Interesting Origins of April Fool’s Day

However, the exact origin of April Fool’s day still controversial with many different versions.

The concept of poisson d’avril (April absurdity, in the French literary sense of April Fools) was first mentioned by the French poet Eloy d’Amerval (1455-1508) and this is considered the original for for the concept of “April Fools”. The reason d’Amerval is so called is because April is considered the month of the sign of Pisces with the symbolism of two fishes entwined. April is also the time when fish species that live in temperate zones, such as mackerel, are most susceptible to being caught in isolation. So, April Fools became a concept that implied stupidity.

Later, European children often made fun of others on April Fools’ Day by writing a few jokes on a paper fish and then trying to stick it on their back. This joke gradually developed into “lie day”.

Meanwhile, many other stories claim that “lie day” originated in France. In 1564, King Charles IX decided to reform the calendar, bringing the traditional French New Year’s day from the end of March to January 1. Previously, French people used to celebrate the new year between March 25 and April 1, the beginning of spring because March 21 is the Spring Equinox.

However, not everyone accepted King Charles’ new calendar system. At that time, there were not many means of communication, so the French countryside still celebrated the new year according to the old calendar system. This made the radicals unhappy and the concept of “silly” was coined for those who still celebrate Tet on April 1. This day also became a symbol of misinformation.

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