A Fool For April

As an April Fool's joke, I crazy glued all Linda's footwear to the floor.  It was funny when she got out of bed, stepped into her slippers and tried to walk.  Funny to me, at least.  I tell you, some females have no sense of humor.

One of the best pranksters in history was King Henry the VIII of England. Henry used to pull the same prank on his wives every April 1st.  He would feign an argument with his spouse and then call for her beheading.  The guards would escort the Queen to the chopping block.  Crowds would gather, a priest was called in to take the Queen's last confession, and a hooded executioner would bend the women down with her head placed securely on the chopping block.  Her hair would be carefully pushed up revealing her neck and the executioner would pose with his ax poised for action.  The Queen would be in shock at what was happening, tears streaming down her face, unable to see how a disagreement about what to have for lunch could escalate into a death sentence.  She would utter weak words begging for forgiveness from Henry who would be standing in her sight holding a closed fist straight out.  He would suddenly indicate down with his thumb and pump his fist a couple quick strokes.  The executioners ax would come down with all the force he could muster.  The ax would hit the block inches away from the Queen's neck, and Henry would burst out laughing proclaiming "April's Fool."  The crowd would all join in the laughter as the Queen would rise to her feet, shaken but unharmed.  Of course, when it wasn't April 1st and the same situation arose, Henry would become a widower.  You can't expect him to keep his sense of humor year round.

An April Fool's joke cost one person the Presidency.  Richard Nixon used to pull April Fool's jokes on his staff when he was president.  He would have anchovy ice cream made by his kitchen chef. An extremely revolting concoction.  He then would put the ice cream and cones on a cart, and push it around to all the offices in the White House giving scoops on top of cones to his staff.  He would be eating a cone with "Rocky Road" which looked just like the anchovy ice cream.  He would stay and talk to his people telling them how good the ice cream is and asking for their agreement.  Spiro Agnew would eat the entire cone saying what a excellent choice the President has made.  Agnew was a brown noser.  Most staffers would only take one or two licks and let the rest melt down over their hands while Nixon chatted on.  The exception was John Mitchell.  He spit out the first lick and threw the cone to floor like it was a venomous snake.  He was so offended by the gag that he left the office of Attorney General and took on heading the Committee to re-elect the President. He planned revenge by sabotaging Nixon with the Watergate burglary.  Unfortunately for Mitchell, his plan backfired and he ended up going to prison whereas Nixon never served a day in jail.  Although, to Mitchell's pleasure, Nixon did have to resign from office.  Nixon's ice cream gag also won him the nickname Tricky Dick.

In 2001 on April 1st, the Netherlands become the 1st country to legalize same sex marriage.  This is true.  I don't know if it was intended to be a joke or not.  I just find it fascinating for such an occasion to take place on April Fool's Day.

That's all I got for now.