Happy April everyone! April first, or April Fool's Day, is considered to be one of the most light-hearted days of the year with all kinds of mischievous pranks being played on unsuspecting friends, family, and coworkers. April Fool's Day is all about foolishness and rarely does anyone get offended when they get caught up in another's playful prank. But what do we really know about the day and its origins? I'm here to help answer some of those questions for you.
1. When did April Fool's Day begin? There are lots of theories but none that have been confirmed. One of the more popular beliefs is that it dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Since news was slow to travel in those days, many folks didn't know that the start of the new year had been switched from April first to January first. So New years' parties and shenanigans were going on in full force the last week of March, ending on April 1. When these "party animals" were made aware that they'd been celebrating nothing, they became the butt of jokes and hoaxes, effectively becoming the first "fools" of April first.
2. Another possible origin is that it was meant to be a day to cleanse your mind of evil thoughts with laughter and the celebration of life.
3. It may sound a little fishy. But the French celebrate April Fools' Day by sticking a paper fish on the back of an unsuspecting person then yelling, "April Fish!" This may seem a little childish, but also exciting and fun, am I right? Ya gotta love the French.
4. A wicked sense of humor. According to Scotland history, they used to call the April Fool’s Day as ‘Hunt the Gowk Day.’ Gowk or gawk means a fool. A person is sent to deliver a message to another by someone who wants to fool the messenger. The message used to convey the receiver to send another similar message to someone else by the foolish messenger. The game used to continue until the messenger realized that he is being fooled.
5. Even the normally staid BBC got into it. On April Fool's Day, 1976, The BBC convinced many listeners that a special alignment of the planets would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth. Phone lines were flooded with callers who claimed to have experienced the effect!
6. A limited time offer. Some countries allow pranks to be played only until noon on April Fool's Day.
7. The BBC did it again. This time in 2008, the BBC telecasted news saying penguins in Antarctica started flying. It’s not just that! It stated that those penguins had flown to South America’s tropical rainforests. Who knew that the BBC could be so funny?
8. There are endless possibilities. In Scotland, people celebrate two days as fools’ days! The second is called “Taily day,” in which people play pranks only using one’s back part. That is they stick papers saying, “Kick me” and so on to one’s back and enjoy! maybe the Scots should team up with the French for this one.
9. Need vacation plans? A travel site once announced on April first that it’s offering a trip to Mars for a specified period! A trip to the angry red planet is appealing, but the announcement date would have been checked if not the authenticity!
10. Fools mail? Google launched Gmail on the eve of April fool’s day, and everyone thought that it was a prank due to its unbelievably good features! But the company really launched the mail king of today! makes me wonder if this was done intentionally or didn't the marketing people think it all the way through? And finally,
11. Celebrating on another day. In many traditions, people do not follow the fool’s day on the first of April, but they do follow it on a different day! What’s in a date? Not much when it comes to fooling and fun!
Happy Monday and Happy April Fool's Day! Enjoy your day and, if I were you, I might keep checking my back...just in case a fish shows up.
Please join me back here tomorrow for a look at gender equality. Until then I wish you
PEACE.
1. When did April Fool's Day begin? There are lots of theories but none that have been confirmed. One of the more popular beliefs is that it dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Since news was slow to travel in those days, many folks didn't know that the start of the new year had been switched from April first to January first. So New years' parties and shenanigans were going on in full force the last week of March, ending on April 1. When these "party animals" were made aware that they'd been celebrating nothing, they became the butt of jokes and hoaxes, effectively becoming the first "fools" of April first.
2. Another possible origin is that it was meant to be a day to cleanse your mind of evil thoughts with laughter and the celebration of life.
3. It may sound a little fishy. But the French celebrate April Fools' Day by sticking a paper fish on the back of an unsuspecting person then yelling, "April Fish!" This may seem a little childish, but also exciting and fun, am I right? Ya gotta love the French.
4. A wicked sense of humor. According to Scotland history, they used to call the April Fool’s Day as ‘Hunt the Gowk Day.’ Gowk or gawk means a fool. A person is sent to deliver a message to another by someone who wants to fool the messenger. The message used to convey the receiver to send another similar message to someone else by the foolish messenger. The game used to continue until the messenger realized that he is being fooled.
5. Even the normally staid BBC got into it. On April Fool's Day, 1976, The BBC convinced many listeners that a special alignment of the planets would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth. Phone lines were flooded with callers who claimed to have experienced the effect!
6. A limited time offer. Some countries allow pranks to be played only until noon on April Fool's Day.
7. The BBC did it again. This time in 2008, the BBC telecasted news saying penguins in Antarctica started flying. It’s not just that! It stated that those penguins had flown to South America’s tropical rainforests. Who knew that the BBC could be so funny?
8. There are endless possibilities. In Scotland, people celebrate two days as fools’ days! The second is called “Taily day,” in which people play pranks only using one’s back part. That is they stick papers saying, “Kick me” and so on to one’s back and enjoy! maybe the Scots should team up with the French for this one.
9. Need vacation plans? A travel site once announced on April first that it’s offering a trip to Mars for a specified period! A trip to the angry red planet is appealing, but the announcement date would have been checked if not the authenticity!
10. Fools mail? Google launched Gmail on the eve of April fool’s day, and everyone thought that it was a prank due to its unbelievably good features! But the company really launched the mail king of today! makes me wonder if this was done intentionally or didn't the marketing people think it all the way through? And finally,
11. Celebrating on another day. In many traditions, people do not follow the fool’s day on the first of April, but they do follow it on a different day! What’s in a date? Not much when it comes to fooling and fun!
Happy Monday and Happy April Fool's Day! Enjoy your day and, if I were you, I might keep checking my back...just in case a fish shows up.
Please join me back here tomorrow for a look at gender equality. Until then I wish you
PEACE.
https://ohfact.com/interesting-facts-about-april-fools-day/
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