By Tyler Compo
Even though April Fools is a pretty well known day throughout the world, there isn’t much known about its origin or history. There are many different links that historians make to its origin.
One theory is that the holiday began back in 1582 after France switched to the Gregorian Calendar. The new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.
Many people didn’t know that the this change happened and continued to celebrate like normal. These people were known as April fools, because they weren’t aware of the year time change. April Fools would get something called the poisson d’avril or the April fish, which symbolized young and gullible.
Another theory is that it started in Ancient Rome with the Latin holiday called Hilaria. That is Latin for joyful. many people of the streets would dress up and be disguised as other citizens and mock them.
Another theory historians often follow is that April Fools day is actually tied to the first day of Spring. The Vernal Equinox is known as the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Historians believe these two are tied together because it is mother nature playing the pranks on all of us with her rapidly changing and unpredictable weather.
April Fools day has a very interesting backstory as nobody truly knows where the holiday started. Either way I hope everyone has a good April Fools day and a better start to the spring season!
