April Fools Day

APRIL FOOLS DAY
By: Hung Vinh

ORIGINS
New Years Day Moves
Ancient cultures including the Romans and Hindus celebrated New years Day on April 1
st
. It follows the
vernal equinox. In medieval times, much of Europe also celebrated march 25 which is the Feast of Annunciation.
Pope Gregory XIII ordered the Gregorian Calendar to replace the old Julian Calendar. This calendar
celebrated the New Years Day on Jan 1
st
. This caused confusing among people because they either refuse it or did
not learn about the new date and they continue to celebrated it on April 1
st
. Since then, people started to make fun
of these traditionalists by sending them on fools errands or trying to trick them into believing something
false. Eventually, this practice spread throughout Europe.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
ANOTHER ORIGINS
Constantine and Kugel
This explanation was provided by Joseph Boskin, professor of history at Boston University.
The practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told
the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine allowed a jester
named Kugel to be king for one day and so the custom became an annual event
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html
AND ANOTHER ORIGIN
The French Theory
One of the most popular theory is that France changed its calendar in the 1500s so that the New
Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of a beginning at the start of spring,
in late March or early April.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080328-april-fools/
5 PRANKS
In Digestion We Trust
In 1996, Taco Bell put out a full-page ad in six major papers claiming theyd purchased Philadelphias
Liberty Bell which they rightly renamed the Taco Liberty Bell. Obviously, it was the Mexican cuisines
patriotic attempt to aid Americas growing national debt. Hundred of angry people gathered near the
storied ringer to express their discontent, while the park service received frantic calls from the offices of
senators Bill Bradley and J. James Exon
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/01/epic-april-fool-s-day-pranks.html
God Blessie This Nessie
Upon visiting Scotlands Loch Ness, on March 31, 1972 Flamingo Park Zoos education officer, John
Shields, decided to get his fellow-visiting-scientists goat by a way of a seal. A dead elephant bull seal, to
be exact. After shaving the poor guys whiskers, and sticking rocks in his mouth so as to make his snout
look more monstrous, he dumped it into the water, near where his crew was lunching. Not only were
Shields fellow eggheads fooled, but so was the local, and international media, with one Los Angeles
Times headline screaming Monster Hauled Out of Loch Ness while the many innocent bystanders
just screamed, period.
In Lying Color
In 1962, Swedish personality, Kjell Stensson, announced on the Sveriges television channel that his
black-and-white suffering brethren could now place a Nylon stocking over their TV screens, which would
instantly convert the broadcast to color. Thousands of Scandinavian raiding their moms underwear
drawers for the miracle screen savers. And of course, that got them into troubles.
Hanged Man
In 2004, a man called his ex-wife and asked her to come over so he could show her something.
When the woman arrived, he had a rope around his neck and was hanging from a tree in the front yard.
She called 911. The husband tried to tell her that it was a joke but it was too late. He was charged with
falsely reporting an incident.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/april_fools_day_5_outrageous_pranks_that_m
ade_headlines_in_central_new_york.html
EA Fails, Its In The Fail
On the April Fools Day of this year, EA Games official account for the Frostbite game engine said
that Battlefield 4 engine now runs on the Wii U since it is the most powerful Gen4 platform. Many
customers get angry with that statement and so EA Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore was forced to
apologize to Nintendo and gamers on the day after.
http://www.cnet.com/news/ea-apologizes-for-april-fools-prank-gone-bad/

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APRIL FOOLS DAY

By: Hung Vinh

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