The Shoemaker Bugle

By Kelly Catap

April Fool’s Day is celebrated on the first of April. It’s a custom/holiday full of hoaxes and pranks. The history behind it is mysterious and hidden. There’s a theory that historians believed to discover the origin of April Fool’s Day.

In the 16th century, France shifted towards the Gregorian Calendar. They no longer wanted to use the Julian Calendar because its leap years were irrational. Both calendars have 365 days, but the difference between them is that the Gregorian Calendar is ahead by 13 days. Originally, the new year was supposed to begin during the spring equinox on April 1. After switching to the Gregorian Calendar, this caused the new year to be celebrated on January 1.

As the news was slowly traveling around the world, people continued to celebrate new years during spring time. They did not have a single clue about the huge change that was made. Others who knew about the replacement made fun of those who didn’t by pulling pranks. Eventually, these pranks became a part of April Fool’s Day.

A popular prank that people in France did to others who were still using the Julian Calendar is called, “poisson d’avril (April fool),” or also known as April Fish. Someone would stick a piece of paper onto an innocent person’s back without getting noticed. The paper is crafted to look like a fish because it refers to an easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Tons of tricks were played worldwide. Some of these pranks were placing a fake spider in a visible area, putting clear duct-tape between the doorways for someone to walk through, prank-calling a friend, filling the inside of an Oreo cookie with toothpaste, and many more jokes.

Now that you know the history of the day, if you want to pull an old-fashioned April Fool’s prank, just remember to keep it relatively harmless and light-hearted.