Why do we celebrate April Fool's Day?

[Eldorado]

"The answer to that question is unfortunately a little hazy, and there are many theories as to why the tradition exists, and where it came from.

"Arguably the most popular suggestion - in the UK at least - is that it comes from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

"In the Nun's Priest's Tale, a vain Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on "Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two", which readers came to understand meant "since March began thirty days and two" - or 1 April.

"However, it is not clear that Chaucer was referencing April 1."

Full article at iNews UK: Link

At Wikipedia: Link

Edited April 1, 2020 by Eldorado

[+Desertrat56]

I had a neighbor who listened to a radio station all day long every day, and she stayed home so never remembered what day it was.  3 years in a row she called me on April 1st to tell me something so funny, and she thought it was real, because the radio station always had April fools news story, telling it as if it were real.  She would be upset and I would ask her if she knew what day it was and she would say Tuesday and I would say what is the date, then hang upon her.  One I remember was a story that the Cochiti Pueblo was going to block the Rio Grande off and keep people down river from getting any water. 

[Seti42]

"Now who's laughing! Now who's laughing!"

 

[+and-then]

THIS was the best April Fools gimmick I ever saw.  I took it hook, line and sinker...

 

[Calibeliever]

I heard (many years ago now) that when people switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one, those who didn't recognize (or know) that the new year was January first were celebrating it in late March or early April and got labeled as 'fools'. -shrug- ?