April Fools' Day, perhaps the world' longest-running joke!

April 1st is often referred to as April Fools’ Day and it involves the tradition of playing hoaxes and practical jokes on others, with often yelling of ‘April Fools’ at the end. How did it begin? This question still is quite a mystery.

Some historians link it to the year 1852, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The funniest twist in the plot is that people who were slow to recognize the news or who could not recognize the start of the new year in January, and continued to celebrate it in the last week of March were considered as ‘April Fools’. I know it’s strange.

An English poet in 1561 wrote some comical verse about a nobleman, who sends his servant back and forth on ludicrous errands for the preparation of a wedding feast and the poem title roughly translates to, 'Refrain on errand –day/ which is the first of April'.

What is the exact origin of April Fools’ Day and how it became an international phenomenon is still a mystery. This is totally legit, and I'm not pulling your leg to refrain from revealing the origin of April Fools’ Day. Nobody really actually knows the exact history.

Is April Fools’ Day celebrated worldwide?

Although April Fools' Day is not considered a national holiday, most countries believe in playing pranks on or around April 1st. Like France that celebrates April Fools’ Day, by sticking a paper fish on the backs of as many people as possible and yelling ‘Poisson d’ Avril’, meaning ‘April Fools!' This is more common in children, than in adults.

In Greece, people even believe that tricking someone on this day brings ample amount of good luck and charm for the rest of the year. April 1st is often marked as the beginning of rainfall that comes up with healing abilities. Among the endless traditions and different ideologies of people, let’s enjoy everything that comes our own way.

All the best everyone for playing pranks today!

References:

https://www.rd.com/article/origin-of-april-fools-day/

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day

https://www.britannica.com/topic/April-Fools-Day