April Fool’s Day 2026: History, Pranks, Jokes, and Hoaxes

In 2026, April Fool’s Day falls on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. It is an annual cultural observance held on April 1st in which participants play practical jokes, spread hoaxes, and perform harmless tricks on others.

April Fool’s Day is not a public holiday in any country. No banks close, no government offices shut, and no legal protections change on this date.

The day is observed across more than 30 countries, each with distinct local customs. In France, children tape paper fish to their backs. In Scotland, the tradition historically spanned two days.

In Brazil, the equivalent is called Dia da Mentira (“Day of the Lie”). In the United Kingdom, pranks are only considered valid before noon.

The True History and Origin of April Fool’s Day

The history of April Fool’s Day does not trace to a single confirmed event. Three primary theories exist: the Gregorian calendar reform, the Roman festival of Hilaria, and a disputed reading of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. No single source has been definitively established as the origin.

The Gregorian Calendar Theory

The most widely accepted explanation connects April Fool’s Day to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 16th-century France.

Prior to the reform, many European cultures celebrated the New Year around the spring equinox — often between March 25 and April 1, coinciding with the Julian calendar’s Annunciation Day (March 25) and its octave ending April 1.

In 1564, King Charles IX of France issued the Edict of Roussillon, officially moving the start of the new year to January 1.

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and gradually adopted across Catholic Europe.

Those who did not receive word of the change — or refused to accept it — continued to celebrate the new year in late March and early April. They became the target of jokes: paper fish were attached to their backs, and fake gifts were delivered on April 1. These individuals were called poisson d’avril — April fish.

Communication infrastructure in 16th-century France was limited to foot messengers and town criers. Rural populations, particularly those more than 100 kilometres from major cities, were sometimes the last to receive royal edicts. This communication lag created conditions for mockery of the uninformed.

Event	Date	Significance
Edict of Roussillon issued	1564	France officially moves New Year to January 1
Gregorian calendar introduced	1582	Pope Gregory XIII replaces Julian calendar
First confirmed written reference to April Fool’s Day	1508	French poem by Eloy d’Amerval references a “poisson d’avril”
First explicit English reference	1686	John Aubrey records “Fooles holy day” on April 1 in Britain
BBC Spaghetti Harvest broadcast	Wednesday, April 1, 1957	First major televised media hoax

The Roman Festival of Hilaria

Hilaria was an ancient Roman festival celebrated on March 25 in honour of the goddess Cybele. Participants dressed in disguises, mocked fellow citizens, and impersonated both ordinary people and magistrates.

The festival marked the resurrection of Attis, consort of Cybele, and aligned with the vernal equinox — a period Roman astrologers considered unpredictable.

The phrase complexion of the day was used to describe the equinox’s meteorological inconsistency: a morning could be sunny, an afternoon stormy, and an evening calm.

This unpredictability was metaphorically extended to the idea of being “fooled” by nature.

Hilaria bears structural similarities to April Fool’s Day — disguise, mockery, and seasonal timing — but no direct textual lineage connecting the two has been established by historians.

The Chaucer Connection

The Canterbury Tales (circa 1392) contains a passage in “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” that some historians interpret as a reference to April 1st.

The passage reads: “Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two” — which some scholars interpret as the 32nd day from the beginning of March, placing the date on April 1st. Others argue the line refers to May 2nd, making this interpretation contested.

The passage describes Chauntecleer, the rooster, being deceived by a fox, which frames the concept of fooling someone within a literary context.

Whether Chaucer intended a reference to April 1st as a recognized day of deception remains unresolved among medievalists.

Scotland’s Huntigowk and Tailie Day

Scotland historically observed April Fool’s Day across two days: April 1st (Huntigowk Day) and April 2nd (Tailie Day).

“Huntigowk” derives from the Scots phrase hunt the gowk — “gowk” meaning cuckoo, a bird associated with foolishness in Scottish folklore.

The prank involved sending a person on an errand with a sealed letter that, when delivered, instructed the recipient to send the bearer on yet another errand. The victim would travel between households, never receiving any real message.

Tailie Day involved pinning fake tails, paper signs, or “kick me” notes to the backs of unsuspecting individuals. This practice is widely recognised as the origin of the modern “kick me” sign prank.

The British Noon Rule

In the United Kingdom, a 20th-century tradition holds that all April Fool’s Day pranks must be executed before noon on April 1st. Any prank attempted after noon renders the prankster — not the target — the fool.

This rule appears in British newspapers as early as the early 1900s. The origin of the noon cutoff is not definitively documented, but one explanation ties it to the tradition of morning court jesters being dismissed by midday, after which their licence to mock expired.

April Fool’s Day Around the World

April Fool’s Day is observed across multiple continents with distinct customs rooted in local history.

How Different Countries Celebrate April Fool’s Day

Country	Local Name	Key Tradition	Unique Element
France	Poisson d’Avril	Taping paper fish to backs	Symbolic: “April fish” = naive young fish easy to catch
Scotland	Huntigowk / Tailie Day	Two-day observance	“Kick me” sign tradition originated here
United Kingdom	April Fools’ Day	Media hoaxes, workplace pranks	Pranks invalid after noon
Brazil	Dia da Mentira	False news stories, social hoaxes	Observed April 1, introduced via Portuguese colonisation
India	(No formal name)	Workplace and family pranks	Overlaps with Holi, the springtime festival of colours
Iran	Sizdah Bedar	Public pranks on 13th day of Persian New Year	Predates Western April Fool’s by centuries; falls late March to early April
Spain/Latin America	Día de los Inocentes	Fake news stories, practical jokes	Observed December 28th, not April 1st
Portugal	Sunday before Lent	Flour-throwing tradition	Distinct timing from rest of Europe

Is April Fool’s Day the Same as Día de los Inocentes?

No. These are two distinct observances. Día de los Inocentes is observed on December 28th in Spain and Latin America.

It commemorates the biblical massacre of the innocents by King Herod. Pranks and fake news stories are a traditional part of the day, but the cultural and religious context differs entirely from April 1st observances.

Is April Fool’s Day a Public Holiday?

April Fool’s Day is not a public holiday in any country. It carries no legal status.

It is not. Banks remain open. Courts operate. Schools hold classes. Government services continue without interruption.

Are SSI or Social Security Payments Affected on April Fool’s Day?

No. SSI and Social Security payments are never withheld, delayed, or cancelled in connection with April Fool’s Day.

When April 1st falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) may adjust the payment date to the preceding business day.

This scheduling adjustment is a standard administrative process and is unrelated to April Fool’s Day. The SSA publishes its benefit payment schedule annually at SSA.gov.

Best April Fool’s Day Pranks for 2026

The pranks below are organised by target audience.

Harmless April Fool’s Day Pranks (Safe for Everyone)

Harmless April Fool’s pranks are those that cause no physical harm, financial loss, or lasting emotional distress.

The following pranks require no tools beyond household items and can be set up in under 10 minutes.

Frozen cereal prank

1. Fill a bowl with cereal and milk the night before.
2. Place it in the freezer overnight.
3. Present it as a normal breakfast. The spoon will not penetrate the surface.

Autocorrect swap

1. Access the keyboard settings on the target’s phone (requires brief access).
2. Navigate to Text Replacement or Autocorrect settings.
3. Set common words — “the,” “and,” “okay” — to replace with nonsense phrases.
4. Restore original settings after the reveal.

Googly eyes in the fridge

1. Attach adhesive googly eyes to every item inside the refrigerator.
2. No food is damaged. Removal takes under 2 minutes.

Upside-down cup trick

1. Fill a cup with water.
2. Place a piece of cardboard over the top.
3. Flip the cup onto a flat surface and slide the cardboard out slowly.
4. The cup stays in place with the water trapped inside.

Voice assistant reprogramming

1. Rename a contact (e.g., “Mum”) to your own number in the target’s phone.
2. When they ask their assistant to call that person, it calls you.
3. Restore the contact after the call.

Safety constraints: None of the above causes property damage, involves substances, or creates physical risk. Pranks involving hazardous materials, property damage, or deception about a person’s health, relationships, or employment status are outside the scope of harmless pranks.

April Fool’s Day Pranks for Kids

These pranks are designed for children aged 5 to 12 and are suitable for home use without risk of adult supervision.

• Brown “E” box: Tell a child there are “brownies” in the box. Inside are cut-out paper letters spelling the letter “E” — brown “E”s.
• Fake spider in the bathroom: Place a realistic plastic spider inside a closed cabinet. Harmless, produces a brief startle, no lasting distress.
• Googly eyes on everything in the fridge: Achieves comic effect with zero mess or risk.
• Switched cereal boxes: Place the contents of one cereal box inside another’s packaging. The child pours the wrong cereal.
• “Broken” screen: Apply a cracked-screen wallpaper image to a tablet or phone screen. Remove the case first so the effect is convincing. Reveal immediately.

These pranks are not appropriate for children who have anxiety disorders, sensory sensitivities, or trauma responses to startle stimuli. Parental discretion applies.

April Fool’s Day Pranks for Parents

These are pranks children can execute on parents or caregivers with minimal preparation and no risk of property damage.

• Juice glass with a straw glued in: Set a full glass of “juice” on the breakfast table. The straw is glued to the glass — the liquid cannot be sipped.
• Googly eyes under the toilet seat lid: Harmless, visible only when the lid is lifted.
• Alarm clock moved forward: Advance a parent’s alarm by one hour. Works best on a non-work day to avoid genuine disruption.
• All clocks set 20 minutes fast: Creates minor confusion without consequences.
• Fake parking ticket: Print a convincing parking violation notice and place it under a windshield wiper. Reveal before the parent reads the fine.

April Fool’s Pranks at Work

The following pranks are structured to avoid HR violations, property damage, and reputational consequences.

Prank	Setup Time	Risk Level	Reversible?
Bubble wrap under desk mat	2 minutes	Low	Yes
Screensaver replaced with error message image	1 minute	Low	Yes
“Out of Order” sign on the coffee machine	30 seconds	Low	Yes
Autocorrect swap on shared keyboard	3 minutes	Low	Yes
Fake calendar invite for a meeting that doesn’t exist	5 minutes	Low	Yes
Office supplies encased in Jell-O	20 minutes	Medium	No — cleaning required
Stapler placed in Jell-O	20 minutes	Medium	No — cleaning required

What workplace pranks should not involve: impersonating HR or management, fake termination letters, fake health emergencies, pranks that target individuals based on protected characteristics, or anything that could trigger a genuine 000/999/911 response.

In 2019, Microsoft circulated an internal memo discouraging corporate April Fool’s Day pranks, citing the risk that staged announcements could be mistaken for real product news, potentially misleading investors and media.

April Fool’s Day Pranks for Teachers

Pranks teachers can pull on students:

• Announce a surprise test, distribute blank papers, then reveal the “test” is to write your name — that’s it, full marks.
• Write an intentional spelling error on the board. When students point it out, insist it is correct. Maintain the position for 5 minutes before revealing the prank.
• Announce that recess or a favourite class period has been cancelled. Reveal the prank within 60 seconds.
• Present a fake school rule change (e.g., “all students must now address teachers by first name”). Reveal immediately after the confusion registers.

Pranks students can pull on teachers:

• Cover the teacher’s computer mouse sensor with a small piece of tape (the cursor stops working).
• Replace the teacher’s whiteboard markers with dried-out ones — swap back after the reveal.
• Arrive at class wearing the same outfit as a prearranged group, all 10 students in identical colours.

Constraints: Pranks should not disrupt instructional time by more than 5 minutes, involve materials that require cleanup, or single out any student for unwanted attention.

April Fool’s Day Pranks Over Text

Text-based pranks are an identified content gap in the April Fool’s Day category, with dedicated content underserved relative to search volume.

These pranks work for long-distance families, remote work teams, and situations where physical access to a target is not possible.

• Fake autocorrect conversation screenshot: Create a convincing screenshot of an autocorrect substituting absurd words, then send it as if it “accidentally happened.”
• Rename yourself in their contacts: Change your own contact name on someone’s phone to a celebrity, public figure, or confusing alias before sending a message.
• Send a chain of one-word texts: Space them out over 10 minutes — “I,” then “have,” then “something,” then “to,” then “tell,” then “you” — then reveal nothing of consequence.
• Fake “wrong number” scenario: Text as if you have reached the wrong number and are conducting increasingly absurd business.
• Group chat name change: Rename a family or friend group chat to something absurd. Restore after the reaction.

Funny April Fool’s Day Jokes for 2026

Best April Fool’s Day Jokes (One-Liners)

These jokes are structured as Q&A pairs, suitable for use in messages, classroom settings, or workplace communications.

• Q: Why was everyone so tired on April 1st? A: Because they had just completed a 31-day March.
• Q: What do you call a hammer bought on April 1st? A: An April tool.
• Q: What’s the best day to buy something from a liar? A: April Fools’ Day — at least the deception is scheduled.
• Q: Why do eggs tell bad jokes on April 1st? A: They like to crack each other up.
• Q: What did April say to March after April Fool’s Day? A: “You’ve been had.”
• Q: What’s a prankster’s favourite room? A: The living room — it’s the last place anyone looks for a whoopee cushion.
• Q: Why can’t you tell a joke to a bubble on April 1st? A: It might pop before the punchline.

April Fool’s Day Jokes for Kids (Ages 5–12)

These are age-appropriate and school-safe:

• Q: Why did the bicycle fall over on April 1st? A: It was two-tiered.
• Q: What did the ocean say to the beach on April 1st? A: Nothing — it just waved.
• Q: Why did the student eat his homework on April 1st? A: The teacher told him it was a piece of cake.
• Q: How do you make an octopus laugh on April Fool’s Day? A: With ten tickles.
• Q: Why did the math book look so confused on April 1st? A: It had too many problems.

April Fool’s Day Jokes for Work

These are appropriate for Slack messages, email footers, or meeting openers:

• Q: Why did the IT department celebrate April 1st? A: It was the one day they could say “have you tried turning it off and on again?” without consequence.
• Q: What’s the most believable April Fool’s joke at work? A: The printer is working fine.
• Q: Why did the project manager get confused on April 1st? A: Someone told him the deadline had been moved back.

April Fool’s Day Food Pranks and Recipes

April Fool’s Day Breakfast Pranks

These breakfast pranks are edible, require no hazardous materials, and involve standard kitchen equipment.

Mashed potato “ice cream” scoops

1. Prepare standard mashed potatoes — no butter or cream, to avoid a greasy surface.
2. Use an ice cream scoop to form portions into a cone or bowl.
3. Add a chocolate sauce drizzle (or brown gravy, which reads as chocolate from a distance).
4. Serve immediately before the steam gives it away.

Jell-O “juice”:

1. Prepare Jell-O in orange, apple, or grape flavour at half the recommended water ratio for a firmer set.
2. Pour into drinking glasses. Insert straws before the Jell-O sets completely.
3. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Present as a normal glass of juice. The straw will not function.

Frozen cereal

1. Prepare a normal bowl of cereal with milk the evening before.
2. Place in the freezer on a level surface overnight.
3. Present as a standard breakfast. The spoon will deflect off the surface.

Candy “fried eggs”

1. Melt white chocolate and pour into circular mounds on baking paper.
2. Place a yellow candy (such as a Starburst or yellow M&M) in the centre while still liquid.
3. Allow to set fully.
4. Present on a plate as fried eggs.

April Fool’s Day Dinner and Dessert Pranks

Meatloaf “birthday cake”:

1. Shape standard meatloaf batter into a two-layer cake form using round cake tins.
2. Frost with mashed potato “icing” — pipe it through a pastry bag for a convincing finish.
3. Add ketchup “candles” or vegetable decorations.
4. Present as a celebration cake.

Dirt and worms dessert:

1. Fill clear cups with chocolate pudding.
2. Top with crushed chocolate biscuit crumbs (simulating soil).
3. Insert gummy worms so they protrude from the surface.
4. Serve with a small garden trowel or plastic spoon.

Grilled cheese “pound cake”:

1. Slice the pound cake into thick pieces roughly matching the sandwich bread dimensions.
2. Spread yellow frosting between slices and on the outer faces.
3. Toast briefly in a dry pan to add surface browning and a convincing finish.
4. Serve on a plate. It appears to be a grilled cheese sandwich.

The Greatest April Fool’s Day Pranks of All Time

Legendary Media Hoaxes

The BBC Spaghetti Harvest (Wednesday, April 1, 1957) is the most documented media hoax in April Fool’s Day history.

The BBC’s Panorama programme broadcast a 3-minute segment showing Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees in the canton of Ticino.

The segment was narrated by Richard Dimbleby and presented in the deadpan documentary style standard to Panorama.

The BBC received hundreds of telephone calls from viewers asking where they could buy spaghetti plants. The standard response given by operators was: “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

The segment is significant because it demonstrated — for the first time on television — that audiences could be deceived by a credible presenter and institutional trust alone.

Year	Brand/Media Outlet	Prank	Outcome
Wednesday, April 1, 1957	BBC Panorama	Swiss spaghetti harvest segment	Hundreds of viewer calls asking to buy spaghetti plants
Saturday, April 1, 1978	The Guardian	7-page supplement on the island nation of “San Serriffe”	Readers called travel agents seeking flights
Wednesday, April 1, 1992	National Public Radio (NPR)	Announced Richard Nixon was running for president again	Listener panic; NPR received hundreds of calls
Wednesday, April 1, 1998	Burger King	Full-page USA Today ad for a “Left-Handed Whopper”	Thousands of customers requested the item in stores
Wednesday, April 1, 1998	Taco Bell	Full-page ad claiming purchase of the Liberty Bell	White House received calls asking if the sale was real
Monday, April 1, 2002	Google	“MentalPlex” search technology — read minds	First of Google’s annual April Fool’s campaigns

Best Brand April Fool’s Day Campaigns and the Ethics of Corporate Pranking

The most successful corporate April Fool’s Day campaigns share three structural features: plausibility, rapid reveal, and no financial or reputational consequence for the audience.

The Voltswagen incident (2021) illustrates the risk when a brand prank lacks a clear reveal mechanism. Volkswagen of America issued a press release on Monday, March 29, 2021 — three days before April 1st — announcing the company was rebranding its US operations to “Voltswagen” to signal its electric vehicle transition.

Multiple major news outlets, including Reuters, CNBC, and the Associated Press, reported the story as factual. Volkswagen confirmed the announcement to journalists before reversing course and acknowledging the stunt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated the incident. Volkswagen’s stock experienced abnormal trading volume between the announcement and the retraction.

No formal enforcement action was taken, but the episode established that brand April Fool’s pranks issued before April 1st, without clear satirical framing, carry legal and reputational risk.

In 2019, Microsoft circulated an internal memo encouraging employees to avoid April Fool’s Day product announcements, noting that fake features often confused customers and forced support teams to field calls about non-existent products.

What distinguishes a successful brand’s April Fool’s campaign from a damaging one:

• Successful: Prank is clearly labelled or self-evidently absurd; released on April 1st itself; no commercial transaction is implied; no third-party reporting is required to amplify the joke.
• Damaging: Prank requires news outlets to spread it; contains financial or product claims that affect stock price; is released days before April 1st; cannot be immediately identified as satire without context.

April Fool’s Day Activities for Kids, Schools, and Classrooms

April Fool’s Day Activities for Kids (Ages 3–12)

These activities are non-prank alternatives for younger children who may not yet understand the difference between a joke and deception.

• Googly eye scavenger hunt: Hide googly eyes around the house. Children find them and attach them to objects of their choosing.
• Silly hat parade: Each child or family member constructs a hat from newspaper, tape, and household materials. Judged for absurdity, not aesthetics.
• Joke-telling contest: Each participant delivers a memorised joke. A panel of 2–3 family members rates on a scale of 1 to 5. The winner receives a small prize.
• Backwards day: Wear clothing backwards, eat dessert before dinner, say goodbye when arriving, and hello when leaving.

April Fool’s Day for the Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide

April Fool’s Day can support media literacy and critical thinking skills when integrated into classroom activities.

Activity	Subject Area	Age Range	Learning Outcome
“Real or Fake?” headline analysis	Media Literacy	Ages 10–14	Identifying credible sources
April Fool’s Day history reading comprehension	History / ELA	Ages 9–13	Timeline sequencing, cause and effect
Prank ethics debate	Social Studies / Ethics	Ages 11–16	Consent, boundaries, social responsibility
Write-your-own April Fool’s news story	Creative Writing / ELA	Ages 8–14	Persuasive writing, narrative structure
April Fool’s Day word origins worksheet	English Language Arts	Ages 7–11	Etymology, vocabulary

Recommended read-aloud titles for classroom use:

• April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman (Ages 4–8)
• The April Fool’s Day Mystery by Marion M. Markham (Ages 7–10)

April Fool’s Day Homeschool Activities

Homeschool-appropriate activities that combine instructional value with seasonal humour:

• Calendar history project: Students research the Edict of Roussillon (1564) and the Gregorian calendar reform (1582) and build a timeline showing how these events may have contributed to the April Fool’s Day tradition.
• Prank science experiment: Set up the frozen cereal prank as a demonstration of the freezing point of a milk-cereal mixture. Record temperature, wait time, and results.
• Fiction vs. fact media exercise: Pull three historical April Fool’s Day hoaxes (BBC Spaghetti Harvest, NPR Nixon announcement, San Serriffe) and have students identify the signals that indicate each was fabricated.
• Writing exercise: Students write a “fake news article” in the style of April 1st media hoaxes, then exchange with a peer who must identify the false claims.

April Fool’s Day Activities for Seniors

These activities are designed for senior centres, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes:

• “Fooling the Staff” joke preparation: Residents prepare and deliver one joke each to a staff member. Staff respond in kind. Social bonding, low exertion, high engagement.
• “Real or Fake?” historical trivia: Present famous April Fool’s Day hoaxes alongside real historical events. Residents vote on which is true. Discussion follows.
• Old newspapers from April 1st: Source archived front pages from past April 1st editions. Residents discuss what they remember from those years.
• Silly hat or costume contest: Low-mobility friendly. Accessories are brought to residents; they assemble a costume from provided items.

These activities do not involve startling stimuli, physical movement beyond seated activity, or any form of deception that could confuse residents with cognitive impairment.

April Fool’s Day Quotes and Greetings

Funny April Fool’s Day Quotes

These are original quotes. Do not attribute them to named individuals unless the attribution is verified.

• “A fool thinks himself wise; a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare, As You Like It
• “The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” — Mark Twain
• “Even the most cunning person can be made a fool of on April 1st — the calendar is the great equaliser.”
• “The best pranks require more preparation than the target will ever know.”

April Fool’s Day Wishes and Messages

These are suitable for text messages, social captions, and greeting cards.

• “Wishing you a day full of laughs — and the wisdom to check your chair before sitting down.”
• “Hope April 1st treats you well. I make no promises about myself.”
• “Happy April Fool’s Day. Everything I say today is technically deniable.”
• “May your pranks be harmless and your reveals well-timed.”
• “Warning: I have been preparing for this day since February.”

April Fool’s Day 2026: What to Expect

April 1, 2026, falls on a Wednesday, placing it mid-week. Mid-week timing historically increases workplace prank activity, as participants are present in office environments rather than dispersed over a weekend.

2026 Prank Trends

Three emerging formats are shaping April Fool’s Day content and campaigns in 2026:

AI voice and deepfake pranks

AI voice cloning tools have become accessible to general consumers as of 2025. Several services allow users to generate short audio clips mimicking a known voice with minimal input.

The ethical constraints are significant: using a cloned voice to deceive someone about a health emergency, financial situation, or relationship status crosses the boundary from prank into fraud.

The most defensible use is clearly absurdist content — a cloned voice announcing an implausible scenario — where no reasonable person would be materially misled.

Social media-first pranks

TikTok and Instagram Stories formats have shifted prank structure toward short-form video with a visible “reveal” moment built into the same piece of content.

The 2026 format relies on the reveal being as shareable as the prank itself. Pranks that do not resolve — where the audience never sees the victim’s reaction or the reveal — perform 40–60% lower in engagement metrics than those with a complete arc, based on platform data reported by social media analytics firms.

Brand campaign transparency

Following the Voltswagen precedent, brands in 2026 are more likely to label April Fool’s Day content explicitly rather than allow it to be misreported as real news.

Common methods include watermarked “April 1st Only” headers, countdown timers, and immediate same-day retraction mechanisms built into the original post.

April Fool’s Day FAQ