On this, the day of pranks, I hope you weren’t fooled (too terribly) dear reader.
Do you know how the pranking tradition started?
No one knows for certain, but the story goes something like this:
Way back in 1582, when the world was still using the Julian calendar, France made the switch to using the Gregorian calendar. The major switch of this new calendaring system was the start of the new year moved to January 1, instead of on the vernal equinox, which started somewhere around the end of March or as late as April 1. It seems the calendar switch was mandated by the Council of Trent almost 20 years earlier.
News traveled more slowly back then, not having the benefit of near instantaneous transfer that we enjoy today thanks to the Internet. Many people were not aware of the calendar change or just plain kept celebrating the new year around April 1.
Since these people were slow to adopt the calendar change, they were taunted and pranked and dubbed ‘April Fools’. They had paper fish attached to their backs, to indicate they were like young fish that were easily caught, and that they were gullible.
I managed to mostly stay inside and avoid crowds so not much to worry about as far as pranks go. There’s always next year though.
Stay alert, dear reader.
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