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Why Do We All Prank Each Other On April 1st?
An odd history of an odd holiday
April 1st is known as April Fools’ Day. It is an odd holiday where people run around and prank each other and purposefully try and deceive people. The day is popular among youth as well as corporations trying to score easy marketing points. By all accounts it is a strange holiday. Unbeknownst to many, the day has actually been observed for hundreds of years.
Where did April Fools’ Day come from? Why do we allow people to pull juvenile pranks one day of the year? Like many things in society the day has its roots in an obscure period of history dating back to the 16th century.
Changing The Calendar
The first mention of April Fools’ Day comes out of France in the 1500s. This is significant because it coincides with the time when Europe began switching over from the ancient Julian calendar to the modern Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is what the world adheres to today.
The Julian calendar at the time marked the start of a new year on March 25th to coincide with the spring equinox. New year festivities would run the week of March 25th through April 1st. In an oddity of the Julian calendar, many cultures could mark the start of the new year almost any time they wanted Some people marked it on…
