It’s interesting when you look at the history of April Fool’s Day that it is also known as All Fool’s’Day and the day is usually marked by the commission of hoaxes and practical jokes of various sophistication on friends, family members, enemies and neighbours.
Traditionally in some countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon but elsewhere in the world they last all day.
The origin of the day remains unknown although there is a theory that it stems from the Persian tradition of Sizdah Bedar, which is considered the oldest prank – related tradition and dates back to 536 BC.
Some of the better-known pranks include BBC television running a famous hoax in 1957 which showed Italians harvesting spaghetti from trees.
Then there was the Dutch television show that reported that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over, which caused a deluge of call from somewhat shocked viewers.
And in 1962 the Swedish national television did a five-minute special on how you could get coloured TV by placing a nylon stocking in front of your set.
There was also the prank in 2005 when a news story was posted on the official NASA web site purporting to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture actually was just one of a glass of water on a Mars Candy Bar.
Some of the real April Fool’s day stories included the death of King George II of Greece in 1947 and in 2009 a school was almost burned to the ground in the Danish town of Albertslund because apparently the local fire department refused to believe the news was true.
A strange tale
This one takes some beating. Evidently in the Babylon and Assyrian Empires the King would often be spanked by the High Priest to remind him of much of a fool he was in comparison to the gods.
And April Fool is the codename for a spy and double agent who allegedly played a key role in the downfall of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The best thing you can do on the day is not to answer the phone or go out anywhere. Just have a quiet BBQ in the backyard.
This way you can stay sane and get ready for Good Friday when we are expected to pay our respects or at least remember Our Lord Jesus Christ.
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