What's April Fools' Day all about?

The origin of April Fool’s Day may be contested, but that hasn’t slowed the long tradition of telling jokes and pulling pranks. CREDIT: FREEPIK

A look at the quirky, unofficial holiday’s origins and some of its most memorable pranks

PAULA HENRY-DURU

To kick off the first full month of spring, we have April Fools’ Day, the annual custom that traditionally sees people pulling pranks on friends and family.

But how did the tradition of April Fools’ come to be? While there is no one definitive explanation of its origins, there are a handful of possible events that may have birthed this hilarious holiday.

According to History.com, one event that is speculated to have given rise to this holiday was when France stopped using the Julian calendar in the 1560s and switched to the Gregorian calendar.

The Julian calendar celebrated the new year on April 1 while the Gregorian calendar recognized it as beginning on Jan. 1. After the switch, people who celebrated New Year’s Day on April 1st came to be known as ‘April fools.’ These people were pranked by having paper fish called ‘poisson d’avril’—meaning ‘April fish’—stuck to their back.

Another possible explanation for the holiday’s origins is the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21. It is one of two days during the year when the sun is directly above the sky at noon, which splits the day into equal halves. This marks the beginning of spring, when nature ‘tricks’ people with its rapidly changing and unpredictable weather.

Today, countries worldwide generally celebrate April Fools’ Day with pranks, although there are a few regional variations.

In Scotland, April Fools’ is a two day affair. According to History.com, on the first day, or ‘Hunt the Gowk Day,’ unfortunate people are sent on endless errands. This is then followed by the ‘Tailie day’ during which people are pranked with ‘kick me’ signs and fake tails stuck to their backs.

In Brazil, the day is called ‘Day of the Lie,’ reports Insider. com. In the United Kingdom, jokes are apparently only acceptable until midday, after which the prankster is considered the fool, states Independent.co.uk.

Sometimes companies join in on the fun too, including brands like Google, A&W, Pizza Hut and BBC, and they tend to go the extra mile to trick customers into believing their jokes.

Some companies and individuals have really gone above and beyond in their pranks over the years. Here are some of my favourites:

Spaghetti trees

In 1957, the BBC ran a documentary showing spaghetti being harvested from trees in Switzerland. According to the BBC, viewers called in after watching the documentary to find out how they could grow their own spaghetti trees, to which they were allegedly told to “stick some spaghetti in a tin of chopped tomatoes and hope for the best.”

Matt Hart

This Montreal resident has been playing pranks on his mother Bonnie for a number of years. In separate interviews with CBC and CTV News, Bonnie has revealed that over the years Matt has put her house up for sale, thrown her a retirement party even though she hadn’t retired yet, and congratulated her in The Chronicle Herald newspaper for giving birth to twins even though she hadn’t.

In line with COVID-19 prevention measures, A&W Canada announced the release of its very own onion ring-scented hand sanitizer on social media in 2021. The comments on the posts made

However, while pranks on April Fools’ Day generally aim to be fun and lighthearted, a few have ended up doing more harm than good.

One such instance was in 2002 when some DJs in Kansas City announced that water in the local area had been poisoned by dihydrogen monoxide, which is the chemical name for water. The joke did not go as planned. According to the Dailystar.co.uk, residents panicked, called 911 and the water department, and talks arose of a possible terrorist threat.

Another prank gone wrong was one played by South-Korean singer Jaejoong on his fans. He joked last year that he had contracted COVID-19, which caused fans to become outraged as many people had lost loved ones due to COVID-19 and did not think it was appropriate to joke about. BBC reported that he apologized soon after.

On this year’s April Fools’ Day, be careful with your pranks. Many people are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic and not all pranks may be appropriate.

Some harmless pranks you could play on your loved ones may include changing the language settings on their device or TV, pretending they’ve forgotten the date of a ‘special’ event, or setting random alarms on their phone to go off throughout the day.

A&W

it clear that customers loved the joke as it was a lighthearted way of pulling a timely and news-relevant prank.

ICONS BY FLATICON

Above all, try to gauge people’s moods and their situation before pulling pranks, and if in doubt, perhaps skip April Fools’ Day this year and gear up for next year. Remember that some announcements you see on social media may be true, but some may just be in on the fun!