A is for April Fool's Day
You may like to celebrate April Fool’s Day with jokes and pranks, but do you know the history behind the holiday?The “celebration” dates back to the Middle Ages. For hundreds of years, New Year’s Day had been celebrated at the end of March or beginning of April, to coincide--more or less--with the vernal equinox. When that changed in the sixteenth century, as with most big changes, some folks took a little longer to catch on than others. The savvy ones gave the nickname “April Fools” to those who still celebrated the new year with the coming of spring.
Soon, the day evolved until it involved feasting and pranking and general merrymaking. The jesters were king for the day, and everything was supposed to be done backwards. (Which means that had I followed those rules, I would be posting “Z” today...)
One famous April Fool’s Day pranks occurred in 1856, when Londoners were invited to come to the Tower of London, through the White Gate (which didn’t exist), to see Warren de Grassen (who didn’t exist) “wash the lions” in the moat. Perhaps it doesn’t seem so ridiculous now, but if you were an Englishman of the time, you would know that the famous Royal Menagerie of the Tower of London had been closed since 1835.
What’s your favorite April Fool’s Day joke (of past or present)?
Oh those nutty naughty Brits! How fun. Can't think of any good jokes offhand, but I know there are often good ones that have caught me in the media.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the A to Z Challenge.
Lee
Places I Remember
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Never knew the history behind it. Very interesting. Haven't heard of a good fool's day joke in a while. But I'll think of something good to get my kids with today! Great post.
ReplyDeleteooh I dont like April Fools day. I hate being tricked, because I usually forget the day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Faith. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this year I just wasn't feeling April-fools-day's-eee. But in the past we have had fun with it as a family. It's all in good fun, right?
ReplyDeleteCarrie @ Reclaiming My Health
Well, I didn't stop at reading your A blog, but kept right on going through your blog to the bottom of the page. Well done, a great concoction of diversity.
ReplyDeleteSusan
http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com