April Fools’ Day : How did the prank tradition start
April Fool’s day has been celebrated for centuries.
The tradition has been handed down from one generation to another and nothing much has changed.
But many of us today mark the day by pranking family and friends and only a few even bother to ask how the tradition came by.
It is time you learn the real truth about April Fool’s Day and answer the question how did the prank tradition start?
How did the prank tradition start?
It is not clear how the tradition came into being.
There is a mystery in trying to bring light into how the world-wide celebrated day was effected and what inspired it in the first place.
Those who have tried to explain this tradition have established some theories.
Two of these theories point precisely to the tradition;
Kugel and Constantine Theory
Joseph Boskin, a history professor of history at the Boston University, is credited with this theory of explaining the origin and practice of April’s Fool Day.
It was during the reign of Constantine when a cluster from the court jesters told the emperor that they would run the empire better. Constantine appreciated such absurdity.
He played to the jokers’ game and gave one of them, Kugel, the chance to run the empire for one day. That is when the April fool day practice was born.
Jesters were considered as wise men and they brought reality into life and their sense of humor was highly regarded by rulers.
New Year Changes Theory
In different ancient cultures, New Year never used to be as we know it.
It fell over different days and months depending on the calendar such a culture adhered to.
Romans, Hindus and some groups from Europe celebrated their new year on April 1st. Later in 1852, different cultures adopted new calendar and New Year fell on January 1st.
But this change was not easily accepted by a number of ancient cultures.
They continued to celebrate the beginning of the year on the dawn of April.
Jokes were made on these people who did not accept the change. That is how the fool’s day was born and has been observed since then.
But there are some holes on this theory since April Fool’s day was there before 1752 when the Georgian calendar was put into force.
Well, at least now you have a clue of where the pranking culture came from.
