Here’s something interesting about April 1st. Did you know?
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day on April 1st dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563.
In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.
People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.”
These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
April 1st is now celebrated around the globe as a fun-loving, prank-filled day at the change of seasons!
In Italy, France, Belgium, and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and Canada, the April 1 tradition is often known as “April fish”.
This includes attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim’s back without being noticed. Such fish feature is prominently present on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fools’ Day postcards.
Many newspapers also spread a false story on April Fish Day, and a subtle reference to a fish is sometimes given as a clue to the fact that it is an April fool’s joke.
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Here’s the April fish for you! Feel free to cut and stick it to your victim’s back! 🙂
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