April Fools’ Day 2020: History and significance

The origins of April Fools’ Day remain a mystery for many of us. According to some historians, it is believed that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582 when France switched to the Gregorian calendar. Those who did not know about this change faced jokes, as they did not realise that January 1 would be the beginning of the year from now.

These pranks comprised having paper fish put on their backs and being called ‘April fish’ which means a person who is fooled easily.

Others believe that April Fools’ Day is linked to the Hilaria Festival, celebrated in ancient Rome towards March-end during which people would wear all sorts of disguises.

In today’s world, people have played all sorts of pranks on this day. Even newspapers, TV studios and radio stations have participated in these pranks and in turn, fooled their audiences.

For example, one of the most famous pranks was in 1996, when the famous fast food restaurant chain, Taco Bell, fooled people when it announced that would be purchasing Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and would be renaming it Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell.

On this day, friends and family are known to play all sorts of pranks on each other, and it’s difficult to believe whether a person is being serious or playing a prank on you if it happens to be April 1.