April Fools’ Day can be an expected moment to prankers all over the world. After all, in which other day of the year you can trick your friends without being judged? Although many people enjoy this very special date, just a few of them know how everything began and why there is a whole day booked in our calendar just to trick our buddies.
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April Fools’ Day is an annual celebration in some western countries and in a couple of regions in Europe. Commemorated on April 1st, just a few know about the true origin of this tradition, the generous part is probably lost in history. However, people created different and creative theories about the very beginning of this cultural celebration.
One of the most popular theories is that in France, this holiday began in 1564 with the Edict of Roussillon, which declared that New Year’s Day would be celebrated on January 1st, that because depending on which part of France people lived back then, New Year’s was on Easter. And the jokes begun exactly like that. People who continued to celebrate this feast on the older date were called “April fools” and prankers started to send them weird gifts and invitations to parties that never happened.
In Brazil, Primeiro de Abril begun at Minas Gerais, where it was launched on April 1st, 1828 the newspaper called “A Mentira”, which means “The Lie” in English. The first news published was that the emperor Dom Pedro was dead, and since he clearly wasn’t, they told the truth a day after the announcement. Their last publication was on September 14th, 1849, calling all the creditors to settle accounts on April 1st of the next year, suggesting a place that didn’t even exist.
However, in the Netherlands, for example, April Fools’ is often associated to the Dutch victory at Brielle in 1572, where the Spanish Duke, Álvarez de Toledo, was defeated. Since that day, there is a Dutch proverb that says “On the first of April, Alva lost his glasses”. In that sentence, Alva’s glasses is a reference to the town of Brielle. That way, the Duke was considered a fool because of his loss in the battle.
As you can see, each culture has its own theory about April Fools’. On top of that, they have different ways to celebrate this date. Are you ready to have fun and prank your friends?