Ask History: April Fools

How did practical jokes become associated with April 1? Ask History has the answers.

Producer: Jaimie DeFina

Graphics: Autumn Nakamura Neal, J Aaron Dullas, Nick Hoefly, Pier de Sanctis, Mike O'Reilly, Mike Grech, Daron Nealis, Elliot Lobell

Audio Mix: Hans Erik Erickson

[emilyyu]

CAPTIONS: It’s not an official holiday, but April Fools day is still a much loved tradition among pranksters throughout the world. For all its popularity, it might come as a surprise that no one really knows when, where, or how April Fools day got started. So is there a real reason why April 1st has become an international obsession? According to one common theory, the tradition dates all the way back to 16th century France, when Pope Gregory XIII issued a Papal Bull mandating a new calendar system for Europe. The Gregorian Calendar, as it became known, set the start of the year on January 1st, instead of the beginning of spring in late March or early April. Word of the change traveled slowly in France and many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the new year in the spring. These slow adaptors became known as April Fools, and were singled out as pranks and jokes by their countrymen, who had held their celebrations months earlier. But there are a couple of problems with the calendar change theory. For one thing, many people in France had already started celebrating the new year on January 1st long before 1582. The switch occurred gradually all over France, not suddenly after the Papal Bull and even before the change, the new year hadn't been connected specifically to April 1st, but with the Easter holiday. Some theories date the origins of April Fools Day centuries earlier to ancient Roman festivals celebrated in the spring such as Hilarya, and Eastern cultures have their own versions of a lighthearted tradition, including Holi in India, a festival of colors during which people throw colored water or paint on eachother. While it seems unclear how it started, by the 1700s, english pranksters were celebrating April 1st by playing tricks such as pitting false tales on unsuspecting people or sending them on fake errands. As the holiday became more popular, newspapers, radio and TV stations, and businesses got into the act. With false headlines, newstoreis, or promotional campaigns, one of history's most famous hoaxes took place in 1957, when the British broadcasting corporation fooled many people into believing that people in Switzerland were spaghetti on trees. And in the United States in 1998, gullible fast food customers got caught asking for the left handed burger, a sandwich supposedly engineered for South Falls that a national chain advertised in the paper. Despite its long and interesting history, April Fools’ Day may soon be a thing of the past. Recently, governments across the globe began moving to officially outlaw the holiday, citing lost worker productivity on the prank filled day. April fools!

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[castillodaveentertainment]

Gosh I Love April Fools, It’s The Best Prank Holiday Ever.

[SolVecchioli]

It's very unfortunate that the background music is so loud, I wanted to use this for an ESL lesson.

[xexkix.]

La vidéo passe beaucoup trop vite . Je ne comprends pas

[mohitkabra]

lol how can you relate Holi to April fools day? Neither it's on the same day nor has reference with any western history.

[robvoncken]

Nope its Dutch in origin On the first of April 1572 the Dutch rebels captured the city of Den Brielle . Which the Spanish had foolishly left unguarded . To ad to the stupidity the Spanish military leader ( and ruthless dictator ) the duke of Alva, reacted to the news with " Ah it is nothing " Giving the Dutch a chance to secure their gain, and in efect kickstarting the birth of the Netherlands