It's finally here, April. Snow will end sometime this month...promise. Ice dams will thaw...promise. Damaged roofs and gutters will get repaired. Homeowners will air out their homes and do a little spring cleaning. Kids will once again be sighted in the neighborhood riding bikes, and dogs, thankfully will find grass once again...promise.

In this issue we'll look at some of the April Fool's Day hoaxes from around the world, take you back in time to that unforgettable 80's decade we all loved, and help get your home ready for summer's heat wave. 

But first, a little April showers.

April 1, 1997: When comic strip fans opened their papers, they discovered that their favorite strips looked different. Not only that, but in many cases characters from other strips popped up out of place. 

The reason for the chaos was the Great Comics Switcheroonie. Forty-six comic-strip artists conspired to pen each other's strips for the day. For instance, Scott Adams of Dilbert took over Family Circus by Bil Keane, where he added a touch of corporate cynicism to the family-themed strip by having the mother tell her kid to "work cuter, not harder." Jim Davis of Garfield took over Blondie, which allowed him to show his famous overweight cat eating one of Dagwood's sandwiches.

The stunt was masterminded by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, creators of the Baby Blues comic strip. When asked why he participated, Scott Adams noted, "You don't get that many chances to tunnel under the fence."

April's Shooting Stars!

Comet Thatcher is the source of the Lyrid meteors. Every year, in the later part of April, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), of which there are no photographs due to its roughly a 415-year orbit around the sun. Comet Thatcher last visited the inner solar system in 1861, before the photographic process became widespread. This comet isn't expected to return until the year 2276.

Bits and pieces shed by this comet litter its orbit and bombard the Earth's upper atmosphere at 177,000 kilometers (110,000 miles) per hour. The vaporizing debris streaks the nighttime with medium-fast Lyrid meteors.

The annual Lyrid meteor shower is active each year from about April 16 to 25. The peak of this shower - which tends to come in a burst and usually lasts for less than a day - will fall on the morning of April 22 or 23, with the nod going to the later date. The greatest number of meteors should fall during the few hours before dawn on either date. In 2015, a waxing crescent moon will set in the evening on the days around the Lyrids' peak, leaving a dark for watching meteors. If Earth passes through an unusually thick clump of comet rubble, an elevated number of meteors could be in store. Like all meteor showers, the Lyrids aren't altogether predictable. In rare instances, they can bombard the sky with up to nearly 100 meteors per hour.

April 1, 1989: Thousands of motorists driving on the highway outside London looked up in the air to see a glowing flying saucer descending on their city. Many of them pulled to the side of the road to watch the bizarre craft float through the air. 

The saucer finally landed in a field on the outskirts of London where local residents immediately called the police to warn them of an alien invasion. Soon the police arrived on the scene, and one brave officer approached the craft with his truncheon extended before him. When a door in the craft popped open, and a small, silver-suited figure emerged, the policeman ran in the opposite direction.

The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon that had been specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, the 36-year-old chairman of Virgin Records. The stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London's Hyde Park on April 1. Unfortunately, the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location.

April 1, 1996: Virgin Cola ran an ad in British papers announcing that in the interest of consumer safety it had integrated a new technology into its cans.

When the cola passed its sell-by date, the liquid reacted with the metal in the can, turning the can bright blue. 

Virgin warned that consumers should therefore avoid purchasing all blue cans. Coincidentally, Pepsi had recently unveiled its newly designed cans which were bright blue.

April 1, 2000: The Daily Mail revealed that Esporta Health Clubs had launched a new line of socks, dubbed FatSox, designed to help people lose weight. These revolutionary socks actually sucked body fat out of sweating feet, promising to "banish fat for ever." 

The American inventor of this weight-loss product, Professor Frank Ellis Elgood, explained that the socks employed a nylon polymer called FloraAstraTetrazine "previously only applied in the nutrition industry."

As a person's body heat rose and their blood vessels dilated, the socks drew "excess lipid from the body through the sweat." After having sweated out the fat, the wearer could then simply wash the socks, and the fat, away.

April 1, 1965: BBC TV interviewed a London University professor who had perfected a technology called "Smellovision" that allowed the transmission of smells over the airwaves.

Viewers would be able to smell aromas produced in the television studio in their own homes.

The professor explained that his machine broke scents down into their component molecules which were then transmitted through the screen. The professor demonstrated by placing some coffee beans and onions into the smellovision machine. He asked viewers to report whether they had smelled anything. Numerous viewers called in from across the country to confirm that they had distinctly experienced these scents. Some even claimed the onions made their eyes water.

Somehow a published winners list for our contests has been MIA from the last few newsletters. We're sorry, not sure sure how that happened, heres the list of lucky winners.

January winners: Mike Boche,  Mathew Poling, Mary Bathrick

April 1, 2000: The Independent reported that Florida researchers had developed a Viagra-like pill to treat sexually frustrated pets, including hamsters.

Veterinarians were said to have greeted the news with derision, but the article pointed out that there are few things as sad as a pet suffering from feelings of sexual inadequacy, noting, "It's not unknown for a guinea pig to sit in its cage thinking, 'I haven't had sex for months. Am I so unattractive?'"

Owners were instructed to simply grind the pills up and sprinkle them in the pet's food. Laying some newspaper down on the floor once the pills began to take effect was also advised. The pills were to be marketed under the brand name Feralmone.