April Fools’ Day: Know About The Day, Its History And Origin

Every year, April 1 is celebrated as April Fools' Day across the world. This is a day dedicated to unlimited laughter, jokes, and happiness. Usually, people pull each other's legs and play pranks. On this occasion, people come up with hilarious ideas to surprise their loved ones or friends and then reveal in the end that it was all fake mainly, said or done to mark the occasion. April Fools' Day is being celebrated by various cultures through the centuries.

It is said that the day was first celebrated in Europe.

History and origin

Why do we celebrate this day or when did it start? Well, the exact origin of April Fools' Day is still a mystery. No one knows who exactly started with this or invented this. However, historians speculate that it dates back to 1582. It was back in the time when France switched to the Gregorian calendar from the Julian calendar.

This day started being celebrated after Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, and confirmed that the new calendar would start on January 1. However, before this, the New Year used to be celebrated in March-end.

In ancient times, calendars were based on the vernal equinox. The new year was celebrated on or around April 1, and in many places in Europe, the beginning of the new year was celebrated around March 25.

However, after People Gregory shifted the new year to January 1, it is believed that many people refused to accept the drastic change. They either didn't know about it or they simply followed the old calendar. That's the reason why people, in general, started mocking the ones who followed the traditional calendar and celebrated this day.