History of April Fools' Day
Jonathon Andrews
The holiday of pranksters goes back centuries. In the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII changed the standardized calendar from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar (the one we still use today). The Gregorian Calendar added more days to the year, so this effectively made the new year celebration on Jan 1st instead of at the end of March.
In the 16th century, news spread very slowly compared to what we are used to, so not everyone was aware of the change. And people would see others celebrating the New Year on the old date and called those people “April fools”.
Historians also think April Fools’ Day is connected to the ancient Roman festival Hilaria. This festival was celebrated at the end of March and included people dressing up in different disguises to make fun of other citizens.
Around the 18th century, the holiday began to spread through Britain. It turned into a two-day holiday when it got to Scotland. On the first day, “hunting the gowk” was celebrated which basically meant they would send others on fake errands. On the second day, Tailie Day, people would pin fake tails on others and also place kick me signs on people. April Fools’ Day slowly evolved from then on.
Here’s a few of April Fools’ Day hoaxes.
Back in 1996 Taco Bell fooled everyone into thinking they were going to buy the Liberty Bell and rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.
In 1998, Burger King tricked everyone into thinking they were releasing a “Left-Handed Whopper”, and lots of people fell for it and tried to order the fictitious burger.
France even convinced people they were going to dismantle the Eiffel Tower and rebuild it inside the new Euro Disney Park (now Disneyland Paris) in 1986!
Check out my sources below for more interesting April Fools’ Day Content:
Finer, A. (2022, March 18). The best April Fool's Day Pranks in history. Reader's Digest Canada. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/best-april-fool-pranks/
History.com Editors. (2017, March 30). April Fools' Day. History.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day#history-of-april-fools-day
