April Fool’s Day was last Saturday and we know how it goes, someone pranks another person. But according to History.com, this holiday dates back to the 16th century.
History.com said some historians date back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian calendar, the new year starts on April 1 in the spring equinox. Sadly, some people didn’t know that the calendar changed the new year from April 1 to Jan. 1.
According to History.com, the people who didn’t know about the calendar change became the butt end of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.”
“These pranks involved paper fish placed on their backs and were referred to as ‘poisson d’avril’ (April fish) which symbolized a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person,” History.com said.
History.com added that Historians say in Ancient Rome at the end of March, the followers of the Cybele cult celebrated a festival called “Hilaria.” This involved people dressing up in disguises and mocking citizens. It is believed that the festival was created by the Egyptian legend “Isis, Osiris and Seth.”
According to John Welford, a writer for Medium.com, the connection is Seth tricking Osiris, his brother, into climbing into a chest and being sent down into the Nile River during “Hilaria.” From there, Romans continued to play practical jokes on each other.
“Throwing the locked chest into the sea, he drowned him,” Welford said. He later recovered the body and cut it into fourteen pieces which he scattered all over Egypt.”
History.com said the holiday could also be tied to the vernal or spring equinox where Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.
According to npr.org, in 1992, the show “Talk of a Nation” used Actor Rich Little to impersonate Richard Nixon. While impersonating Nixon, he was going to run for president again with the slogan, “I didn’t do anything wrong and I won’t do it again.”
Npr.org said one of the most famous pranks was in 1957, where the British Broadcasting Company aired a segment showing Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees and bushes claiming the region had “an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop this year.”
Lastly, in 1905, a German newspaper wrote that thieves had dug a tunnel underneath the U.S. Treasury and stolen $268 million in silver and gold.
One of my favorite pranks is spreading Vaseline on a door handle so people struggle opening it and I can just laugh in their faces. It’s too bad I didn’t do it this year since it’s been busy.
Another prank I love is the infamous whoopee cushion. Blowing it up and placing it on the chair of the person next to you without them noticing and hearing the ASMR fart is hilarious. I can hardly keep a straight face.
However you celebrated this holiday, I hope you had a great time and a great day filled with jokes. Although it was last Saturday, Happy April Fool’s Day!