April 1 of every year is a day set aside for playing of harmless pranks by people in different parts of the world. I've often wonder what gave rise to this practice and
below is what I've found out.
First connection of foolishness and April 1 was first seen in Geoffrey Chaucer's book, The Canterbury Tales (1392) where he mentions March 32. Since there's no day as March 32, most scholars believe it's a misprint.
Roman Festival of Hilaria, Holi Festival of India and the Medieval Feast of Fools are precursors of this day as they mark the beginning of a new period in a year for people of these culture. In other words, it was a period when gods were thanked and worshiped before the next quarter of the year begins. Still, for some others, April 1 marks Fool's day because it heralds the general hilarity and fun that seems to be attached with spring time.
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