April Fool’s Day
Note: Underlined words have definitions at the end of this article provided by The Basic Newbury House Dictionary. Definitions with an asterisk (*) are supplied by the author, Bill Perry.
April Fool’s Day is not an official holiday, but a traditional one with lots of fun. People love it because on this day they play tricks and jokes on others. The history of this holiday begins with an event that occurred over 2,000 years ago.
Julius Caesar, founder of the ancient Roman Empire, started using a solar calendar in 46 BC. He chose April 1st to be the beginning of the New Year, probably because of the arrival of Spring [see New Year’s Day]. Since that time, Western countries had used this calendar. However, 1600 years later, this Julian calendar had problems. For example, at two times during the year the length of daylight and darkness of a 24-hour day is equal. This is called the equinox. One equinox occurs in the Spring; the other occurs in the Fall. By the 1600’s, the equinoxes occurred 10 days away from when the calendar said they would occur! Something had to be done to correct the calendar.
On February 24, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII said that people in all Roman Catholic countries should replace the Julian calendar with a new “Gregorian” one that was created by astronomers. Part of the correction included changing October 5th to October 15th. Many people around Europe were afraid that they had lost 10 days of their lives! So they started riots in many cities. France’s King Charles IX was the first European king to change to the new calendar. But he added another change. He moved New Year’s Day from April 1st to January 1st. Many people did not agree with these changes. New ideas like this made them feel insecure.
After a while most people slowly accepted January 1st as New Year’s Day. But others did not. They continued to celebrate New Year’s in the Spring. They began celebrating on March 25th and ended on April 1st. They were not going to forget their old tradition. Soon these people looked very foolish, celebrating New Year’s 3 months after January 1st! Faithful Catholics called them “April fools.” In France they were called “April Fish.” People made fun of them and played jokes on them. Since gifts were given on New Year’s Day at that time, surprise gifts and joke gifts were given to the “April fools.”
England did not accept the Gregorian calendar until 1752, but the fun and tricks had begun there about 50 years earlier! Jokes, tricks and surprises that do not hurt anyone are the custom of this silly holiday. No fooling!
Vocabulary
astronomer (noun) – a scientist who studies the planets, stars, sun, etc. of outer space.
*Gregorian (noun) - of or relating to Gregory.
insecure (adjective) - not steady, unsafe.
*Julian (adjective) - of or relating to Julius (Caesar).
riot (noun) - an act of violent behavior by a large group.
*solar (adjective) - of or relating to the sun.
©Bill Perry. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
