A fool for a day
Autumn Lowry, Associate Writer
Photo courtesy of unsplash.com
Every year on April 1st our inner child is pulled out of us. It is the one day of the year where it is completely acceptable to act like a fool and to pull off the most legendary parks ever.
But how did this day come about?
Who told us it was okay to put our friends calculator in jello?
Who gave us permission to paint the dog green or put mayonnaise in someone’s toothpaste bottle?
This tradition, that I personally have never been able to pull off, dates all the way back to the 1500s.
In 1582 in France during the reformation of the calendar. Before France adopted the Gregorian calendar, they celebrated New Years for 8 days: from March 21st to April 1st. When they switched calendars, the 8th day moved to January 1st.
But in the 1500s, there were no cellphones. No one tweeted or made an Instagram post to let the rest of the world know about this change. Those that were unaware of this change continued to celebrate News Years on April 1st. Super embarrassing for them.
Countries who had changed New Years to January began to make fun of the “fools” who still celebrated in April. This evolved into a tradition of playing pranks on the first day of April.
Traditions are different depending on where you’re from. In France they try to tape a picture of a fish on your back without you noticing. In Portugal they throw flour at you. In England, you were only supposed to pull jokes till noon. If you pranked someone after noon you were called an “April Fool”. Every country is different, but the goal of humiliating and pranking is the same.
In 1996, Taco Bell told everyone they bought the Liberty Bell from the city of Philadelphia and we’re going to rename their restaurant “Taco Liberty Bell.” Honestly, I like that better. It’s fancier.
