The Kremvax Hoax is one of the earliest and most significant pranks in internet history, dating back to April 1, 1984. A message was posted to the Usenet newsgroup net.general, allegedly from Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko, announcing that the USSR was joining the global network via a VAX-11/780 computer named 'Kremvax.' In reality, the prank was orchestrated by Piet Beertema, a Dutch pioneer of the European internet. At a time when the Cold War was at its peak, the idea of a direct link to the Kremlin caused genuine alarm and confusion across the nascent internet community. Today, it serves as a foundational example of digital misinformation and a nostalgic touchstone for the 'old guard' of the web, often used to reference the early days of networking or the simplicity of early digital deception.