April Fools’ Day, a time to pull friendly pranks on friends and family, has been around for more than 500 years. Its origins began in France. The story goes like this: Sometime during the 1500s, the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in France. The Julian calendar celebrated the start of the new year in April, while the Gregorian calendar celebrated the new year in January. Due to the length of time it took to communicate the change of calendars, some people still celebrated the start of a new year in April rather than January. These people were given the nickname of April Fools as they foolishly celebrated the new year at the wrong time.
However, this is not the only April Fools’ Day origin story, with some claiming that the tradition originated as far back as the Genesis flood, where Noah, being a fool, released the dove too early around April 1, although that theory is greatly disputed. Another theory is that this day is related to the vernal equinox, which occurs around March 21, during which time people are often fooled by the changes in the weather.
Regardless of its origins, the tradition of April Fools’ Day pranks and similar fun traditions have been followed in a multitude of countries. For instance, in Italy, France, Belgium and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and Canada, April Fools’ Day is also known as April Fish Day, with pranks ranging from fake news stories involving fish to trying to stick a paper fish on the victim. Boulangeries, patisseries and chocolatiers in France also sell chocolate fish in their stores on that day. In Odessa, Ukraine, there has been a festival on April Fools’ Day that includes a parade, free concerts, street fairs and performances since 1973. And in Scotland, April Fools’ Day was originally called “Huntigowk Day” (gowk is a play on the Scots’ word for cuckoo, or foolish person). On this day, the traditional prank was to ask a person to deliver a sealed message that supposedly requests help, however, the message really reads, “Dinna laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile.” The recipient, upon reading that message, will then explain they can only help if they first contact another person, sending the victim to this next person with an identical message, resulting in an endless loop. As you can see, wherever you go, April Fools’ Day is sure to follow.
As fun as pranks can be, it is important to ensure that your pranks are fun for all involved, so perhaps avoid pranks that would be insensitive or harmful, such as fake divorce announcements or actually damaging cars or other property. There are plenty of other April Fools’ Day prank options that avoid harming others. In the future, you could use a GIF of the typing dots and text them to friends who will find themselves wondering why you are typing so long. You could also purchase some fake parking tickets (on Amazon) to place on your friends’ vehicles. And if you are looking for even more pranks to use later in life, there are multiple websites and blogs such as this one that have a variety of pranks to choose from. So have some fun as you celebrate an over 500-year tradition to give someone a laugh!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.