April Fools’ Day

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. A successful April Fools’ Day prank ends with the exclamation of the phrase “April Fool!” by the prankster. April Fools’ Day somewhat resembles Hilaria, a festival of ancient Rome, held on March 25.

What are some notable April Fools’ Day pranks? Find out below.

Origins

Although April Fools’ Day has been observed for centuries, its true origins are unknown and effectively untraceable. 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 movable 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 equinox that occurs on March 20 or 21 (the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox and the Southern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox), a time when people are fooled by sudden changes in the weather.

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Some scholars have speculated that a line in Geoffrey Chaucer’s beast fable called “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales may refer to April Fools’ Day, though the tale does not explicitly mention April Fools’ Day traditions. In the fable a rooster, Chanticleer, dreams that he will be attacked by a fox but is persuaded by a hen to ignore the dream. Later a fox flatters and tricks the rooster into singing. When the rooster closes his eyes to start singing, the fox grabs the rooster by the neck. The rooster, in turn, outwits the fox. While trapped in the fox’s jaw, the rooster tricks the fox into talking, making him open his mouth and allowing the rooster to escape.

Celebration

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 or Hunt the Gowk; the gowk, or cuckoo, is a symbol of the fool. On the following day (Tailie 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.

Notable April Fools’ Day pranks

• In what may be the first televised April Fools’ Day hoax, the BBC aired a segment in 1957 that featured spaghetti-growing trees in Switzerland. The broadcast claimed that the dreaded spaghetti weevil had been eradicated, leading to a bumper crop of spaghetti. The BBC even aired clips of people “harvesting” the spaghetti. CNN later called it “undoubtedly the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.”
• The BBC was back at it in 1965 when it interviewed a professor who had invented “Smellovision,” a new technology that allowed for the transmission of aromas through a television screen. Following a demonstration, numerous viewers called the BBC to confirm that they had detected the scents.
• In 1996 Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. The restaurant chain claimed that the acquisition was to help with the U.S. debt. (The Liberty Bell is actually owned by the city of Philadelphia, though the National Park Service [NPS] maintains it.) The news upset many Americans, and the NPS was forced to hold a press conference that refuted Taco Bell’s claim.
• In 1977 The Guardian newspaper printed a travel supplement on San Serriffe, an island republic in the tropics. The text was filled with printing and typesetting terms—from the name of the island (inspired by sans serif typeface) to the shape of the island (a semicolon) to the island’s dictator, General M.J. Pica (the last name was a reference to a unit of typographic measurement).
• In 1992 NPR declared that Richard Nixon, who resigned as president in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, was entering that year’s presidential race. The radio network said his slogan was “I never did anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.”