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| Pic from santabanta.com |
April Fools' Day
The exact origins of April Fools’ Day, also known as All Fools’ Day remain a mystery.
Some
historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull
decreeing a new
standard calendar for Christian Europe that would take his name
and centuries later become the standard internationally in the 21st century.
Prior to the
15th century, Europe’s nations and city states operated using the Julian
calendar. The Gregorian calendar moved the date of the new year from April 1 to
January 1, among other changes. Catholic monarchies were naturally its earliest
adopters, though Protestant nations later followed suit.
Given the
nature of the reform some Europeans continued to celebrate the new year between
March 25 and April 1. April fools were those who still celebrated the holiday
in the spring, and were the subject of pranks and ridicule by those who
observed the new year months ago.
These
included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as
“poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolise a young, easily caught fish
and a gullible person.
Historians have
also linked April Fools’ Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was
celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in
disguises. There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the
vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother
Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.
April Fools’ Day
spread throughout Britain during the 18th century which in Scotland became a
two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on
phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed
by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as
pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.
Whatever pranks you play today, be kind :-)
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