April Fool's Day!

Happy April Fool's Day!! Rather than try to play a prank, I thought I would give you a little bit of info on this silly little day. April Fool's Day, sometimes known as All Fools Day, is a day where people play jokes on each other (some big, some small) and sometimes concoct elaborate hoaxes to catch a "fool".

Some see April Fool's Day as a turn in the seasons while others believe that it's related to the adoption of a new calendar. Many cultures including the Romans and Hindus celebrated their new year on April 1st. It wasn't until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian calendar) to replace the existing Julian Calendar marking January 1st as the first day of the new year. Many people refused to accept this new date and continued to celebrate on April 1st by sending traditionalists on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing false stories. The practice spread all over Europe.

Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University, provided another explanation on the origins of April Fool's Day in an Associated Press article published in 1983. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine when a court jester named Kugel told the Roman emperor that he could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine was amused and allowed the jester to be king for one day. Kugel passed a law calling for absurdity on that day. The custom caught on and became a yearly event.

There was only one catch to Boskin's theory: he made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they'd been victims of an April Fools' joke themselves.

Here are a few famous pranks that have taken place on April Fool's Day -

• Taco Liberty Bell (1996) - Taco Bell took out an add in the New York Times announcing that the restaurant had purchased the Liberty Bell to help reduce the national debt.
• Burger King (1998) - The "Home of the Whopper" announced a specially designed left-handed burger so that the condiments would drip out the right side. Yes, customers actually ordered the left-handed Whopper.
• In 1983, Australian millionaire Dick Smith claimed to have towed an iceberg from Antarctica to Sydney Harbour. He used a barge covered with white plastic and fire extinguisher foam to convince onlookers that he had indeed towed an iceberg.
• A Dutch television news station fooled viewers in the 1950's into believing that the Tower of Pisa had fallen. The news station received numerous phone calls from concerned citizens.

So keep on your toes today!!! Keep the pranks light-hearted and fun and until next time, keep it clean!!