This is a holiday celebrated on April 1st designated to telling jokes. Some may wonder where this day began and how it was created but the answer is, we don't really know. There are multiple different theories but none of them are confirmed. Brandon Specktor from the Readers’ Digest article ¨April Fools´ Pranks, and Ideas” states, ¨April Fools’ Day is apparently an ancient enough tradition that the earliest recorded mentions, including the following excerpt from a 1708 letter to Britain’s Apollo magazine, ask the same question we do: “Whence proceeds the custom of making April Fools?”
Some historians believe that April Fools’ Day started in 1582, the year that France switched to a different calendar. Historians say that it got its name since it is in April and some may be fooled by the calendar change. Most of the world joins these celebrations with many radio stations, companies and TV channels making April Fools jokes to involve themselves with this day, not to mention some new reporters creating fake headlines to trick people. There are variations between countries in the celebration of April Fools’ Day. According to the Insiders article, ¨How April Fools´ Day is Celebrated in 11 Countries around the World.¨ For instance, France celebrates by putting fish images on people’s backs (usually an activity for children), while people in the United Kingdom only play pranks until noon. The unofficial holiday has spread to India, too, where children love to hoax their friends and shout out “April fool!” to the joke’s victim. In Greece there are several beliefs around April Fools’ pranks, such as if you can trick someone, you’ll have good luck all year long. Other beliefs are that successful tricksters will enjoy a good year of crops and that the water from rainfall on April 1st has healing abilities. In Ireland, April Fools’ Day is celebrated in several ways. Like in the U.K., the jokes and pranks on this day are expected to end at noon; those who continue to play jokes in the afternoon will themselves be thought of as foolish. Media outlets may publish hoaxes on April 1st and some drivers will drive on the right side of the road — terrifying, since they’re supposed to drive on the left.¨
Some jokes in the United States include speaking false information in the media, pranking people by making them believe whatever you had said is real, and telling funny jokes. In order for people to understand the joke at the end, you have to say ¨April fools!¨ otherwise it will not be counted as a joke or prank.
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