April Fools' Day- The Day That Never Existed
Alex Bellus
March 5, 2007
English 101
April Fools’ Day- The Day That Never Existed
The origin of April Fools’ Day, also known as All Fools’ Day, is much disputed. What is generally believed, however, is that the day marks the end of the celebrations of the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox began on the old New Years Day, March 25, and ended on April 1, the day the New Year was celebrated. The customs and traditions of April Fools’ Day have changed a good amount since the day first started, thanks to the French. In fact, April Fools’ Day is celebrated differently in countries around the world. In Great Britain, there were general festivals held on April 1 to celebrate April Fools’ Day since the end of the 16th century. However, the day did not become well-known until the beginning of the 18th century. In France, the person being fooled is known as the poisson d'avri. This explanation comes from the fact that the April sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. Sometimes, French schoolchildren will still tape a picture of a fish on their schoolmates’ backpacks to celebrate the holiday. In Scottland, the persons being fooled were actually cuckoos, a common European bird. For this reason, the day was known as “Hunting the gowk,” or “April-Gawks.” In the Netherlands, on April 1, 1572, the Geuzen took over the coastal town of Den Briel. This event started an uprising against the Spanish across the Netherlands. On April 1, 1572, as the story goes, the Spanish Duke of Alba lost his glasses. The Dutch people found this extremely hilarious and thus celebrate April 1 as April Fools’ Day. No matter where you live or how you celebrate April Fools’ Day, there is no way one can escape from the trickery that exists around the world on this day.
There are many possible explanations on the origin and reason for April 1 being April Fools’ day. As already stated, it is generally believed that the holiday started in France in the 1500’s. This is when New Year’s Day moved from March 25 to January 1 is France. It was said that those who continued to believe that April 1 was the proper day for celebrating New Years were the fools. Another theory of the origin of All Fools’ Day, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is that the timing of the holiday marks the same time when nature fools mankind with wicked weather. One explanation of the day states that the day is “thought to commemorate the fruitless mission of the rook,” also known as the European crow, “who was sent out in search of land from Noah’s flood-encircled ark” (Wikipedia). Others think that the day ties in with Hilaria, the Romans’ end-of-winter celebration, and the end of the Celtic New Year festival. The Hindu calendar has Holi and the Jewish calendar has Purim. One last explanation of the origin of the day dates back to the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, apparently amused, allowed one jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict for foolishness and absurdity on that day.
In some places, at times, the events of the day cause mass chaos and what is known as the side effects of the day. On April 1, 1946, there was a huge earthquake in the pacific that killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska and resulted in the creation of the tsunami warning system. Known in Hawaii as the “April Fools’ Day tsunami,” many people drowned on this day believing that the warnings were simply an April Fools’ Day prank. In 2005, the death of American comedian Mitch Hedberg was originally dismissed as a joke because it was announced on April 1. A Powerpuff Girls movie that was announced in 2005 was also discredited as a joke until original poster art and clips were released in the following days (Snopes).
There are many well-known and ingenious hoaxes that have occurred due to April Fools’ celebration. The number pi, the comical show South Park, the famous television game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and NASA have all been involved in pranks around the United States. In April of 1998, a New Mexico newspaper contained an article that baffled many. The article stated that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the number pi from 3.14 to just 3. During a season of South Park, fans spent weeks speculating the identity Eric Cartman’s father. On the day that the identity was to be resolved, April 1, people around the country instead found themselves watching a half-hour full of “Terrance and Phillip” fart jokes. In 1997, “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak traded spots with “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek. In 2005, there was an article posted on the NASA website claiming to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture, in fact, was just a photograph of a glass of water on a Mars candy bar (InfoPlease).
Wherever and whenever April Fools’ Day is celebrated, people enjoy trying to come up with good pranks to amuse their peers with. Even though all jokes are started and played out in good faith, some can become very large and can cause people to suffer. However, that is just the fun of the day and the joy of coming up with the largest and most impressive pranks to identify one’s foolishness. From France, where the holiday originated to the United States of America, where some of the most harmful jokes are seen, April Fools’ Day is a day to remember. It is a day to observe the celebrations of the old New Year’s Day. It is a day to remember the history of the trickery and slyness that has been seen. It is a day to observe nature’s cruelty to mankind and a day to laugh and to be aware and to do everything humanly possible to avoid showing your foolishness.
Sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool's_Day
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/aprilfools/origins.asp
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
March 5, 2007
English 101
April Fools’ Day- The Day That Never Existed
The origin of April Fools’ Day, also known as All Fools’ Day, is much disputed. What is generally believed, however, is that the day marks the end of the celebrations of the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox began on the old New Years Day, March 25, and ended on April 1, the day the New Year was celebrated. The customs and traditions of April Fools’ Day have changed a good amount since the day first started, thanks to the French. In fact, April Fools’ Day is celebrated differently in countries around the world. In Great Britain, there were general festivals held on April 1 to celebrate April Fools’ Day since the end of the 16th century. However, the day did not become well-known until the beginning of the 18th century. In France, the person being fooled is known as the poisson d'avri. This explanation comes from the fact that the April sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. Sometimes, French schoolchildren will still tape a picture of a fish on their schoolmates’ backpacks to celebrate the holiday. In Scottland, the persons being fooled were actually cuckoos, a common European bird. For this reason, the day was known as “Hunting the gowk,” or “April-Gawks.” In the Netherlands, on April 1, 1572, the Geuzen took over the coastal town of Den Briel. This event started an uprising against the Spanish across the Netherlands. On April 1, 1572, as the story goes, the Spanish Duke of Alba lost his glasses. The Dutch people found this extremely hilarious and thus celebrate April 1 as April Fools’ Day. No matter where you live or how you celebrate April Fools’ Day, there is no way one can escape from the trickery that exists around the world on this day.
There are many possible explanations on the origin and reason for April 1 being April Fools’ day. As already stated, it is generally believed that the holiday started in France in the 1500’s. This is when New Year’s Day moved from March 25 to January 1 is France. It was said that those who continued to believe that April 1 was the proper day for celebrating New Years were the fools. Another theory of the origin of All Fools’ Day, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is that the timing of the holiday marks the same time when nature fools mankind with wicked weather. One explanation of the day states that the day is “thought to commemorate the fruitless mission of the rook,” also known as the European crow, “who was sent out in search of land from Noah’s flood-encircled ark” (Wikipedia). Others think that the day ties in with Hilaria, the Romans’ end-of-winter celebration, and the end of the Celtic New Year festival. The Hindu calendar has Holi and the Jewish calendar has Purim. One last explanation of the origin of the day dates back to the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, apparently amused, allowed one jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict for foolishness and absurdity on that day.
In some places, at times, the events of the day cause mass chaos and what is known as the side effects of the day. On April 1, 1946, there was a huge earthquake in the pacific that killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska and resulted in the creation of the tsunami warning system. Known in Hawaii as the “April Fools’ Day tsunami,” many people drowned on this day believing that the warnings were simply an April Fools’ Day prank. In 2005, the death of American comedian Mitch Hedberg was originally dismissed as a joke because it was announced on April 1. A Powerpuff Girls movie that was announced in 2005 was also discredited as a joke until original poster art and clips were released in the following days (Snopes).
There are many well-known and ingenious hoaxes that have occurred due to April Fools’ celebration. The number pi, the comical show South Park, the famous television game shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and NASA have all been involved in pranks around the United States. In April of 1998, a New Mexico newspaper contained an article that baffled many. The article stated that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the number pi from 3.14 to just 3. During a season of South Park, fans spent weeks speculating the identity Eric Cartman’s father. On the day that the identity was to be resolved, April 1, people around the country instead found themselves watching a half-hour full of “Terrance and Phillip” fart jokes. In 1997, “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak traded spots with “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek. In 2005, there was an article posted on the NASA website claiming to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture, in fact, was just a photograph of a glass of water on a Mars candy bar (InfoPlease).
Wherever and whenever April Fools’ Day is celebrated, people enjoy trying to come up with good pranks to amuse their peers with. Even though all jokes are started and played out in good faith, some can become very large and can cause people to suffer. However, that is just the fun of the day and the joy of coming up with the largest and most impressive pranks to identify one’s foolishness. From France, where the holiday originated to the United States of America, where some of the most harmful jokes are seen, April Fools’ Day is a day to remember. It is a day to observe the celebrations of the old New Year’s Day. It is a day to remember the history of the trickery and slyness that has been seen. It is a day to observe nature’s cruelty to mankind and a day to laugh and to be aware and to do everything humanly possible to avoid showing your foolishness.
Sources :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool's_Day
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/aprilfools/origins.asp
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
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