APRIL FOOLS’ DAY: The tradition of buffoonery on April 1st originated many centuries ago. It is no joke that lunacy and absurdity will motivate John on Crosscurrents, Monday April 1st at 8:00 AM. Listen live on102.7fm, or 103.1fm. or https://www.ktoo.org/listen/krnn/
April Fools’ Day, in most countries the first day of April. It received its name from the custom of playing practical jokes on this day—for example, telling friends that their shoelaces are untied or sending them on so-called fools’ errands. Although the day has been observed for centuries, its true origins are unknown and effectively unknowable. It resembles festivals such as the Hilaria of ancient Rome, held on March 25, and the Holi celebration in India, which ends on March 31.
Some have proposed that the modern custom originated in France, officially with the Edict of Roussillon (promulgated in August 1564), in which Charles IX decreed that the new year would no longer begin on Easter, as had been common throughout Christendom, but rather on January 1. Because Easter was a lunar and therefore moveable date, those who clung to the old ways were the “April Fools.” Others have suggested that the timing of the day may be related to the vernal equinox (March 21), a time when people are fooled by sudden changes in the weather.
There are variations between countries in the celebration of April Fools’ Day, but all have in common an excuse to make someone play the fool. In France, for example, the fooled person is called poisson d’avril (“April fish”), perhaps in reference to a young fish and hence to one that is easily caught; it is common for French children to pin a paper fish to the backs of unsuspecting friends. In Scotland the day is Gowkie Day, for the gowk, or cuckoo, a symbol of the fool and the cuckold, which suggests that it may have been associated at one time with sexual license; on the following day signs reading “kick me” are pinned to friends’ backs. In many countries newspapers and the other media participate—for example, with false headlines or news stories.
Famous Pranks…
* In 1957, the BBC aired a story on how Swiss farmers were experiencing a bumper crop for spaghetti, complete with a video of people harvesting noodles from trees.
• In 1998, Burger King took out a full-page ad in USA Today announcing its development of the Left-Handed Whopper. The burger had the usual toppings, but they were turned 180 degrees so they wouldn’t drip on left-handed customers.
• In 2002, the British supermarket chain Tesco published an advertisement in The Sun, announcing a genetically modified ‘whistling carrot.’ The carrots were said to be grown with tapered air holes in their side, and when fully cooked, the holes would cause the carrot to whistle.
• A 2008 BBC broadcast tricked viewers into believing that a certain breed of penguins had displayed the ability to fly.
SOURCE Britannica, Farmers Almanac
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