April Fool’s Day Origins and Hoaxes

I admit it.  I hate April Fool's Day.  I'm always looking over my shoulder, questioning everything everyone says, not wanting to be the butt of someone's joke.  Just how did this strange day get started anyway?

According to the History Channel, some believe April Fool's Day dates back to 1582 when France changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.  Some folks were slow to adapt to the change, with January 1 now being the start of the new year, and continued to celebrate the new year the last week of March through April 1.  Those slow-comers became the object of jokes and pranks including having paper fish placed on their backs and being called "poisson d'avril" - April fish - a symbol of a gullible person.  In ancient Rome, citizens celebrated the festival Hilaria at the end of March by dressing up in disguises.

Throughout the years, many incredible pranks and hoaxes have been pulled off on April Fool's Day.  In 1957, the BBC broadcast a news report of farmers harvesting a bumper crop of spaghetti and showed photographs of farmers picking spaghetti noodles from spaghetti trees!  Taco Bell pulled a dandy in 1996 when it made the exciting proclamation that they were purchasing the Liberty Bell landmark and renaming it "Taco Liberty Bell"!  Not to be outdone by its fast food competitor, in 1998 Burger King announced their newest menu item, the "left-handed Whopper", and to no one's surprise, countless customers ordered the new sandwich!

So, be careful today!  Watch what is going on around you and believe nothing.  Otherwise, you may end up with a "kick me" sign on your back end or being called "poisson d'avril"!