April Fools Day

Have you ever pulled a prank on someone? Put tape on the sink? Perhaps you gave your dad a fake lottery ticket? (I know I did) I believe anyone who was willing to get a big laugh but in a whole heap of trouble has! Do you know the origin of April fools day? Well, let me tell you.

The Caveman Days

One day there was a caveman named Gronk. He was all up for laughs, as it was just invented, so he wanted as much of it as possible. He took a fur skin and wrapped it, around and around it went. It eventually turned into a circle filled with air and a small hole on the other side to let the air out. He placed it on the ground, and during dinner, his wife sat on it and it made a big “PPBBBTTTTHHHH” sound. He was rolling on the floor laughing, and BAM! The world’s first whoopee cushion. It was later found that it was made on April 1st, and that was April fools day! Okay, that was all fake. April fools! (Haha) Let me tell you the REAL stuff.

Actual Facts

April Fool’s day exact origins have remained a mystery, however it is celebrated by multiple cultures and religions creating laugh after laugh. Historians believe that the unofficial holiday dates back to 1582, when France switched to using the Gregorian Calendar, when originally they were using the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar, as well as the Hindu calendar, begins with the new year on the spring equinox, or on April 1st.

As time evolved, the new years moved to January 1st, but people who were slow to the news or didn’t hear of it spent their days celebrating it on April 1st. It became the butt of jokes and hoaxes, as more and more people adjusted to the new calendar. Some pranks included planting a paper fish on someone’s back, called “poisson d’avril” or “April fish” which represents a young, gullible person, or an easily caught fish.

April Fool’s day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century, and became very popular in Scotland. The Scottish made it a two-day event, with games and everything! They started with “hunting the gowk,” (a word for cuckoo bird, which represents a fool.) where people ran ridiculous errands. Then onto Taillie day, which as you would expect, has people sneakily pin fish on other people’s back or simply a post-it saying “Kick me” symbolizing a tail.

Whether you pull a prank or not this year, April Fool’s is sure to give people around the world a nice laugh. Maybe you could replace the mayonnaise with vanilla yogurt and eat it straight out of the bottle? (That will disgust some people hehehehe) Oh, just some suggestions…