April Fools’ Day is an established April 1 custom of pranks and hoaxes, but its precise origin is unknown. The earliest certain reference identified by the Library of Congress is a 1561 Flemish poem in which a servant recognizes that he is being sent on pointless errands because it is April 1. That is evidence the custom existed by then—not proof of how it began.
Where did April Fools’ Day come from?
No proven origin has been identified. The Library of Congress calls the 1561 poem by Flemish writer Eduard De Dene the first certain reference to the custom: a nobleman sends his servant on fruitless errands, and the servant understands the trick as an April 1 fool’s errand. The poem establishes that the practice was recognizable by 1561, but it does not explain its beginnings. The Library of Congress’s account and its April 2016 magazine article describe this distinction.
An earlier phrase, but not a firm starting point
A 1508 poem by Eloy D’Amerval, Le Livre de la Deablerie, contains an early reference to “poisson d’avril,” or “April fish.” The phrase is associated with an April fish or a gullible person. But the Library of Congress cautions that the reference alone does not establish that an April 1 holiday existed in 1508. It is suggestive evidence, not a secure date for the custom’s start.
What early records do—and do not—show
In 1686, English antiquarian John Aubrey called the occasion “Fooles Holy Day” and wrote, “We observe it on the first of April. And so it is kept in Germany everywhere.” This is Aubrey’s observation about the custom in his time, not proof that it was literally universal in Germany.
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April Fools’ Day is also documented in colonial-era North America. The Library of Congress reports a 1771 diary entry by Anna Green Winslow in Boston and a 1796 handbill in Middletown, Connecticut, requesting 17 fool’s coats and caps for April 1. These records show the custom was present; they do not identify where it originated.
Did a calendar change create April Fools’ Day?
A popular story says that people who continued celebrating the New Year around April 1 after France moved its official New Year to January 1 were mocked as fools. Versions connect the change to Charles IX’s 1564 Edict of Roussillon or to France’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
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The evidence does not establish this explanation. The Library of Congress describes it as a migratory legend—a story attached to different holidays, places, and times. French New Year practices varied by region, and the account does not provide contemporary evidence for the April 1 celebrations and resulting pranks the story requires. The calendar theory is therefore a popular explanation, not a demonstrated cause.
Are Roman spring festivals or Chaucer connected to the day?
Hilaria and spring customs
Hilaria, a Roman spring festival associated with Cybele, included disguise and license, according to National Geographic’s account. That makes it a seasonal comparison, but the sources do not establish a direct line from Hilaria to April Fools’ Day. Similar timing or festive behavior does not prove shared origin.
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Chaucer’s disputed passage
One proposed medieval reference appears in Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale, where a date is read as “thirty-two days since March began.” The interpretation depends on that wording. The Library of Congress and Wordorigins.org note that many scholars regard “began” as a scribal error and read the passage as “since March was gone,” which points to May 3. It is disputed textual evidence, not a settled early attestation of April Fools’ Day.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How does the custom vary across places and media?
France: “poisson d’avril”
“Poisson d’avril” means “April fish” and is also used for a person duped on the day. The expression is associated with fish-themed fooling, but the 1508 phrase does not by itself prove that the holiday was being observed then.
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Scotland: “hunting the gowk”
In Scotland, “hunting the gowk” involved sending someone on a false errand. HISTORY’s account also describes a second day of pranks known as Tailie Day.
North American pranks and public hoaxes
In the United States, the Winslow diary and Connecticut handbill provide 18th-century evidence of the custom. Later, newspapers and broadcasters made April 1 hoaxes familiar public entertainment. Examples reported by HISTORY include the BBC’s 1957 segment about a spaghetti harvest, NPR’s 1992 fake announcement of a Richard Nixon presidential campaign, and Taco Bell’s 1996 fictional purchase of the Liberty Bell. These are modern examples of the custom’s changing forms, not evidence of its ancient origin.
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The available history supports describing April Fools’ Day as a recurring custom of fooling people with pranks and hoaxes, not as a holiday with a known founding event or a single documented reason for its celebration. Its forms differ across cultures and eras, from false errands to fish-themed jokes and broadcast hoaxes. Folklorist Alan Dundes, quoted by National Geographic, summed up the uncertainty: “More than one hundred years of scholarship has unfortunately added very little to our knowledge and understanding of this curious custom.”
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