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The 1st of April is celebrated as the April Fools Day. Most of the countries consider it to be a national holiday. On this day, hoaxes and practical jokes of a great variety are cracked among friends and neighbors. People also send their close relatives fools� errands and make them the butts of ridicule. The April Fools Day is now celebrated across the net too.

The April Fools Day hoaxes are only pranks and fair games. Nowadays, different media houses too organize such fun games to entertain public. There are a number of monthly journals too, which prepare such things too in their April version.

There is no initial date to be regarded as the first April Fools Day. The closest possible date that can mark the beginning of this celebration can be 1582, in France. It is a custom that might have developed in different countries at the same time. The April Fools Day is primarily the day when people celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Prior to the year 1582, the New Year was celebrated for long eight days, beginning from March 25th and ended in April 1st. During the Georgian rule, a new calendar was introduced, where the New Year was marked to be on 1st January. But an inflexible sect continued to celebrate the New Year on 1st of April itself. The local populace called this backward class the �fools�. They were often subjected to ridicule and fools� errands.

Pranks and jokes cracked during the April Fools Day range from small to elaborate ones. Some practical jokes are kept up the whole day before the victim realizes what day it is. Whatever the prank is, the charlatan ends the game by crying �April Fool� and bursts forth in laughter.

Celebrations of the April Fools Day is all about enjoying unlimited fun and turning a friend the prey of your prank.

The celebration of April Fools� Day in different countries

It is generally believed that Europe has derived its concept of April Fools Day from France, since France was the first country to celebrate the New Year on 1st January during the reign of Charles IX. According to the French and Dutch references, they too regard the date of 1st of April to be the April Fools� Day.

In England, the April Fools Day began to be celebrated from the 18th century. In Scotland, the custom of harassing friends is known as �hunting the gawk� or the cuckoo. In France, this is known as poisson d’avril. The zodiac sign for April is a �Fish�, and is believed to be caught easily.

People Of Scotland celebrate the April Fools� Day for forty-eight hours. The second day is called �Taily�, symbolized by the �kick me� sign. In Mexico, the April Fools Day is celebrated on 28th December. It is the day when king Herod mercilessly killed small children. Later it became a day when people would mourn lightly, involving pranks and trickery. Chaucer too referred to the April Fools� Day, in his Nun�s Priest�s Tale.

Thus, April fools Day is celebrated across the world with a lot of mirth and light-hearted ridicule.