By: Claire McKenna
Staff-Writer
Playing pranks and telling jokes can be done whenever, but it’ll never have as much impact as when you do them on the first of April. April Fool’s Day is celebrated worldwide as a day where pranks and jokes are basically encouraged. Though the origin of the holiday isn’t exactly known, it is a little silly.
Some believe that the origin relates to the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring in the Northern hemisphere, because Mother Nature would “fool” people with unpredictable and constantly changing weather. Others believe that it stemmed from a Roman festival called Hilaria, which occurred in late March. Hilaria translates to hilarity, so, some celebrated by being hilarious.
The most popular theory of the holiday’s history begins in France in the 1500s. When the Julian calendar got replaced by the Gregorian calendar, a lot of people didn’t find out, because there was no good way to communicate on a mass scale at the time, so they kept using the Julian calendar.
On the Julian calendar, the New Year is celebrated on April 1, but the Gregorian calendar, the calendar we use now, pushed New Year’s back to January 1. Those who were still celebrating on the first of April were deemed “April fools” and would be teased and pranked. One of the pranks included taping a paper fish to a person’s back without them noticing and calling them “poisson d’avril,” which means “April fish.” It was supposed to symbolize a young, easily caught fish, or a gullible person.
As April Fool’s Day spread, different cultures adopted different pranks. In Scotland, the holiday became two days. The first day has a main prank called “Hunting the Gowk” where people are sent on fake errands, and the second day involves pinning fake tails on people or giving them “kick me” signs.
In Brazil, the day is called Dia Das Mentiras, which means Day of Lies, where they celebrate by playing pranks. The day became popular in Brazil after a publication wrote a joke article saying that on April 1, 1828, their emperor had died, even though he was still alive. All April Fool’s Day celebrations have to do with tricks, jokes and pranks.
Whatever way you celebrate the holiday, just make sure you remember that it is a day of pranks and not the New Year. And maybe check your back for a fish, just in case.
