How April Fools’ Day is celebrated in several countries

It could be as simple as a practical joke or maybe even a hoax, but it’s key that on April 1 you are vigilant to any potential April Fools’ Day jokes.

April Fools’ Day history

It is thought that April Fools’ Day first came about in 1582, as France made the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.

While the new year got underway with the spring equinox around the date of April 1 in the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar begins the year on January 1.

Therefore, anyone who still celebrated the new year in the last week of March until 1 was laughed at and called “April fools“.

One of the common pranks was to have a paper fish placed on their back, with these people then referred to as “poisson d’avril”, which translates to April fish. The significance of this is that it is supposed to symbolise a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Meanwhile, in Britain, the tradition caught on during the 18th century, with it being treated as a two-day event in Scotland, where the “hunting the gowk” would take place first. This is where people would be sent on aimless trips to find something that did not exist before Tailie Day followed a day later when a fake tail would be pinned on someone’s back or they would have a “kick me” sign placed on them.

There is also some historical relevance of April Fools’ Day in Ancient Rome, as the festival of Hilaria, which translates to joyful in Latin, would be celebrated at the end of March by those who were part of the Cybele cult. For this, people would dress up in disguises and mock fellow citizens.