April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved with these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbor has been relatively common in the world historically.
Origins
Although many theories have been proposed throughout the years, the origin of April Fools' Day is not exactly known.A disputed association between 1 April and foolishness is in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. In the "Nun's Priest's Tale", a vain cock, Chauntecleer, is tricked by a fox "Since March began, full thirty days and two," i.e. the 32nd day from 1 March, which is 1 April. However, it is not clear that Chaucer was referencing 1 April since the text of the "Nun's Priest's Tale" also states that the story takes place on the day when the sun is "in the sign of Taurus had y-rune Twenty degrees and one," which would not be 1 April. Modern scholars believe that there is a copying error in the extant manuscripts and that Chaucer actually wrote, "Syn March was gon". If so, the passage would have originally meant 32 days after March ended, i.e. 2 May.
In 1508, French poet Eloy d'Amerval referred to a poisson d'avril, possibly the first reference to the celebration in France. Some historians suggest that April Fools' originated because, in the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on 25 March in most European towns, with a holiday that in some areas of France, specifically, ended on 1 April, and those who celebrated New Year's Day on 1 January made fun of those who celebrated on other dates by the invention of April Fools' Day. The use of 1 January as New Year's Day became common in France only in the mid-16th century, and that date was not adopted officially until 1564, by the Edict of Roussillon, as called for during the Council of Trent in 1563. However, there are issues with this theory because there is an unambiguous reference to April Fools' Day in a 1561 poem by Flemish poet Eduard de Dene of a nobleman who sent his servant on foolish errands on 1 April, predating the change. April Fools' Day was also an established tradition in Great Britain before 1 January was established as the start of the calendar year.In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the celebration as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference. On 1 April 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed".
Although no biblical scholar or historian is known to have mentioned a relationship, some have expressed the belief that the origins of April Fools' Day may go back to the Genesis flood narrative. In The Complete Compendium of Universal Knowledge of 1895, writer William Ralston Balch wrote:
The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, and so no specific day always correlates with 1 April in the Julian or Gregorian calendars.
Long-standing customs
Armenia
In Armenian culture, an April Fool prank is revealed by saying ապրիլ մեկ!, which means 1 April.Popular April fools pranks in Armenia include common, harmless tricks like tying a friend or co-worker's shoes together, hiding plastic spiders in drawers of people in their workplace, and switching sugar for salt in hopes of startling an acquaintance as they take a sip of their morning coffee.
Armenian politicians are also known to participate in pranks. In 2013, news site Tert.am was reported to have asked politicians from Armenia to 'lie' for April Fools day.
One tall tale told by a politician was that a Yerevan municipal budget planned to repair all of the city's streets. Of course, this was not actually a planned event, but efforts were being made to restore road infrastructure in Yerevan around that time period.
A spokesperson from the Prosperous Armenian party also recalled being the butt end of an April Fools joke. A false news report was made saying that he had recently been married and fathered a child. The untrue statement led to the spokesperson being congratulated for almost a full year before Armenian citizens came to the realization that the spokesperson was a victim of a prank and that none of the information passed around about him was even relatively true.
The Armenian Weekly is an online newspaper based in Massachusetts. It was founded 91 years ago in 1934 and has been making news reports ever since. The site tells about happenings in Armenia and is also responsible for an April Fools Prank. The prank included the statement that an alligator had escaped from a local reptile show and was currently inhabiting a pond in Watertown, Massachusetts. This prank had little to nothing to do with the people in the country of Armenia, but Watertown is home to many Armenian citizens who were almost all in on the joke.
Germany
In Germany, an April Fool prank consists of tricking someone else to believe a fake story, usually to be later revealed by shouting "April, April!" at the recipient, who becomes the "April fool".Iran
In Iran, dorugh-e Sizdah is celebrated as part of Sizdah Be-dar. It is similar to April Fools' Day, and celebrated on the 13th of Farvardin in the Persian calendar, which usually falls around April 1 or 2. Pranks have reportedly been played on this holiday since 536 BC, making it perhaps the oldest known joke day.It appears that this term was imported from April Fools from western cultures into the Iranian modern society; and mistakenly attributed to their ancient national traditions, due to a date proximity between April Fools and Farvardin 13th.
The ancient Persians perceived the act of "lie" as a mortal sin, and lying was considered a capital crime, as truthfulness was highly valued in their society, following the directives of Zoroastrianism on this matter. The Persians believed that deceit could lead to rebellion and chaos, making honesty a fundamental principle in their culture. Herodotus highlights that Persians considered lying "the most disgraceful thing in the world", implying that the Greeks, by comparison, were more prone to dishonesty.