Whether planning the ultimate April Fool’s Day scheme or pulling even the smallest prank, have you ever paused to consider why this day exists? The creation of April Fool’s Day goes back years, all the way to 1582, which makes you wonder: what happened back then to create an entire day devoted to creating confusion and pranking others?

During the year of 1583, the Council of Trent required France to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, which we all use to this day. The switch was a massive change, but those who didn’t catch wind of the calendar adjustment continued operating as usual.

The calendar switched the “New Year” from the spring equinox of April 1st to January 1st. People who didn’t get the message and continued celebrating the new year in April were made fun of and called “April’s Fools.” 

On the first of April, people took to pranking their peers. Some of the jokes/pranks that were played on people in the early days were based on paper fish. People would place paper fish known as “poisson d’avril” (April Fish) on people’s backs. These fish would symbolize a gullible and easily caught “fish.” It also meant that the person that was being tricked was young or considered young.

While those were the types of pranks pulled centuries ago, things have changed with time. Haylie Thomas, a sophomore at Long Reach, said that she has once switched out the clothes in a closet before. “It was funny to see the reaction,” Thomas elaborated. 

Another fun story about pranks that have been pulled before is from Enan Purvey, a Sophomore at Long Reach High School. In the 7th grade (2020), Purvey placed a whoopee cushion on his teacher’s chair, which she sat on, making a loud noise mimicking a fart. Purvey did get lunch detention though because of this, but he said, “It was worth it.”

One historic mistake has led to a yearly day of tricks. People all over the world, all ages, continue this tradition to this day. 

“If you have anything important to tell me, tell me tomorrow cause I won’t believe you today. Happy April Fools Day!” From therandomvibez. 

It is apparent that on April Fools Day, people don’t believe things because of the tradition of being tricked. Be on the lookout, and Happy April Fool’s Day!