History of April Fool's Day

Although April fool's day is celebrated in most parts of the world, there are numerous differences in the way some countries approach to this day. For instance, in some countries, the pranks and jokes are allowed only till noon time, and anybody playing a prank after that is termed the fool.

In some other countries, like USA, France, and Ireland, the pranks can be played throughout the day. In the US, the day is a joyous affair and lasts all day along. When and how did this peculiar celebration began?

The exact date and place of the conception of the idea behind the day is unknown. Various theories have been proposed, dating back to the 15th century. As far as records go, the implementation and celebration of April fool's day mostly began after the introduction of Gregorian calendar.

According to various sources, in 1582, Charles IX of France introduced the reform calendar. In the new calendar, the new year's day was moved from March 25th-April 1(called new year's week) to 1st January.

Since in those times, there were hardly any sources of communication, the news of changes in the calendar wasn't spread to many people. Even some people who knew about changes in Gregorian calendar did not care to follow it. People who didn't follow the new calendar system were referred to as "fools".

April fool's day spread to various countries like Scotland, England, and later came into the US. Scotland has a special two-day celebrations for April fool's day, and during the second day one has to play pranks that can last all day long.

Playing pranks on some special day of the year serves the purpose of highlighting the necessary role of humor in our life. After all, laughter is the best medicine. In Persian culture, people play prank on each other on the 13th day of Persian New Year. On 1st or 2nd April, Iranians play pranks on each other, and this day is celebrated as Sizdah Bedar.

The history of the day in Scotland is associated to a very common prank that has been played there for years. Traditionally, in Scotland, "hunt-the-Gowk-day" (Gowk means foolish) is a quite popular name for April fool's day. However, now that phrase is not used so much any more.

As we can see, the history of this day is associated with various theories and stories, and only few popular ones have been mentioned here. On this day, we surely have a good laugh, when some of our friends are entrapped in our pranks, or in case, we become the victims of some pranks. Either ways, laughing off your troubles on this day is definitely a very enchanting idea.