Sign in or 
- EasyEdit
- Edit tags
-
(what's this?What are these tools?
People just like you can add or edit the content on this site. If you want to try editing, but aren't ready to add to this site, try our demo area.
Read more about editing pages at Wetpaint Central.
) - Report page
Share this
Origin of April Fool's Day
The origin of April Fool’s Day remains a mystery. No one really knows where, when or why a day of foolishness became a celebrated yearly event. There are clues, however. References to an “All Fool’s Day” began to appear in Europe during the late Middle Ages. It was essentially a folk celebration that the elite did not participate in. Potential predecessors of the day can also be found in some of the festivals celebrated throughout antiquity, which included trickery and tomfoolery.
One such tradition includes the Satumalia, a Roman winter festival, observed at the end of December. It involved drinking, dancing, gift exchanges, and slaves were allowed to pretend they ruled their masters for the day. Out of this celebration rose the Festus Fatuorum (The Feast of Fools), which involved the election of a mock pope and parodied church rituals.
Northern Europeans also observed an ancient festival, honoring the Celtic god of humor called Lud. But perhaps the most intriguing suggestion is the British folklore surrounding the town of Gotham, the legendary “town of fools” in Nottinghamshire.
According to folklore, any road the King set foot upon became his property. When the folks of Gotham found out that King John was planning to travel through the town, they refused to let the King in. When the troops King John sent to the town arrived, they found the town overrun by apparent lunatics, engaged in loony activities like drowning fish, and catching birds in roofless cages. It was all an act, but the King fell for it and declared the townsfolk too crazy to be punished for their insubordination. Since then, according to some, April Fool’s Day is perpetuated to commemorate their brilliant trickery.
But whatever the origin might be, April Fool’s Day is now a firmly established day of tomfoolery, across much of the world.
Google has become famous for creating some rather interesting, and funny, pranks each year. I can’t wait to see what they do today, but here’s a sample of their previous internet hoaxes:
- 2000 – the MentalPlex, a Mental Visualization Internet Search Tool
- 2002 – PigeonRank, the heart of Google’s search technology
- 2004 – Google’s lunar hosting and research center Copernicus Center Now Hiring
- 2005 -- Google Gulp! Quench your thirst for knowledge
- 2006 – Google Romance and SoulMate Search
charu_01 |
Latest page update: made by charu_01
, Apr 1 2008, 9:14 AM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
from charu_01
- charu_01
427 words added 1 image added view changes - complete history) |
|
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
