Where did April Fool's Day really come from?
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Christianity is one of the factors that led to the creation of the April 1, according to the most popular theory of the April Fools' Day. This is not a joke: according to the theory of the two calendars, most Christians wanted to celebrate the start of the New Year on April 1, considering it is near Easter Sunday. Due to its relevance, it was proposed during the time of Christianity in Rome, as opposed to the calendar made up by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. to honor the Roman god of new beginnings Janus.
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Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
4/1/2015 (9 years ago)
Published in U.S.
Keywords: April, April 1, April Fools, Theory, Calendars, Christianity, Trivia, Cultures
span style="line-height: 15.8599996566772px;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Although there are other cultures that supported the idea, considering the beginning of springtime, which symbolizes the renewal of Earth. April 1 is closest to the vernal equinox, however, it was not officially declared.
In his time, Pope Gregory XIII made his own calendar and marked January 1 as the official day of the New Year celebration.
That was his attempt to have everyone aligned on the same page, but there are some who still considered the other way. These people, due to their refusal and stubbornness, were ridiculed and referred to as the "April Fools." It was said that those who were not on the same calendar were gullible to confusion, silly pranks and other hoaxes.
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April 1 is now celebrated by playing pranks and is big in countries like the US, Brazil, Canada and England. In Scotland it is celebrated for two consecutive days. The first day is called the "Hunt the Gowk Day" and the second day specifically targets others' hind quarters, according to the Blaze. The French have their "Fish day," while the Jews have their own days of pranking.
"The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest" is considered as one of the best April Fool's pranks in history. In 1957, the British Broadcasting Corporation told viewers that there had been an "exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop" in Switzerland. People began calling in asking how they can start growing spaghetti crops.
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