If you ever see a breaking news broadcast on CNN about how the flightless ostrich have adapted to soaring the sky, be wary and double check the date before retweeting the headline.  There’s a very good chance you’re being played a fool on April 1st.  

April Fools’ Day pranks are age-old traditions that are celebrated annually worldwide.  Despite its popularity, the origins of this holiday of practical jokes remains nebulous as historians have yet to agree on how old “age-old” really is or from where the holiday emerged.  As a matter of fact, one has to ponder the possibility (and irony) behind the very day which celebrates being bamboozled as a long-running hoax in and of itself.  

Two popular theories have emerged in an attempt to explain the holiday’s origin.  The first hypothesis started with Pope Gregory VIII upon his insistence on shifting from the Julian calendar to today’s widely accepted Gregorian calendar (National Today).  The new calendar rings in the New Year on January 1 but not everyone living in France during the 16th century received the memo and continued to “foolishly” celebrate it by the old calendar system on April 1st.  The latecomers were dubbed as “April fools.”  

Other historians have associated the holiday to ancient Rome’s Hilaria where the resurrection of the vegetation god Atys in the spring was commemorated (NPR).  In late March through April 1st, the disguised commoners would play games and dress up in masquerades to trick others into thinking that they are pretentious nobles.

Although we cannot pinpoint how the holiday got its start, the first “clear” reference of April Fools’ Day was noted with Bruges rhetorician Eduard de Dene’s 1561 comical poem about a nobleman who dispatches his servant on preposterous assignments in preparation for a wedding feast (Hoaxes).  The work entitled “Refereyn vp verzendekens dach / Twelck den eersten April te zyne plach“ roughly translates from Dutch to English as “Refrain on errand-day / which is the first of April.”  In the concluding line of each stanza of the poem, the servant repeats “I am afraid… that you are trying to make me run a fool’s errand.“  Because of this, historians believe that perhaps the All Fools’ Day might have taken roots somewhere in Northern Europe and eventually spread to the British Isles, finally widening in popularity to other continents.  In some countries, such as Greece, successfully pulling a fast one on an unsuspecting victim not only delights in hilarity but is said to bring good luck to the trickster for the entire year (Reader’s Digest).  Other countries cannot get enough of just one day of practical jokes; in Scotland, the holiday is extended for a subsequent day into April 2nd.  

An April Fools’ Day hoax can be as simple as telling a white lie to get your friend to look down at her shoes by saying they are untied, or it can involve more elaborate scheming like Cabin John’s 7th grader Huy Changvu had done to scare his piano teacher.  He had placed a well-timed device that cried, “Get me outta here!  Get me outta here, please!” in his music bag when his instructor had reached inside to retrieve his music sheets.  And of course what better ways to show family love than torture those who are closest to you.  Winston Churchill’s freshman Alison chortled in amusement as she watched her little brother bite into a toothpaste-filled oreo cookie.  Beth Vu recalls her sister changing her alarm clock to a later time to make it appear as though she was an hour late waking up for school on an April 1 test day.  

The shenanigans never get old, and respected media and large corporations have not only joined in but have even upped the ante on the annual pranks.

Here are some elaborate April Fools’ Day hoaxes for the time:

MCPS Year-Long School:

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Watkins Mill’s student newspaper, The Current, reported the start of year-round schooling for MCPS including over the nine weeks over summer, overturning former Maryland Governor’s decree to commence school after Labor Day in order to buoy support for state businesses (The Current).  The paper writes, ““We don’t know anybody in Ocean City and they don’t know anybody here… so why should they care what we do in Montgomery County?” MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith said, referring to the new decision.”

Taco Bell Take-over:

On April Fools’ Day 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell to alleviate America’s national debt (Philly Voice). They bought extensive advertisements in seven major newspapers to make their purchase known to the public.  The fast food chain also encouraged other companies to follow suit by purchasing other American relics.  According to the ads, the historic monument would be aptly renamed to “the Taco Liberty Bell.” 

Philadelphia Parking:

The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) poked fun at its oppressive reputation for being severe and unyielding, not failing to overlook even minor infractions (Philly Voice).  On the April Fools’ Day of 2016, meter employees put fake parking tickets on the windshields of any car in sight. The unsuspecting drivers who had committed no infraction only discovered that they had been pranked after finding that the tickets were not filled with anything other than $0 in the fine section and “April Fools’!” in the offense line.  

Spaghetti Harvest:

In 1957, the BBC played one of the most notorious April Fools’ Day pranks (BBC). The British news channel aired a video of farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees and announced that Switzerland’s spaghetti harvest would be particularly large. The prank included details such as the spaghetti weevil and spaghetti breeding. The BBC’s very scientific advice to gullible Brits inquiring about growing their own spaghetti was to “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”  

One viewer of the video commented, “My nana was fuming angry because she spent her entire marriage making spaghetti by hand…and was so annoyed to learn it grew on trees.” (BBC)

The Left-Handed Whopper:

In 1998, thousands of customers had inquired for the new sandwich after USA Today ran one of Burger King’s infamous ads for a burger curated specifically for the 10% left handers in America (Wonderopolis).  Sandwiched in between the sesame buns were condiments and meat patties that were finely rotated to a perfect 180 degrees.  

It’s not every day that we can be mischievous and not get in trouble.  So if you didn’t participate in April Fools’ this year or were the victims of your friends’ pranks, you now have some time to tap into your creativity.  Plot some harmless scheme to spread the fun next year, or at the least, have some entertainment for yourself.  

Article written by Huan Changvu of Winston Churchill High School

Graphic courtesy of Cleaning Genie