With lots of foolishness occurring on April 1, many wonder where the holiday April Fools originated.
Nobody is certain where April Fools actually originated; however, the most common belief is that in 1582, the Pope ordered the calendar at the time to be replaced, changing the first day of the year to be January 1. Before the change was made, the first day of the year was held on or around April 1.
People at the time thought it would be fun to tease those individuals that continued to celebrate the old New Year’s Day, and would send them on “fools” errands. The practice continued until it had sooner or later spread throughout the world.
Snow College student Wes Thomas said, “it’s a time to have fun and make fools out of people.”