On April 1st, many nations throughout the world celebrate April Fools, the day of lies, humor and practical jokes. The first day of April is always very popular.
Today, many people around the world will play jokes and tell made up stories, to have fun. April Fools is celebrated in many countries, but not always on April 1st.
The origin of this holiday can be traced back to an ancient Roman festival, traditionally taking place on March 25th in honor of Hilaria, on which people were allowed to lie.
However, according to Boston University professor Joseph Boskin, April Fools originated in Constantinople, where the Byzantine emperor allowed his jester to rule the country for a day, that day being April 1st.
April Fools is highly popular in Spain, where it is called Holy Innocents' Day and celebrated on December 28. According to the Catholic church, the Judean King Herod the Great ordered all newborn males to be executed, in order to kill the young Jesus, who was prophesied to be the new king.
Thanks to the Spanish, this day became widespread in Mexico and in Peru. On this day, nothing is loaned in Mexico and in Peru it is typical to see people walking around with paper signs attached to their backs. Even the media puts out hoax stories, challenging people to find out for themselves which news story is true and which is not.
In New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia and South Africa, pranks are allowed only until noon, and anyone fooled is called an April fool.
In France, April 1st is called "April fish", and the French try to attach a paper fish to someone's back as a prank.
In Scotland, April Fools is known as Cuckoo Day, with the cuckoo symbolizing foolishness. There, it is tradition to stick a sign with the words "kick me" on someone.
Even though today is related to humor and fun, Germans and Austrians believe that those born on this day will never have luck and will always be unlucky.
