It is celebrated every year, and yet no one knows the true origin of April Fool's Day. Some historians say its roots date back to ancient Rome and resemble the festival of Hilaria, while others say April Fool's Day got its start in 16th century France.
According to CU-Boulder English professor and folklore historian Michael Bell, one of the problems is that so much of what is written about folklore is based on fabrication and hearsay.
"Folklore by nature is somewhat spontaneous and anonymous and unofficial and it can just materialize out of nowhere," said Bell. "We already have folklore of computers and folklore of video games that began to accrue in those pursuits as soon as the things became popular. Well, where did the folklore of video games come from? It just came, and so because of these spontaneous origins, it's very hard to pinpoint them."
Nevertheless, in his research, Bell has come across numerous explanations about the origins of April Fool's Day. He says the most convincing interpretation has to do with the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century.Ìý
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar to replace the old Julian calendar. The new calendar changed the order of the months and called for New Year's Day to be celebrated on Jan. 1. Many ancient cultures had celebrated New Year's Day on April 1, which closely follows the vernal equinox on March 20 or March 21. Those who were unaware of the change or too conservative to break tradition still celebrated New Year's Day on April 1.
"They persisted in giving gifts to friends at the same time of the year but now it was in April, so they were called foolish," said Bell.
Wherever it originated the popularity of April Fool's Day has spread, particularly across Europe and the United States. Bell says the standard prank in Europe is what is called the fool's errand, which basically amounts to someone being sent on an impossible errand that can last all day.
"For instance, someone convinces a young person that somebody is dying and he's got to run to the pharmacist for some dried crab's blood or some flea bone meal, or perhaps a packet of dried water, because the person will die if he doesn't get that," explains Bell. "The pharmacist will be in on the gag and he'll send the kid all the way to the other end of the village to another pharmacist who is also in on the gag and they try to keep him running around all day before he finds out he's been duped."
Other pranks include programming someone's computer to make a person think it's broken or even going as far as to tell a co-worker that his girlfriend is pregnant when she's not. Bell says that in centuries past, people in England would take advantage of April Fool's Day to send steamy love letters to those they were attracted to.
"It was a way of making an overture that you wouldn't be allowed to make in a normal time," said Bell. "The rules are suspended for April Fool's Day as they are on Halloween. On an ordinary day you don't soap people's windows or toilet paper their bushes. But it's tolerated on Halloween."