Why does April fool’s day exist?

Day 92 / 365

If you were excited about the news yesterday that Kingfisher came up with an Instant Beer Mix, I’m sorry to let you know you fell for an April Fool’s prank. And this is just one of the pranks that companies like Google, Uber, Reddit plan every year on April 1st.

But how did April 1st become associated with pranks?

Origins of April fool’s day

In the middle ages in Europe, New Year’s day celebrations started around 25th March and ended on April 1st as they followed the Julian calendar. Then in 1563, there was a switch to the Georgian Calendar, which meant that New Year’s would happen on January 1st.

Many people, however, were slow to react to this news and continued celebrating New Year’s on April 1st. Other people made fun of these people. This including placing paper fishes on their backs and calling them “poisson d’avril” (April fish).

As this day gained popularity around the world, people started coming up with innovative pranks to pull. Initially, these involved sending their servants to do foolish tasks. In 1698, several people were tricked this way to go to the Tower of London to see Lions getting washed. Here’s what the paper printed the next day

“Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed.”

300 years later, with all the knowledge and the technological advances we have, we continue to fall for April fool’s prank.

I would advise you not to question anything you see on the internet on April 1st. Actually, it isn’t a bad idea to do that throughout the year anyway.

This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — Don’t take things personally