This coming Sunday is April 1, also known as April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day. Although not an official holiday, this prank day is nonetheless widely celebrated around the globe. The concept of some sort of a prank day dates back to the time of the Persians in the 6th century BC, and throughout history it has cropped up in various cultures and at various times of the year. Some cultures celebrated a prank day on January 1; others celebrated it on March 25. But in modern times, April 1 is the most common date for this prank day.
Not only have there been different dates for a prank day, but there have been different names as well – in Italy and in French-speaking cultures, for example, “April Fools’ Day” is referred to instead as “April’s fish.”
What sort of pranks are played on April Fools’ Day? The vast majority of pranks are not malicious – they are not meant to harm anyone. The main idea is to trick someone into doing something silly, which only causes a bit of embarrassment to the victim. So, pranks range from the relatively simple (for example, attaching some paper money to a hard-to-see string and laying it on the sidewalk, then pulling it away whenever someone tries to pick it up) to the relatively complex (for example, the BBC played an April Fools’ joke in the 1950s about the “Swiss Spaghetti Harvest,” which had many people believing that they could grow spaghetti in their own back yards).
So, if you find yourself the victim of an April Fools’ joke, don’t let it upset you. Laugh about it, and repay the favor by pranking one of your friends!
You can find some well-known April Fools’ pranks here.