The History of Humor

“Smile.  It confuses people.”   ~ The Joker

It’s almost April Fools’ Day, and no, you don’t have to be an infamous super criminal to take your penchant for pernicious pranks to new heights this April 1st.

You may have already planned a hundred ways to prank a pal, confuse a co-worker or flummox a friend, but have you stopped to wonder how all this April foolery got started in the first place?

And why April Fools’ anyway?

The first written reference to playing some sort of joke on April 1st goes back to the 16th century, though some believe Geoffrey Chaucer may have alluded to it in Canterbury Tales. There were plenty of pranks to be had before that, however. The Romans had their own day set aside for mischief, the feast of Hilaria, from which we get the word ‘hilarious.’

In medieval France, they had the Feast of Fools, celebrated on January 1st.  During the feast, Christian ritual was mocked with skits that would make Saturday Night Live proud, nobles and peasants swapped jobs for a day and hijinks ran rampant.

Another theory for the beginning of April Fools’ Day is that in 1582 France adopted the Gregorian calendar, which placed the start of the year on January 1st.  Previously, they had been kicking things off in the spring, so those who refused to adopt the new calendar were called April Fools.

Since laughter is universal, it’s no surprise that plenty of cultures have their own customs, and even their own versions, of April Fools’ Day.

• In what may be history’s first chain letter, it was the tradition in Ireland to give the victim an "important letter" to be delivered. The recipient would then tell the victim to take it to someone else, and so on down the chain. When the letter was finally opened, it contained the words: “send the fool further.”
• Do you believe everything you hear? In Scandinavian countries, many newspapers and other media outlets will include one false story on April 1 among their other truthful headlines.
• Why wait until April for your pranking? In Spain and Latin America, the day for mischief is December 28th, and the festival, ironically enough, is the Day of the Innocents.
• Flower power, anyone? Well, actually it’s flour power, at least in Portugal. The Portuguese celebrate April Fools’ Day on the Sunday and Monday prior to Lent, and what better way to celebrate than by throwing flour on someone?
• In what may be the world’s oldest April Fools’ Day celebration, or Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the Persian new year, Iranians customarily spend the afternoon outside, celebrating the new season and indulging in food, laughter, games, and— you guessed it— good-natured jokes.

Whatever mischief you may be saving up for April 1st, have a safe and happy day.