Of the many reasons to love April 1 (it's spring!), the best is the excuse to act like a kid, to play silly tricks and say silly things followed by the inevitable, "April Fools!"
Mark Twain, a very wise and foolish man always hit the nail on the head. In "Pudd'nhead Wilson," written in 1894, he wrote, "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred-and-sixty-four."
April Fools Day, amazingly enough, came to be in medieval times when the Gregorian calendar stopped celebrating the new year on April 1, which was near the vernal equinox and the Feast of Annunciation.
The new calendar instead called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. Many countries resisted the change, including some European countries that held out for centuries. Scotland changed in 1660; Germany, Denmark, and Norway in 1700, and England in 1752.
France adopted the reformed calendar in 1564. However, many uninformed and stubborn traditionalists did not learn about it, and continued celebrating on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these folks, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false.
"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed." Mark Twain wrote.
Though we generally accept April Fools as the day to tell people things that simply aren't true, there have been some huge pranks perpetrated on the public on this day.
According to the Museum of Hoaxes these are some of the best.
· "In 1957 the respected BBC news show 'Panorama' announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied that they should 'place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'"
· "In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch and he could reportedly throw a baseball with startling, pinpoint accuracy at 168 mph (65 mph faster than anyone else has ever been able to throw a ball). Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the 'art of the pitch' in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the 'great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa.' Mets fans everywhere celebrated at their team's amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the writer of the article, George Plimpton."
· "In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called up the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell is housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed that it was all a practical joke a few hours later. The best line inspired by the affair came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale, and he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though to a different corporation, and would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial."
· "In 1992 National Public Radio's 'Talk of the Nation' program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for president again. His new campaign slogan was, 'I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again.' Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little."
· "In 2000 a news release was sent to the media stating that the 15th annual New York City April Fool's Day Parade was scheduled to begin at noon on 59th Street and would proceed down to Fifth Avenue. According to the release, floats in the parade would include a 'Beat 'em, Bust 'em, Book 'em' float created by the New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle police departments. This float would portray 'themes of brutality, corruption and incompetence.' A 'Where's Mars?' float, reportedly built at a cost of $10 billion, would portray missed Mars missions. Finally, the 'Atlanta Braves Baseball Tribute to Racism' float would feature John Rocker who would be 'spewing racial epithets at the crowd.' CNN and the Fox affiliate WNYW sent television news crews to cover the parade. They arrived at 59th Street at noon only to discover that there was no sign of a parade, at which point the reporters realized they had been hoaxed."
Remember the wise words of the writer Max Eastman, "It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor."
Lookout for this April?s Fools Dude around town today. You may not recognize him, but wherever there is a joke he will be there. Photo by Iris Fanshaw
