’t matter to her; she was infatuated with the globe-trotting gadabout, Callan teacher extraordinaire.
‘Can a man in Europe have two wives?’ he asked Mr Brown.
‘Certainly not!’ he replied angrily.

They decided to have the wedding in Thailand and, with the help of the magic atlas, the three of them soon found themselves on a beautiful sandy beach in south-east Asia.