I think that everyone knows the April Fools” day, is a celebration, which we celebrate on the 1st of April, when people tell well intended lies and play pranks on their friends, often yelling at the end of the joke «April Fools!!». Βut how many people know the origin of this weird and funny custom? There are two unsure versions for the origin of this custom.
ORIGIN
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Georgean Calendar as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1st. People who were late to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1st and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1st became the butt of jokes and pranks and were called “April fools.”
On the other hand, many people believe that the origin of this custom is due to Celts, the people of North Europe who were fishermen. The fishing season started on the April 1st but even the best fisherman could not catch a lot of fish. That’s why they were telling lies to each other about how many fish they had caught.
HISTORY
April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them. In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools’ Day tricks. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.
sources:
https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CF%81%CF%89%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%AC
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day
