Every April 1st, when people play pranks and jokes, you might wonder: How did this strange tradition begin? Well, the truth is… nobody knows for sure. The start of April Fools’ Day has always been surrounded by stories and legends.
The Many Origins of April Fools’ Day
Some people think April Fools’ Day might have started with stories from long ago, like Noah sending out a dove before the flood ended, or from a Roman festival called Saturnalia. Another idea is that it comes from a French phrase, “poisson d’avril,” which means “fish of April” but really means “April Fools.”
According to this idea, “poisson” was originally “passion,” referring to a part of the Easter season plays about Jesus. It was about Jesus going back and forth between different people, like Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod.
In 1983, a brave AP reporter talked to a professor at Boston University about April Fools’ Day. The professor didn’t know much at first, but when the reporter kept asking, he shared a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine and his jesters.
According to the professor, Constantine’s jesters once claimed they could rule better than him. Instead of punishing them, Constantine let them rule for a day. The jester named Kugel declared that only silly things were allowed that day, and that’s how April Fools’ Day began.
But it was all just a joke! The professor later admitted he made up Kugel and the whole story. He said he did it for fun and didn’t understand why it became such a big deal.
That’s the end of the story of Kugel. There isn’t much evidence for other theories either. The most popular one is about calendars.
A Calendar of Fools
There’s a popular story about how April Fools’ Day started, mainly in France during the 16th century. In the 1560s, King Charles IX made January 1st the start of the New Year instead of March 25th.
Some people kept celebrating the New Year at the end of March, not knowing about the change. They were called April Fools because of it.
But there are problems with this story. While the king’s edict was real, there’s no proof of a big party or people getting confused about the date. Also, the French New Year didn’t happen on March 25th.
In France, different regions celebrated New Year at different times, with Easter being the most common. This can make it tricky for historians because some years in France might have had two Aprils, as noted by 19th-century historian Sir Francis Palgrave.
The story fits better with the United Kingdom’s switch from the Julian to Gregorian calendars in 1752, when the New Year moved from March to January. However, April Fools’ Day was already known by then. English essayist Joseph Addison mentioned it in The Spectator in April 1711, describing pranks played on April 1st, like sending children on silly errands.
Today, it’s generally believed that April Fools’ Day originated in France, possibly linked to these kinds of playful tricks.
April Fools’ and the Mackerel
The term “poisson d’avril” didn’t originally mean “April Fool.” Back in the 15th century, it meant “go-between.” This was likely because of two different meanings of the word “maquereau” in French. These meanings came from Dutch words: “makreel,” meaning “mackerel” (the fish), and “makelaar,” meaning “broker.” Another explanation says that mackerel was called “poisson d’avril” because it was easily caught by trickery during this time of year.
Over time, “poisson d’avril” started meaning a person who helped in matchmaking (maybe to avoid the negative meaning of “maquereau,” which means “pimp”). Then, people started playing tricks on these matchmakers or sending them on silly missions for love. The first clear mention of April Fools’ Day is from a 1561 Flemish story about a nobleman sending a servant on silly tasks for a wedding feast. Even today, many Flemish speakers call April 1 “verzenderkesdag,” which means “errand day.”
However, we should remember the lesson from 1983. The young reporter who shared the story about Kugel, the king of fools, was Fred Bayles. From 2004 to 2016, he was a professor at Boston University’s College of Communications—the same school he asked about the origin of April Fools’ Day. In 2009, Bayles talked about the controversy in an interview with BU Today. He said, “Be very, very careful about what someone, especially someone talking about April Fools’ Day, tells you.” That’s good advice for everyone.
