Who came up with this wacky idea ?
2007-03-21 11:18:43 · 5 answers · asked by Efrain P 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Other - Holidays
The origin of this custom has been much disputed. Many theories have been suggested.
What seems certain is that it is in some way or other a relic of those once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, which, beginning on old New Year's Day, the 25th of March, ended on the 2nd of April.
It has been suggested that Europe derived its April-fooling from the French. France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of Charles IX. This was in 1564, even before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair game for those wits who amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended ceremony on the 1st of April. French and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April.
Though the 1st of April appears to have been anciently observed in Great Britain as a general festival, it was apparently not until the beginning of the 18th century that the making of April-fools was a common custom.
In France the person fooled is known as poisson d'avril. This has been explained from the association of ideas arising from the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. A far more natural explanation would seem to be that the April fish would be a young fish and therefore easily caught. The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing a dead fish on the back of friends. Today the fish is substituted by a paper cut out.
Chaucer's story, the Nun's Priest's Tale, written c.1400, takes place on 32 March; that is, 1 April; it is Chanticleer and the Fox, a story of two fools
2007-03-21 11:27:30 · answer #1 · answered by somathus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some people came up with a new calender that had April 1 as the first day of the year. People made fun of them and called April 1 all fools day which eventually turned into April fools
2007-03-21 11:23:31 · answer #2 · answered by flashlightsrock 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Glad you asked! It was my ancestor, JOSIE RAYMUNDO VASQUEZ! The story goes that in 1368, my ancestor was seeing this woman named April. Well, she was a very selfish woman. [ according to my family records], and poor Raymundo was very generous. One day he told her to go to the next town,[this was in Mexico] to get some burritos, and she went. While she was gone, he packed up ALL of her belongings and left! This happened on APRIL the 1st, 1368. Ever since that day, it has been called APRIL FOOL"S DAY! This is the truth, my family is very responsible for many of history's makings!
2007-03-21 11:34:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because it is for some reason and I don't know what reason that is. I don't know who came up with that wacky idea.
2007-03-21 11:22:17 · answer #4 · answered by Josh D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's Homer Simpson's b-day
2007-03-21 11:22:04 · answer #5 · answered by jimmy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋