Almost everyone loves a good laugh. But to do so at someone else’s expense is considered uncivilized and cruel. Nevertheless, once a year the calendar provides for a day of fooling others. Explanations of the day’s origins, however, are not so well known nor easy to learn.

Some believe the day originated with Noah and his Ark. They say that Noah, after spending days on the Ark, mistakenly thought the flood had subsided. As a result he sent out a dove to find land. But the dove was on a fool’s errand and returned to the boat. All of this took place on a Hebrew date corresponding to April 1st and ever since the day has been called All Fool’s Day, the "all" referring to the ancient "auld" meaning "old."

Another theory is that the day arose at the time of Christ’s trial and crucifixion. Foes of Jesus, determined to torment and mock Him, sent Him on a farcical journey from Annas to Caiaphas, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod and back again from Herold to Pilate. If this is so, All Fool’s Day was not meant to be a source of merriment but a reminder of the ridicule heaped upon Christ at that time.

Celebrating the arrival of spring has long been customary, having to do with the observance of the Spring Equinox (March 21 in the Gregorian calendar). Fooling people around this time of year has occurred in lands distant from one another, for example in Sweden, India and Portugal. For European countries it is interesting to note that celebration of the Vernal Equinox coincides with the arrival of sun and rain -- a time of year when nature plays havoc at whim.

But spring celebrations do not fully account for why the first of April should be a day of tricks and gags. April fooling probably had its beginning in France after the adoption of a calendar reform by Charles IX in 1564, making the year begin on January 1. By changing New Year’s Day to January 1st, much confusion resulted and in time jokers began to ridicule any attachment to the old New Year’s by sending mock gifts on April 1st. This hoax in France is called poisson d’avril or "April fish." Some say this really means fish are easily caught in April and others say the French have named it after the Zodiac sign of the fish (Pisces). Today shop owners in France display chocolate fish in their windows and French April foolers send unsigned humorous postcards to friends containing pictures of fish.

In Britain the origin of April Fool’s Day is unclear. English literature’s first reference is at the end of the 17th Century but it was not until the 18th Century that the conservative British adopted the new calendar and with it, April Fool’s Day. In Scotland the day is called Huntigowk Day and a favorite prank of the Scots is "hunting the gowk," which means sending the victim on false errands; anyone who fell for this ruse was called a gowk."

Regardless of its origin April foolery struck the fancy of rich and poor, rulers and ruling classes alike. Czar Pete the Great of Russia seized the opportunity with bizarre relish when in 1701 he set fire to huge piles of lumber surrounding St. Petersburg and sent his soldiers through the city crying: "the town’s on fire." He reportedly achieved great pleasure from watching his people panic.

In this country the media periodically played pranks on its reading public, none more noteworthy than the NEW YORK SUN’S 1835 joke about a giant telescope placed in Washington Square. The public was invited to see "living beings" and "houses" on the moon. Hoards of people arrived in Washington Square, attesting again to the power of the printed word. This is a reminder about Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds in which he fabricated a story about aliens invading earth, using effective sound effects, and panicked much of the country.

One reason for the persistence of April Fool’s Day in the United States and elsewhere may be that children are introduced to it within the family -- either by having jokes played on them or by parents playing jokes on each other. Even today people take the day seriously as many hesitate to marry or launch a new business on April 1st. In Poor Robin’s Almanac of 1760, the dilemma was put to verse:

"The first of April, some do say,
Is set apart for All Fool’s Day.
But why the people call it so,
Nor I, nor they themselves do know.
But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment."