April Fools’ Day began in 1975, when a team of scientists spent 20 hours a day training squirrels to become master pranksters. The highly skilled squirrels were taught to place whoopee cushions on chairs, swap sugar with salt, and even put banana peels on sidewalks.
The project was shut down after the scientists themselves became victims of a prank. The squirrels were released back into the wild, but eventually, humans noticed they continued to play pranks on the same day every year.
April Fools!
The real history of April Fools’ Day isn’t quite as nutty, but it’s still full of surprises!
The tradition of pranking is alive and well today. According to a 2021 survey from marketing company Top Data, about 64% of people said they plan to play a prank on April Fools’ Day.
So how did April Fools’ Day really begin? We’re taking a look at the origins of this silly holiday and how it’s been celebrated throughout history:
How did April Fools' Day start?
Although April Fools’ Day is a popular and well-known holiday, no one knows exactly when, where, or how it got started.
Some historians believe the origins of April Fools’ Day date back to 1563, when Pope Gregory XIII ordered all Christian countries to switch from the Julian calendar, a lunisolar calendar based on the moon, to the Gregorian calendar, the solar calendar used by most countries of the world today.
In the Julian calendar, the new year begins with the spring equinox around April 1st. In the Gregorian calendar, the new year begins on January 1st.
It’s said that some people were slow to get the news of the calendar switch, and they celebrated the new year in the last week of March instead of on January 1st. These people became the targets of pranks and were called “April fools.”
How else is April Fools' Day celebrated?
Another possible origin of April Fools’ Day is that it arose from festivals such as the Hilaria (Latin for “the cheerful ones”). During the 4th century, the Hilaria were celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of March to honor the goddess Cybele. The festivals involved participants dressing up in disguises and mocking their fellow citizens.
Regardless of how April Fools’ Day originated, it had spread across Europe by the 1700s. In France, children would chase people, pin paper fish on their backs, and yell “poisson d’avril,” which means “April fish.” The idea of “April fish” is that they’re easier to catch, meaning they’re more gullible than other fish.
In Scotland, the traditional name for April Fools’ Day is “Huntigowk Day,” which comes from the phrase “hunting the gowk.” Gowk is a word for cuckoobird, which symbolizes a foolish person, and the phrase refers to being sent on a phony errand.
The following day is called “Tailie Day” and involves pranking people by pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs to their bottoms.
What was the first recorded April Fools prank?
In 1698, London residents received invitations to the Tower of London, which held the Royal Menagerie, also known as the “first zoo in London,” featuring bears, leopards, lions, and other dangerous animals.
Stamped with the royal seal, the invitations proclaimed that there would be an “Annual Ceremony of Washing the Lions” at the Tower of London on April 1st. When invitees arrived, there was no lion-washing event to be found! The sender of these invitations remains a mystery, as no one ever claimed credit for the oldest recorded April Fools’ Day prank in history.
Although the first instance of the lion-washing hoax was in 1698, it became a popular prank and continued throughout the 1700s and 1800s. By the mid-19th century, the prank had become more elaborate, with invitations printed on Tower of London stationery telling invitees to go to the “White Gate,” which did not exist.
Despite the fact that the menagerie had closed in 1835, people still showed up on April 1st, 1857 to view the Annual Ceremony of Washing the Lions.
Does spaghetti grow on trees?
One of the most famous April Fools’ Day pranks took place on April 1st, 1957, when the BBC network aired a segment about Swiss “spaghetti farmers.” The Swiss farming family supposedly harvested long strands of cooked pasta from their spaghetti trees.
At the time, pasta was a rare delicacy in England, so many viewers had no idea spaghetti is made from wheat flour and water, not grown on trees. Some viewers even called in to the BBC to ask how they could get their own spaghetti plants. The BBC responded, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
Decades later, CNN called the broadcast “the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.”
Celebrate April Fools' Day
Take a break from pranking your friends and family members, and celebrate the silly holiday with our April Fools’ Day Word Search!
April Fools’ Day is all about making mischief and sharing laughs! We may never know exactly how this day came to be, but celebrating it is a good reminder to have fun and not take life too seriously. Happy April Fools’ Day!
