THEhe arrival of spring brings with it a custom that spans centuries and geographical borders, transforming reality for a day into a stage of small and large fictions. In fact, April 1st represents an unusual parenthesis in the calendar, a moment in which logic gives way to paradox and the truth becomes a malleable material. This tradition, it is known in Italy as April Fool’s Daynot just an opportunity for fun jokes, but a profound cultural phenomenon that has its roots in a remote and mysterious past.
The subtle charm of deception: April Fool’s Day between history and legend
The genesis of this anniversary does not belong to a single historical event, but is lost in a mosaic of hypotheses. Among the various explanations, one of the most accredited is linked to the reform of the calendar. Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the chronological system established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and now adopted in almost the entire world, New Year was celebrated between March 25th and April 1st. With the celebrations moved to January 1st, the custom of exchanging gifts in spring did not disappear immediately and, those who continued to follow the old dates, he was often mocked with the delivery of empty gift boxessymbol of a now non-existent holiday.
Saved by a fish bone
However, there are even older narratives. A medieval legend tells of the blessed Bertrand of San Genesio, patriarch of Aquileia, who saved a pontiff from suffocation caused by a fish bone. To commemorate the event, the ban on consuming fish would have been imposed on the first day of April. Other theories, of an anthropological nature, connect the celebration to the rhythms of nature: the beginning of April coincided with the start of the fishing seasonand the frequent failures of the fishermen in the first days of the month became a source of ridicule from their fellow citizens.
From calendar reforms to the BBC’s historical pranks, a journey to discover a tradition that today has to deal with the threat of fake news. (Getty Images)
The meaning of April Fools’ Day in different cultures
The term “fish” used in Italy and France recalls the image of the animal that bites the hook without suspecting the danger. The victim of the joke, just like a fish that takes the bait, allows himself to be convinced by an artfully constructed charade. In the Anglo-Saxon world, however, attention shifts to the human figure: the day is called April’s fools’ day, aka “April Fools’ Day”underlining the temporary loss of judgment of those who fall into the trap.
When the institutions sign the hoax
If in everyday life the joke remains a matter between private individuals, Recent history has shown how even the most authoritative bodies love to participate in this collective game. And, some episodes have remained imprinted in the collective memory for their creativity and the authority of the subjects involved. Like, for example, that of the BBC who, in 1957, broadcast a documentary that it showed a Swiss family picking spaghetti from trees. Thousands of viewers called the station to find out how they could grow their own “pasta plant”.
From Cern to Loch Ness, the best jokes
There was also that of Cern, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, which he announced jokingly the discovery of the “Force”, the mystical energy of the Star Wars film sagaciting researchers with evocative names such as Ben Kenobi. And then that of the Loch Ness monster: in 1972, the British press spread the news of the discovery of the body of “Nessie”the legendary Scottish creature. Only later was it discovered that it was the carcass of an elephant seal carefully placed by a zoo employee to mock his colleagues.
The digital metamorphosis and the risk of misinformation
With the expansion of the web and social networks, However, April Fools’ Day has undergone a radical and not too positive transformation. If once, in fact, the joke was limited and easily disproved, today the speed of the internet makes it difficult to distinguish recreational content from real news. This scenario has pushed many fact-checking experts to urge maximum caution: the boundary between the game and fake news has become extremely thin. Precisely for this reason, in recent years several international newspapers have chosen to abandon the tradition of pranksto avoid undermining readers’ trust in an era in which the distinction between true and false has become a daily challenge. Apart from this, April 1st therefore remains a celebration of irony. However, it also remains an annual reminder of the need to maintain a critical spirit in the face of every sensational announcement.
