Where April Fools' Day Started And Pranks For This Year

April Fools’ Day, also known as All Fools’ Day, is a day filled with pranks and jokes, celebrated annually on April 1st. Its exact origins are unclear, but it’s believed to have begun in France in the 16th century.

History Of April Fool’s Day

It was April 1, and the English began popularizing the annual April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on their friends and loved ones. Reportedly, the English of 1700 is who we have to thank for fake vomit, whoopie cushions, and fart-tasting jelly beans, among other things.

Historians have theorized that the origin of the fun day of the year dates to 1582 when the French switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian calendar. This was something called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People were slower to get the news in those days, and some failed to realize that the new year had moved to January 1st, thus continuing their new years' celebrations the last week in March through April 1st. Thus, the origin of many jokes and hoaxes.

Back then, the pranks included such things as having paper fish placed on their backs and being called poison d’avril (April fish), which is reported to mean a young and gullible person.

During the 18th century, April Fools’ Day spread in Britain and Scotland. In Scotland this turned into a two-day-long event, starting with their version of a “snipe hunt” called “hunting the gowk.” This is when people were sent on fools' errands. The next event was Tailie Day, which is likely where the kick-me signs started and included pinning fake tails to people's derriere.

Classic Pranks For April Fools Day

After all these years the pranks have sometimes been elaborate and sometimes remained simple enough for anyone to pull off. What, however, is a classic? Here are ten classic pranks that you can use for April Fools’ Day that will have people laughing out loud.

1. Take everybody’s favorite cookies, and Oreos, and replace the cream filling with toothpaste.
2. If you live with someone, wait until they go to bed and saran wrap the toilet.
3. We saw this one in high school. Saran wraps a car. Our vice principal didn’t seem as amused as the football team.
4. By some glazed donuts and sprinkle them in flour to make them look like powdered sugar. You can also use salt to make it look like a sugar donut.
5. Plug your wireless mouse into someone else’s computer.
6. Take screenshots of computer virus alerts, make a collage, and set it as your colleagues' home screen before they come to work.
7. Hide in a closet or shower dressed as Michael Myers.
8. Place a whoopie cushion underneath your colleagues’ seat at work or your kid's seat at breakfast.
9. Slip a sign reading honk if you’re horny on your spouse or best friend's car and make sure they can’t or won’t see it before they leave for the day. They’ll wonder all day long why the commuter traffic was so flirty.
10. Photoshop a picture of someone else in your significant other's bed and mail it to them with a note saying “You’re busted.” Mail it to your house and make sure you’re there when the mail comes so you can pump them for what’s wrong.
11. Buy a bag of jelly beans and a bag of gag jelly beans. Replace the normal ones with the gag flavors and give them to the kids, friends at work, or the spouse or girlfriend.

Extreme April Fools’ Pranks

April Fools’ Day pranks can get out of hand if you don’t temper your need for improving on the classics. If you do, you’re not alone. The best April Fools’ Day Prank I ever took part in involved weeks of practice, setting a stage, developing a back story, practicing a stunt, and using low-level Hollywood theatrics and special effects that took weeks to make and test.

At the end of the prank, my best friend at the time pulled out a prop gun and shot me in the chest. The sounds were real. They were recorded from a session on a firing range, and as the two targets turned toward me as they thought I was about to be shot, he “fired.” I clutched my chest, putting enough pressure on the Ziploc bags with fake blood that we sowed into the shirt I had on, and I fell backward off a small ledge into the waters below.

While he dragged them back to the car we took to the lake I swam upstream a way, got onto my motorcycle after a quick change of clothes, went back to our house killed the power, and buried myself under some dirt in the basement. When he got them to the house and the power was out he managed to convince them to just come downstairs while he flipped the breaker and they’d talk about what to say. Coming out of the dirt and grabbing the girl's legs, they both screamed bloody murder and one let out a little pee.

It was the best and most impressive prank we could pull off at the time for the money we were making. I think it did the trick.

Takeaways

It’s hard to believe that something from as far back as the 1500s might be entertaining us still today. Yet, April Fools’ Day is a yearly tradition that many people look forward to and many spend their hard-earned money and hours planning their perfect pranks.

Whatever your take on the prankiest of days, remember that if you go all out, be safe, and think about the results of whatever your prank might be. Not everyone has a great sense of humor or is forgiving for just some flowers and a nice dinner somewhere.