Abroad Outlook: The History of April Fool's Day

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The History of April Fool's Day

I cannot believe it is already April. Where has the time gone?

You all should know what April Fool's Day is. Today, I was very curious to find out who invented this holiday of disappointment and here is what I found:

April Fool's Day was invented by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935. He supposedly came up with the idea to prank his Vice President on the first of April. He wanted use this opportunity to lift the spirits of America during the Great Depression. Roosevelt made a clay bug and hid it in a lamp in John Garner's office. Garner, notoriously afraid of bugs, wouldn't enter his office until Roosevelt showed him that it was fake. He finished the prank off with "Happy April, you fool!"

More people joined in the fun on the next April 1st. By the third year, director Frank Capra played an infamous joke on actress and friend Bette Davis. He ripped his clothes and got very wet to convince his friend that his boat crashed near the Statue of Liberty and he had to swim all the way back. He, too, ended his plan by saying "Happy April, you fool!"

It wasn't until 1939 that April Fool's day got it's name. After the famous line used by Roosevelt and Capra: "Happy April, you fool!"

During the Second World War, the "holidays" popularity died down. It wasn't until 1947 that the JEM Rubber Co. used it as a method to advertise their toy: the whoopee cushion. This is when April Fool's Day really regained acknowledgement and turned into the April Fool's day we know and despise today.