Characterized by silly practical jokes, April Foolsí Day has a rich history of prank-pulling since the tradition gained mass popularity at the start of the 18th century.ìCelebratedî annually on April 1, fun-loving jokers have been seizing the opportunity to pull playful jokes on their friends ñ- and sometimes their foes ñ- for hundreds of years.Sometimes called All Foolís Day, there are many theories to explain April Foolsí exact origins.According to a History.com article titled, ì1700: April Fools tradition popularized,î ìSome historians speculate that April Foolsí Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. … People who were slow to get this news, or failed to recognize (that) the start of the new year had moved to Jan. 1 Ö (those who) continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.îInfoplease.com expanded on this explanation in its article titled, ìApril Foolsí Day: Origin and Historyî by David Johnson and Shmuel Ross. Johnson and Ross said that pranks … ranged from ìsending them on ëfool’s errandsí or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.îBut there are problems with this widely accepted explanation, according to Johnson and Ross theory.ìIt doesn’t fully account for the spread of April Fools’ Day to other European countries,î they wrote.They point out that the Gregorian calendar ìwas not adopted by England until 1752,î when ìApril Fools’ Day was already well-established there by that point.î Another issue is the lack of ìdirect historical evidence for this explanationî ó instead, there is only conjecture.According to history.com, ìHistorians have also linked April Foolsí Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, celebrated in Rome at the end of March involving people dressed up in disguises.î Also, the website states that April Foolsí Day could have been tied to the vernal equinox or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere ó at a time when Mother Nature fooled people with ìunpredictable weather.îRegardless, the popularity of April Foolsí Day caught on rapidly throughout Britain in the 18th century, and has continued to be celebrated across various countries and cultures.Scotland celebrated April Fools over two days, characterized by ìthe hunting gowk (a cuckoo bird and a symbol for a fool) … and people were sent on phony errands,î according to history.com. Day 2, or ìTailie Dayî involved pranks played on peopleís derrieres such as pinning fake tails or ìkick meî signs on them.In her article titled ìApril Foolís [sic] Day,î posted to the Irish Cultures and Customs website, Bridget Haggerty explored the Irish and Celtic traditions surrounding April Foolsí Day: ìA common practical joke was to send someone to deliver a note that read ësend the fool further [sic].í In many places, these ‘fool’s errands’ would be accompanied by a verse for the recipient, which said, ëDon’t you laugh, and don’t you smile, send the gowk another mile.íîKhaled Ahmed, in his article titled, ìOrigin of April Foolsí Day,î published April 4, 2012, in the Pakistani newspaper ìThe Express Tribune,î wrote the following: ìIranians play jokes on each other on the 13th day of the Persian New Year … which falls on April 1 or April 2. This day, celebrated as far back as 536 BC, is called Sizdah Bedar and is the oldest prank tradition in the world still alive today.îAhmed also wrote that the ìFlemish tradition is for children to lock out their parents or teachers, letting them in only if they promise to bring treats the same evening or the next day.îSome make the claim that April Foolsí Day is malicious and misleading, like ìThe Atlantic Wireî reporters Jen Doll and Rebecca Greenfield, who refer to April Foolsí Day as ìhellî in their April 1, 2013, article titled ìIs April Foolsí Day the Worst Holiday,î published on ìYahoo! News.îìItís not a real holiday. Itís creepy and manipulative,î Doll and Greenfield wrote. ìItís just a day in which everyone agrees to be foolishî and no one ì(feels) good about anything. Itís a day in which we are Ö sort of rude … and even a little bit nasty. Is there any kind, loving, generous April Foolsí Day joke?î they asked.ìNo,î Doll and Greenfield said: ìBecause an April Foolsí Day joke is based on making someone else look stupid.îOn the other hand, Ashley Macha finds the humor associated with April Foolsí Day is healthy. In her article, ìWhy April Foolsí Day is Good for Your Health,î posted April 1, 2013, on health.com, she wrote, ìLaughing can have a positive effect on brain activity and relieve stress and anxiety. Laughing may also be good for your heart; it has a beneficial effect on blood pressure and heart rate, as well as relaxes your blood vessels, which could reduce strain on the heart.îApril Foolsí Day gained its popularity because the collective human race enjoys a good laugh -sometimes at another personís expense. So, just be wary of everyone, and make sure the pranks donít cause heart attacks ó that would not be healthy.
