Ah, April Fools. It’s probably the most famous non-religious holiday in the Western world. Kids prank each other, parents prank each other, even colleagues prank each other. Overall, it’s a stressful, but fun day. But, where did it all start? Well, the origin of April Fools – and I promise, I’m not pranking you – are actually unclear.
In the 1700s, English pranksters popularised the day with their annual tradition of playing practical jokes on each other on the 1st of April. But even then, they didn’t know where the tradition came from. A letter to Britain’s Apollo magazine in 1708, asked: “Whence proceeds the custom of making April Fools?” and honestly, we want to know too…
We’ve done our research and there are a few theories as to the origin of April Fool’s Day.
The Origin Of April Fools
The Gregorian Calendar Switch
This one seems to be the main theory. This one speculates that the origin of April Fools’ Day dates back to France in 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII issued a Papal bull mandating a new calendar system. Here, the Council of Trent called for the people of France to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar set the start of the year on January 1st, instead of the beginning of Spring in late March / early April, which the Julian calendar did. As word of the change travelled slowly throughout France, those in the know would make fun of those still on the Jullian calendar. Those who still celebrated the beginning of the new year in April became known as April Fools and were subject to an array of pranks, jokes and hoaxes. These pranks included having a paper fish placed on one’s back and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), to symbolise someone young and gullible.
Now, while this is the most common theory, there are a few issues with its legitimacy. Firstly, there were many people in France celebrating the New Year before Pope Gregory XIII’s Papal bull. Also, the Jullian New Year was also synonymous with Easter and not the beginning of April. Nonetheless, this is the main theory. There are others though…
The Ancient Roman Theory: Hilaria
There are quite a few historians who believe that the origin of April Fools started much earlier than 1582. Some have also linked April Fools’ Day to festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in ancient Rome, involving people dressing up in disguises at the end of March. Do you think the trend started centuries ago? But wait, there’s more…
Mother Nature: The Prankster
There’s also speculation that the origin of April Fools’ Day stems from Mother Nature herself. Some believe the tradition is tied to the vernal equinox, or the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with unpredictable weather. Classic, Mother Nature.
Holi: A Festival Of Colours
Some Eastern cultures have their own version of the holiday’s origins. In India, they believe the light-hearted tradition is tied to Holi, the festival of colours. Here, people throw coloured water or paint on one another.
While it’s unclear how it started, the day became cemented into the zeitgeist in the 1700s. April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century with people engaging in pranks like pinning tails on others and sending others on fake errands.
In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, including the prank “hunting the gowk,” where people were sent on phony errands. For context, gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for a fool in Scotland.
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