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Friday, April 1, 2022
Volume 18 • Issue No. 13
Behind the Jokes of April Fools’ Day NATIONWIDE Pranks, practical jokes, and various goofs abound at the start of April, when celebrants around the world mark April Fools’ Day — a tradition that dates back several centuries. Even though April Fools’ Day, also known as All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for centuries, no one is completely sure of its exact origins. According to History.com, many historians speculate that April Fool’s Day traces its origins to the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one in 1582. At this point, the start of
the new year had been moved to January 1 from the last week of March. Those who were slow to get the news still celebrated the new year from late March into April and became the object of
pranks as a result. One of the more notable pranks included having a paper fish placed on the backs of unsuspecting individuals and being referred to as poisson d’avril (April fish). This symbol-
ized a young, easily fooled, or hooked fish. During the 1700s, April Fools’ Day spread northward throughout areas of Britain. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event. One feature was sending people on phony errands called “hunting the gowk.” Gowk refers to the cuckoo bird, which often has been used as a symbol for fools. Tallie Day followed, which included pranks like pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on unsuspecting people. The earliest mass April Fools’ Day hoax on record occurred in 1698, according to Alex
Boese, curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. “People in London were told to go see the annual ceremony of the washing of the lions at the Tower of London,” said Boese. “They showed up at the Tower of London, but there was no annual lion-washing ceremony.” Mass media later became a prime vehicle for some April tomfoolery. In 1957, the BBC told viewers there was a great spaghetti crop in Switzerland that year due to the disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, and people of Britain, who were largely unfamiliar with spaghetti at the time, believed it. Faux advertisements, See FOOLS page 16 . . .
El-Badry Invites All to “Dance for Ukraine” KITTERY Nina El-Badry and her parents immigrated from Moscow, Russia, many years ago and currently reside in Kittery. She recently founded Fluere, a Latin dance company currently in its second season. The company will be holding a “Dance for Ukraine” benefit on April 9, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Spinnaker Point Recreation Center, 30 Spinnaker Way, Portsmouth, NH. The event will feature be-
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ginner-friendly classes in various styles of dance such as zumba, salsa, bachata, and kizomba. No dance experience or partner is necessary. All classes will be taught by El-Badry and Fluere dance team members Anita Augustyniak, Claire Belanger, and Ivana Ruzkova. In addition to dancing, the event will have a lunch social featuring traditional Ukrainian food, such as borscht and pierogies (dumplings), prepared by El-Badry’s mother, Elena Petrushova. El-Bad r y’s fam i ly has
STATEWIDE Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright died on March 23 at the age of 84. She served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997 and as Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001, the first woman ever to hold that position. In honor of her passing, President Biden ordered all US flags to fly at half-staff from March 23 to 27. US Senator Angus King (I-ME) released the following statement: “Madeleine Albright was a brilliant, forceful advocate
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See DANCE page 14 . . .
Nina El-Badry (right) and her mother, Elena Petrushova, immigrated from Moscow, Russia, many years ago and currently reside in Kittery.
Mills, Collins, King Honor Secretary Albright
Arts & Entertainment 11-14
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many Ukrainian friends and relatives, and they feel a great deal of pain over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Dance is truly a universal language and has the power to connect us to each other and change lives. I want to see our community come together, dance, and do what we can to help Ukrainians. My heart breaks over this horrific, unnecessary war. We stand with Ukraine,” El-Badry said. Many local residents of
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for democracy; a ferocious defender of human rights; a trailblazer for women throughout
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the nation and across the globe; a daughter of Eastern Europe who followed her family’s perilous path to freedom and went on to become the architect of America’s post-Cold War foreign policy. Above all, she was a lifelong student of history, drawing on humanity’s past successes and failures in an effort to build a better future for all. Losing a titan like Secretary Albright would hurt, no matter when it came – but losing her at this perilous moment stings beyond what we could have imagined. As both a skilled diplomat and a
champion of the NATO alliance, Secretary Albright’s incisive insights will be sorely missed in the weeks ahead. “Last month, Secretary Albright once again demonstrated her deep understanding of global affairs in an op-ed warning Putin of the dangers of his invasion, published in the New York Times the day before Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s borders. Drawing on her personal experiences with Putin and valuable historical See ALBRIGHT page 10 . . . Have you seen our
Check out the pages on
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