April Fool's Day — All Fool's Day

The Most Widespread Theory:

The history of April Fool's Day, also called All Fool's Day, remains clouded. The theory about the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the late sixteenth-century, is likely to be the most widespread and most accepted.

France was the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the calendar for the Christian world. The significance of this switch was that the beginning of the year has moved from April 1st to January 1st.
However, there were some people who did not hear about the switch or did not believe it or just refused to accept the change of the date and they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1st. Others took this opportunity to play tricks on them and called them "April Fools". In essence, they tried to make them believe that something false was actually true and send them on a "Fools Errand". Today in France, April 1st is called "Poisson d'Avril", April Fish. The children of France fooling their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends back and when they discover the prank, the prankster yells "Poisson d'Avril", (April Fish!).

"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. "
- American humorist Mark Twain

The calendar change hypothesis could be the possible explanation why April 1st was the choice of April Fools Day, but the theory does not explain how April Fool's Day spread from France to the protestant countries such as England, Scotland and Germany. The Gregorian calendar had not been adopted until the eighteenth-century by this countries, but the tradition of April Fool's Day was long establish by that time throughout Europe.

Ancient Roots, possible early, pre-sixteenth-century sources:

In ancient times, foolery and trickery had been widely included in the celebrations of festivals. For example, the Roman winter festival, Saturnalia, and the end of December, was most important to the Romans. The festival involved drinking, dancing, gift exchange and mostly having a good time. Slaves were allowed to pretend to rule their master and a mock king the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule) was allowed to role for that day. Later, at the end of the fourth-century AD, Saturnalia changed into January 1st, New Years Day celebration, and many of the traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas.

In late March, the Romans celebrated Hilaria the resurrection of Attis, son of the Great Mother Cybele. This celebration involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises.

In India, Holi, the street festival of color. During the celebration they threw tinted powder at each other until everyone was covered in garish colors from head to toe. Holi was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of March).

Another ancient festival honors Lud, a Celtic god of humor, in northern Europe. The celebration has many similarities between April fooling. Some say, that this custom originated as a day on which people poked fun at the Druidic hierarchy.

Medieval Roots:

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The Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) was celebrated during the middle ages with its origin coming from Saturnalia. This celebration was mostly observed in France. Celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. Of course, the church tried to discourage this holiday, but it lasted until the sixteenth-century. Once the festival had been suppressed, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival.

Also, during the middle ages, there was the medieval figure of the Fool, the symbolic patron saint of the day. In late medieval Europe, Fools became very prominent. They were practicing their craft in town squares and royal courts. Fools wore distinctive clothing, a horned hat, multi-colored robe, sceptre and bauble.

Mythical Roots:

Biblical history may have a place of April  Fools Day. The first story tells of the day to Noah's mistake sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided.
The second story tells that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" is an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand.

Pluto, the God of the Dead, in Roman mythology, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina was the daughter of Ceres, Goddess of grain and the harvest. When Proserpina called out for help, her mother Ceres could only hear the echo of her daughters voice and her search was in vain. The never-ending search for her daughter (commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia), points sometimes to the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.

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In British a folklore, a link had been made to April Fools Day to the town of Gotham a legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. The legend reveals that in the thirteenth-century, any road on which the King travelled became public property. The Gotham citizens did not wanted to loose their main road to the King, spread a false story to stop King John from travelling through heir town. King John learning about the deception send a messenger to Gotham and demanded an explanation. When the messenger arrived in Gotham he noticed that the town was full of lunatics who were engaged in foolish activities, such as drowning fish, attempting to cage a birds in roofless fences, etc. (though, of course, their foolery was all an act). The King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has commemorated their trickery.

Anthropological Roots:

Another theory comes from the Anthropologists, who speculate that April Fool's Day may have arrived from the celebration of the Vernal Equinox. The "Cycle of the Season", is the tradition behind the festival, the Vernal Equinox festival is characterized by temporary inversions of the social order. During the brief moment of transition, all rules are suspended. When the old world dies and a new cycle is born, normal beheavior is no longer governs. The "upside down turning of status is expected", trickery and raucous partying are allowed, slaves rule their master and children play tricks on their parents.

In France, an abundance of fish was found in the streams and rivers during early April when the young fish had just hatched. The linkage to April Fool's Day traces back to that time as the young fish were easy to fool with a hook and a lure. Therefore, the French called them 'Poisson d'Avril' or 'April Fish.' Soon it started a custom to fool people on April 1st as a way of celebrating the abundance of foolish fish. The French still use the term 'Poisson d'Avril' to describe the unfortunate victims of April Fool's Day pranks.

Misrule and Mayhem:

Paradoxically annual celebrations of misrule and mayhem, such as April Fool's Day, help to reaffirm communal values. They act as a safety valve, giving people a chance to vent their social antagonisms in a harmless way. In addition, they give people a chance to temporarily step outside of accepted rules of behavior. People can then choose either to voluntarily return to a state of order, thereby reaffirming society's values, or to remain in a state of anarchy. Inevitably, they choose order. This mirrors the larger change that is simultaneously occurring in the natural world. Will the cycle of the seasons renew itself once again, or will the world be plunged into a permanent, wintery darkness? The seasons have always returned, but the fear that lurks at the heart of such celebrations is that order will not return, that mayhem and chaos will rule forever.

However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
[Politicians] never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. -- Thomas Reed
Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.
- Elizabeth Gaskell
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
- Mark Twain
 

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What Happens at the Equinox?

Far from being an arbitrary indicator of the changing seasons, March 20 (March 21 in some years) is significant for astronomical reasons. In 2002, at precisely 2:16 p.m. EST (19:16 Universal Time), the Sun crossed directly over the Earth's equator. This moment is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, this is the moment of the autumnal equinox.

Translated literally, Equinox Means "Equal Night"

Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes. A second equinox occurs each year on September 22 or 23; in 2002, it will be on September 23 at 12:55 a.m. EDT (04:55 UT). This date will mark the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Southern (vernal denotes "spring").