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April Fool’s Day, April 1^stof every year.

Everyone wants to have fun today and play a trice on someone. We have been doing tricks on people since when we were young children. It was the right of passage all of us took. The child who could be fooled the most was probably the bunt of more trick throughout the day.

Holes deep in the ground, Cracks in the sky…details at 11 The origin of April Fool’s Day is uncertain.  It’s thought the turning of the seasons helps some to honor this celebration while others believe it has to do with our calendar.

You see ancient cultures including the Romans and Hindus believed the beginning of the year was at the vernal equinox or somewhere around March 20-21^st. In medieval times the date was March 25^th.

The in 1582 the Catholic Church stepped in and decreed through Pope Gregory XIII a new calendar was to replace the old Julian calendar with the new Gregorian calendar. The new Gregorian Calendar called for New Year’s Day as January 1^st.

According to a popular explanation, there were lots of people who refused to make the shift and accept the beginning of the year date of January 1^st. Also, because new travelled slow in 1582 many people did not learn about the new date and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1^st. The ones who refused to make the shift were known as “traditionalists” and all who weren’t poked fun at the others.  In fact, they had “fools errands” so as to trick them into believing something false.  Eventually the practice spread throughout Europe.

There are two problems with this popular explanation.  The first is the spreading of April Fool’s Day throughout Europe because the Gregorian calendar was not adopted in the United Kingdom until 1752, that is 150 years later.  Secondly, there isn’t any historical evidence to support this explanation, it is only guess that supports this and it can only be found in recent times.

A professor of history at Boston University Joseph Boskin poses another explanation. Professor Boskin explains the April Fool’s Day practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job running the empire than he could. Thinking this was funny Constantine order a jester by the name of Kugel was king for a

day. Kugel’s first act as king was an edict calling for absurdity for the day.  It became a custom as an annual event from that day forth.

In 1983 an Associated Press article written about the history of April Fool’s Day as an explanation by Professor Boskin in many newspapers. There was only one small pit fall.  Professor Boskin made the story up!   AP didn’t realize they got duped and made a victim of Professor Boskin prank for a couple of weeks.

Me, I believe it is just that time of year where we all come out of a season of cold, wet, and sometimes dreary season called winter into spring time.  It a time of renewal where ones heart turns towards fun and lighthearted entertainment.  It seems the only ever hurt is maybe someone’s pride. Oh did you hear Twitter is going to allow only 133 characters starting tomorrow instead of the 140 you now can use? Holes deep in the ground, Cracks in the sky…details at 11

Happy April Fool’s Day