The exact origin of April Fools day remains a mystery, even today. Many historians believe the practice began under the reign of King Charles IX of France. In 1564 he decreed that each new year would begin on January 1st instead of April 1st. French tradition regarding the celebration of the New Year involved exchanging gifts and visiting each other. Some French subjects either rejected their king’s decree, or were not aware of it, and continued to observe April 1st as New Year’s Day. These people became the butt of their friends’ jokes and pranks and were called April Fools.
Other historians believe the practice developed when Pope Gregory XIII reformed the Gregorian calendar. This reform not only moved the start of the year to January 1, it created a leap-year system and eliminated 10 days from the month of October 1582 to correct the drift of the calendar.
One other theory dates clear back to Constantine. When a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman Emperor they could do a better job of running the empire than he did. Constantine made one of the jesters named Kugel king for a day, and Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day each year. Unfortunately after The Associated Press released this theory provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University, it came to light that they and every newspaper that published the article were in fact April Fools!!
There are many other theories spanning all periods of history and many different cultures as to the true origin of April Fools Day. The only consistent fact is that it is still practiced today all over the world. If you would like to know the top 100 April Fools Hoaxes of all times visit this site.
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