See also April Fool's Day
This is not any official holiday, not even holiday, but it is widely recognized and observed (not celebrated) in many countries of the world on April 1 every year.
April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.
On this day everyone can play all kinds of jokes and foolishness with anyone. The day is marked by the commission of good humored or funny jokes, hoaxes, pranks, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.
Traditionally, in some countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon himself is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and the US, the jokes last all day.
Origin of the April Fool's Day
The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392) - the "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two.
Another theory about its origin points to Noah as the first "April Fool." It is said that on that day he mistakenly sent the dove out to find dry land after the flood.
April Fools’ Day seems to have begun in France in 1564. In those days, April 1 used to be New Year’s Day, but the New Year was changed to Jan 1 that year. People who insisted on celebrating the "old" New Year became known as April fools, and it became common to play jokes and tricks on them. New Year in those days closely followed the Vernal Equinox (March 20th or March 21st). Much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the New Year.
Another explanation points to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when New Year's Day was officially moved from March 25 to January 1. People who forgot about the change were often mocked by their friends, as they continued to make New Year visits just after the old March date. There are two difficulties with this explanation. The first is that it doesn't fully account for the spread of April Fools' Day to other European countries. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by England until 1752, for example, but April Fools' Day was already well established there by that point of time. The second is that we have no direct historical evidence for this explanation, only conjecture, and that conjecture appears to have been made more recently.
The general concept of a feast of fools is, however, an ancient one. The Romans had such a day, and medieval monasteries also had days when the abbot or bishop was replaced for a day by a common monk, who would order his superiors to do the most menial or ridiculous tasks. According to Brady’s Clavis Calendaria (1812): "The joke of the day is to deceive persons by sending them upon frivolous and nonsensical errands; to pretend they are wanted when they are not, or, in fact, any way to betray them into some supposed ludicrous situation, so as to enable you to call them 'An April Fool'."
Observances Around the World
April Fools' Day is observed throughout the Western world. The custom of playing jokes on this day was brought to US by the British. Practices include sending someone on a "fool's errand," looking for things that don't exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things. The French call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.
One of the great media hoaxes of all time was perpetrated on April 1, 1957 by the BBC, which reported on its news program "Panorama" that Switzerland was experiencing a bumper spaghetti harvest that year thanks to favorable weather and the elimination of the dread "spaghetti weevil." Staged video footage showing happy peasants plucking strands of pasta from tall trees was so convincing that many viewers actually called the network to ask how they could grow their own.
Some of the best-known pranks in recent years were mounted by advertising agencies.
In 1996, Taco Bell ran a full-page ad in the New York Times announcing it had purchased the Liberty Bell and would rename it the "Taco Liberty Bell."
Burger King pulled off a similar prank in 1998, announcing the rollout of its "Left-Handed Whopper" supposedly designed so that condiments would drip from the right side of the burger rather than the left.
On the Internet hoaxes have become such standard fare that April Fools' Day is barely distinguishable from any other, though a few notable pranks stand out and tend to be reposted year after year -- e.g., the 1996 announcement that every computer connected to the World Wide Web must be turned off for "Internet Cleaning Day", a 24-hour period during which useless "flotsam and jetsam" are flushed from the system.
Some Quotes About April Fool's Day
William Shakespeare famously said, "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit."
Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson
April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the
other three hundred and sixty-four.
Myra Cohn Livingston
The maple syrup's full of ants.
A mouse is creeping on the shelf.
Is that a spider on your back?
I ate the whole pie by myself.
The kitchen sink just overflowed.
A flash flood washed away the school.
I threw your blanket in the trash.
I never lie----I---April Fool!
Charles Lamb
Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools
in it than ever.
Poor Robin's Almanac, 1790
The first of April, some do say
Is set apart for All Fool's Day;
But why the people call it so
Nor I, nor they themselves, do know,
But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment.
Thomas Shadwell
The haste of a fool is the slowest thing in the world.