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The origin of April Fools' Day: No kiddin'!
William Atkins
Wednesday, 01 April 2009 04:27
Page 2 of 2
However, Snopes.com also says, “How the custom of pranking on April 1 came about remains shrouded in mystery.”
The Pope wanted to correct errors in the solar year (the length of time for the Sun to return to its same position with respect to Earth, such as from vernal (spring) equinox in one year to vernal equinox in the next year), and to make one day the first of the year throughout Europe (rather than different days, such as Christmas or Easter, depending on the country you lived in).
Many Europeans refused to adopt the new calendar and, instead, kept with the old Julian calendar, which was established by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. and did not update the new and improved ways to tell time, including recognizing leap years.
Another possible origin of April Fools’ Day occurred when people celebrated the first day of summer on April 1 instead of May 1, which was the traditional day in which to start the spring planting season. These April First celebrators were sometimes called April Fools.
Still another origin of the April Fools’ Day occurred in sixteenth-century France when King Charles IX reformed its calendar in 1564, changed the first day of the year from April 1 (on Easter) to January 1. Some people stubbornly ignored this change and, of course, were called April Fish (in French: Poisson d’Avril), and had jokes played on them.
Many references to April Fools also appear in many works of famous authors.
Englishman Geoffrey Chaucer (loosely) refers to it in his 1392 Nun’s Priest’s Tale; Frenchman Eloy d’Amerval refers to it in his 1508 poem Le livre de la diablerie; and Dutchman Eduard de Dene refers to it in his 1539 poem Refereyn yp verzendekens dach / Twelck den eersten April te zyne plach.
For additional information on the origin of April Fools’ Day, check out the MuseumOfHoaxes.com website.
Also read the MuseumOfHoaxes.com article “The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time.”
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