April Fools’ is a holiday celebrated by those who love a good prank. Most people either initiate these pranks, or watch pranks happen on social media of others getting fooled on April 1st every year with an elaborate, yet harmless and funny prank which makes everyone laugh. It is important to know how this holiday became a holiday in the first place, how these traditions began, and who really began April Fools’ Day.
It is commonly believed that the origins of April Fools’ began all the way back in the 1500s with France. France had decided to replace their Julian calendar, created by Julius Caesar, with the Gregorian Calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. In the Julian Calendar, the new year was to begin on April 1. Although with the Gregorian calendars the new year starts January 1, meaning that if people did not update their calendars, they lead themselves to believe the new year starts on April 1 still, since news did not travel fast.
The people who kept celebrating the New Year on April 1 were treated like fools, hence the name. If they failed to recognize that the new year moved to January 1, they were treated like complete jokes and hoaxes. The group of people who joked about those who did not update their calendars decided to call them “April Fools”, because they were fools who still believed the new year began in April instead of keeping up with the times and actually knowing the new year now began on January 1. One of their most special pranks is placing a paper fish on a person’s back, calling them a “Poisson d’avril”, which translates to an April Fish. Their reasoning for calling them an April Fish is because they were easily caught believing lies and were gullible.
Soon, other countries started to catch on and decided to have April Fools pranks of their own. Countries like Scotland started traditions where they sent people on phony errands and called this “hunting the gowk”. Gowk is a synonym for the cuckoo bird, which is a symbol used for a fool. This was followed by a day called Tailie Day, where people would have fake tails pinned on them or “kick me” signs attached to their back.
April Fools is widespread and celebrated in almost every country. While it can be a controversial holiday, it brings out people’s creativity by having them try to pull the best prank of the year they possibly can and using their imagination alongside it. To learn more about this foolish holiday, read here: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/how-did-april-fools-day-get-started https://www.history.com/articles/april-fools-day
