What are the origins of April Fool's Day?

Gnomon

'One possibility is that the celebration originated in France when the Gregorian calendar was introduced by King Charles IX. Instead of the New Year's celebrations starting on 25 March and ending on 1 April, as they had done previously, the New Year was moved to 1 January. Those that continued to celebrate the New Year in Spring, or simply forgot, became the butt of tricks and jokes and were called Poisson d'avril, meaning 'April Fish'. This must have been so much fun that it spread all over the world and people played tricks on everyone, not just the people who didn't accept the new calendar. ' http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A516791 Apr 02 03, 6:48 AM

Friar Tuck

Brewer's Phrase and Fable agrees and offers another account which refers to the Roman Cerealia, held at the beginning of April. The story is that Proserpina was sporting in the Elysian meadows, and had just filled her lap with daffodils, when Pluto carried her off to the lower world. Her mother, Ceres, heard the echo of her screams, and went in search of the voice. Her search, however, was a fool's errand; it was 'hunting the gowk' (Scottish for cuckoo) or looking for an echo of a scream. Apr 02 03, 7:02 AM

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