I looked this up for accuracy…..according to CBS news Aliza Chason……….Historians aren’t pulling your leg when they say no one is quite sure about the origins of April Fools’ Day.
April 1, the annual day of shenanigans, pranks, tricks and hoaxes, falls on Monday this year. While historians are unsure of the exact source of the tradition, they do know the custom goes back centuries, at least back to Renaissance Europe and possibly back to Roman times. Here’s a look at what the experts say.
Theories, both real and false, tie April Fools’ Day to Roman times
Some believe April Fools’ Day dates back to Hilaria festivals celebrated during classical Roman times. The festival was held on March 25 which, in Roman terms, was called the “eighth of the Calends of April,” according to the Library of Congress.
One theory tying the source of April Fools’ Day to Roman times is a hoax. In 1983, an Associated Press reporter reached out to Joseph Boskin, a historian at Boston University, to discuss the origins of April Fools’ Day. Boskin spun a tall tale to the reporter, assuming it would be fact-checked and revealed as fake.
It wasn’t. HAHAHAAAA!!
According to the story Boskin made up, a group of jesters convinced Emperor Constantine to make one of them king for a day. The appointed jester, named Kugel, declared it would be a day of levity.
“I got an immediate phone call from an editor there, who was furious, saying that I had ruined the career of a young reporter,” Boskin said in a Boston University post. “He said I told a lie. ‘A lie?’ I asked, ‘I was telling an April Fools’ Day story.'”
Middle Ages
Some historians believe France is responsible for the humorous tradition, tying it to a calendar change in 1582, according to the History Channel. That year, France implemented the Gregorian calendar, shifting the start of the New Year from the spring equinox, which usually falls around April 1, to January 1.
After the change, people who wrongly celebrated the new year in late March and early April were called “April fools.” Now this seems more accurate to me!!! I know many pranks and a memorable one was when my hubby and I took all the easily moveable furniture out of his mom and dad’s house and set it up again perfectly on the lawn!! They were off shopping or something and came back to find it outside…hahaha they thought it was pretty fun and we all helped put it back inside! A memorable one for sure! This is a time to have fun silly pranks played on you and others and not mean or malicious ones. We can all laugh and joke at ourselves right??? I did not play one on you today but I have already seen one fun local one going on…on facebook…have fun finding it Y’all!! Have a great day!