April Fool's Day involves playing pranks and telling jokes to your friends and family. (freepik)
If someone asked you what April Fool’s Day is, your mind would go to the first day of April where everyone plays pranks and jokes on each other.
It’s become normalized over the years, but if you think about it, why do we have a random day in the year dedicated to playing pranks on people?
The first April Fool’s Day actually dates all the way back to the 1500s in France. The Julius calendar (established by Julius Caesar), was replaced with the Gregorian calendar, the one we use today.
The Julius calendar started on April 1. Many parts of the world were not aware of the calendar change, and still celebrated the new year on April 1.
They became widely mocked as April Fools, starting the tradition.
There is another factor that contributed to the birth of April Fools; The Hilaira Festival. This celebration is an ancient Roman festival that marked the beginning of spring. They would all get together to play games to honor the god Cybele.
Cybele is the god of renewal and spring. Since April was the beginning of spring in this time period, April 1 quickly became a well known date.
There is a myth that on April 1, the first day of spring, Cybele would cover the lands in a thick coat of snow and frost, tricking the people into thinking it was still winter.
Hours later, she would melt the snow and bring lush, green grass and fields of flowers.
She would then call the people “fooled mortals,” making pranking a tradition on April 1.
While these are the most popular beliefs, some people say that April Fool’s Day originated from Charles IX, the King of France.
In 1564, Charles IX changed the new year to be on January 1, not on Easter as it previously was.
Because Easter was a moveable date, those who clung to the old ways and still celebrated the new year on Easter were mocked as “April Fools.”
In certain countries, April Fools Day ties to the vernal equinox on March 21, a time when people are fooled by the sudden change in weather leading up to April.
These are all just reasonable theories, no one really knows why we have April Fools Day or how it originated.
But one thing is for sure, all of these theories have an excuse to play pranks and jokes on this special day.
In America, some of the most popular pranks include sending people on fools errands, swapping out drinks or food, or fake ads appearing on the internet.
In other countries, like Spain, April Fool’s Day is celebrated in a different way. In the town of Ibl, citizens gather around and throw a huge food fight.
In France, it’s a common custom to stick fish on peoples backs, like an elevated “kick me” sign.
One of the countries that adore this holiday the most is Scotland. Their April Fool’s Day festivities stretch out over 2 whole days. One of these days is called “Hunt the Bird Day”, where citizens will send each other to do foolish tasks to waste their time.
The next day is called “Tallie Day” for harmless little pranks, like sticking something on someone’s back or pinning a tail on someone.
No matter how you celebrate April Fool’s Day, it’s really here to have some fun and celebrate the coming of spring.