The Prank Known as April Fools’ Day

Previously published Apr 2. 2021

Disclaimer: The Bunion is not responsible for any bad grades, missed homework, angry teachers, or humiliating pranks this April Fools’ Day. May you always read a Bunion and never actually have a Bunion.

Essentially everyone knows about April Fools’ Day. On the first day of April every year, people take out their stashes of whoopee cushions, fake spiders, and whatnot to set up pranks to mess with their peers. These pranks can range from simple to absurdly complicated. But what if April Fools’ Day was a prank itself? New information discovered proves that this is indeed the case.

The source of this information is a recently discovered ancient diary found in an undisclosed location. Much of the text written was already faded, likely due to the effect of aging. However, very reliable archaeologists have managed to interpret what several of the passages that are still legible mean. In one of them, the author talks about how they managed to convince the entire town that the first day of April was a long-forgotten festival. During this festival, people were to set up pranks to celebrate the god of pranks. The town bought into this story, therefore establishing the April Festival of Pranking Fools. This name was shortened to April Fools’ a few months later since people were complaining the name was too lengthy and complicated to say.

Within a few years, this tradition passed to nearby towns and had eventually spread all across the world. Once the author realized the prank’s effect, they told the town that this festival was only a prank they came up with and was not an ancient festival. However, the mayor of the town did not believe the author and thought that they were disgracing the god of pranks. Thus, the author was exiled. It came as no surprise that a few pages later, the author ranted about their treatment’s unfairness and how the exile was entirely unnecessary. The rest of the information the archaeologists interpreted does not contain anything else relating to the April Fools’ prank.

April Fools’ Day may just be an elaborate prank set up by some unknown figure in history, but people will likely continue to celebrate it. Thus, we have a mysterious person in the past to thank for a beloved holiday enjoyed today.