Why is April 1st considered April Fool’s Day?

Version 1: April 1st every year is a traditional folk festival in the West and the United States - April Fool's Day. April Fool's Day originated in France. In 1564, France first adopted the newly reformed calendar method-the Gregorian calendar (the current Gregorian calendar), with January 1st as the beginning of the year. However, some conservative people oppose this reform and still stubbornly send gifts on April 1 to celebrate the New Year according to the old calendar. Those who advocated reform ridiculed the practices of these conservatives. Smart and funny people gave them fake gifts on April 1st and invited them to fake receptions. And the conservatives who were deceived were called "April fools" or "baited fish". From then on, people fooled each other on April 1, which became a popular custom in France. At the beginning of the 18th century, the custom of April Fool's Day was spread to Britain, and then brought to the United States by early immigrants from Britain. On April Fool's Day, people often organize family gatherings and decorate the room with daffodils and daisies. The typical traditional approach is to decorate a fake environment. You can decorate the room like Christmas. You can also arrange it like a New Year, and when guests come, wish them "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year", which is unique and interesting. Fish Feast on April 1st. It’s also unique. Invitations to a sex banquet are usually small colorful fish made of cardboard. The dining table is decorated with green and white colors. Put a fish tank and small and exquisite fishing rods in the middle. Each fishing rod is tied with a green streamer and hung with gifts for the guests - either a delicate celluloid fish or a fish basket filled with candies. It goes without saying that all the dishes at the fish feast are made of fish. There is also a custom of making fake dishes at April Fool's Day parties. Someone once described a typical April Fool's Day recipe: first a "salad" with lettuce leaves sprinkled with green pepper, but when the leaves were uncovered, it turned out to be an oyster cocktail underneath; the second course was "roasted potatoes." , actually underneath were sweet bread crumbs and fresh mushrooms; the dishes that followed included roast chicken disguised as crabmeat and raspberry ice cream buried under a tomato salad. After the meal, guests can also enjoy candy from the pill box. However, the most typical activity of April Fool's Day is that everyone makes fun of each other and teases each other with lies. Some people leave their wallets tied with thin strings on the street and pull the other end of the string in the dark. Once someone picks up the wallet, they yank it away unexpectedly. Others put bricks under broken hats in the middle of the road, and then waited to see who would kick them. Children will tell their parents that there is a hole in their schoolbag or there is a black spot on their face. When the adults leaned over to take a look, they shouted "April Fool". He smiled and ran away. In short, every April Fool's Day, zoos and aquariums will receive many calls to Mr. Fish (fish) and Mr. Leon (lion), which often causes the staff to cut off the phone lines in order to reduce trouble. . Today's April Fool's Day in the United States is mainly a holiday for naughty boys.

Version 2: It is said that April Fool's Day originated from a famous Greek myth and legend. Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, is a well-known deity in Greece. She has boundless magical power, which can make the land fertile and the crops abundant, or she can make the fields barren and all things withered. She is also one of the most revered goddesses among the Greek gods. Zeus, the king of gods, is her brother and her husband. This identity alone is enough to make the gods bow at her feet. However, the life of this powerful goddess was not perfect. Relying on his status as the king of gods, Zeus flirted with women everywhere and had many romantic affairs, which brought endless troubles to Demeter. The only thing that allowed her to enjoy the joy of life was her daughter Persephone, a smart, beautiful, innocent and lively girl she had with Zeus. With her, no one would be sad or sad. On this day, Hades, the king of Hades, was driving around Sicily, and happened to be seen by Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, walking in the clouds. At the same time, she saw Persepho who was walking in the fields. Nirvana, as well as her partners Athena, the goddess of war, and Artemis, the goddess of hunting. As soon as she saw these people, Aphrodite became furious.

When she realized that she had fallen in love with her husband again, she calmed down and thought about what to do. Unintentionally, she raised her head and saw the sun god Helios driving a golden chariot in the vast space. Sri Lanka. It suddenly occurred to me that he was the only one who was above everything, could see everything clearly, and nothing that happened in the world could escape his eyes. Then, holding a torch in hand, he flew to Helios and asked him for guidance. The great sun god sympathized with the goddess's plight and did not need to fear the power of Pluto. Moreover, he did not want Demeter to continue making such a fuss, letting the gods laugh and the common people suffer, so he described the situation of Hades' bride-robbing in detail. Demeter suddenly realized, but it was too late. At this moment, Persephone, under the coercion and inducement of Hades, had become the noble queen of the underworld and could no longer reunite with her mother on earth. What's more, no matter how powerful Demeter was, she couldn't take her daughter away from Hades. Demeter knew that she had been deceived and fooled by the gods, and her resentment and anger deepened. She simply issued an order to let all the plants in the world wither, all crops to die, and no trace of green to appear on the earth. He hid in a remote place and never showed up again. As a result, everything in heaven and earth was in chaos. The people have no food to eat, and thousands of people starve to death every day. Crowds of dead souls swarmed into Hades, making noisy noises that made Hades upset and embarrassed. Because the gods could not get the sacrifices and gifts from the world, they were all starved to death. Zeus had no choice but to let Persephone live in Hades for 1/3 of the year and return to the human world for 2/3 to serve her mother. From now on, whenever Persephone stayed in the underworld, Demeter would be gloomy and the earth would be in depression. Once her daughter is reunited with her, the goddess will beam with joy, and the world will once again be full of vitality, with vegetation reviving and flowers blooming. It is obvious in this story that Demeter is a complete fool. She did not know the trick of the god of love, nor the complicity of her husband and Hades. After the incident, she was surrounded by the gods, and was repeatedly deceived and teased. Since then, people have established April Fools' Day, using white lies to warn those who think they are smart not to do stupid things that make people laugh because of their gullibility. In addition to the above story, there is another legend about the origin of April Fool's Day. In the Middle Ages, most Christian countries used the Julian calendar and celebrated New Year's Day from March 25 to April 1. According to custom, on April 1st, people give each other gifts to congratulate each other. In 1752 AD, the Gregorian calendar was implemented and the New Year was moved to January 1. However, old customs die hard and people are still willing to send gifts to others on April 1st. This "New Year" itself is false. Later, some pranksters simply turned the gifts into fake ones. It was said to be a box of snacks, but there might be a rock inside. He claimed to come to visit, but the owner was kept waiting for a long time. The people who were deceived were not willing to accept the deception, so they took the medicine according to the prescription and retaliated. Over time, it became April Fool's Day. Today, April Fool's Day has developed into an international holiday, popular in almost all of Europe and North America. Scotland calls those who are deceived on this day "cuckoos", which seems to still have some relationship with the goddess of agriculture. The French call it "April fish". This is probably because the small fish just hatch in April and swallow the bait in a daze, making it easy to get hooked! As time goes by, the tricks used to trick people on April Fool's Day have also been updated with new ideas. For example: a newlywed wife may receive a letter reporting her husband's infidelity, a mediocre civil servant may receive a promotion order, and a son may receive a telegram announcing his father's death. On April 1 of a certain year, the British "Daily Mirror" published a photo of a man whose face resembled the president of a certain country, holding an almost naked beauty with one arm. If you believe all these things to be true, you will be seriously deceived. Of course, if you are really fooled, you don't have to be as angry as the goddess Demeter. It's better to show some "gentleman" demeanor and laugh it off, which is in line with the true meaning of being kind to others on April Fool's Day.