April Fools’ Day is celebrated in different countries in the Northern Hemisphere on April 1 every year. In the Southern Hemisphere it is celebrated six months later, on October 1. Sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good-humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours, work associates, etc.
In France and Italy children (and adults, when appropriate) traditionally tack paper fish on each other’s back as a trick and shout “april fish!” in their local language (“poisson d’avril!” and “pesce d’aprile!” in French and Italian respectively).
The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of January 1 as New Year’s Day in the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.
It was thought to of originated from the Roman’s in a festival called Hilaria and the Medieval Festival Of Fools.
But is this day going too far? People get hurt by these things that are only supposed to be a laugh. An example of this is:
April 2011: It appeared to be a terrifying situation happening inside a Tomball business. Officers arrived and surrounded the place, ready for the worst. But this story has one shocking twist — this was all an apparent April fool’s joke that got out of hand.
A local mother had a “funny suprise” for her manager at Molly’s Pub in Tomball, who also happens to be her daughter.
To get her daughters eye, she sent a text message that read: “I’m being robbed.”
The mother said “I really thought my manager would look at her phone and be like, ‘Haha,’” Osterloh said. “I actually thought she’d be like, ‘Oh it’s an April Fool’s joke. Real funny.’ Because that’s the first thing I thought of this morning — who’s gonna try to do something to me?”
Within minutes of the text, the popular pub was crawling with cops. The mother said: “Oh, the first thing I thought when I seen them standing there was, ‘Oh, I’m dead. I’m in so much trouble.’”
She admitted that she never meant the prank to go that far and that she has learned her lesson. But she still wants to prank.
“Now I gotta top this,” she said. “Good luck with that, huh?”
She will not face any charges, but she has lost her job over a April Fools Prank.
