April Fool's Day

Transcript 1

April Fools' Day has an unclear origin, but several theories exist. One idea comes from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392) in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. In the tale, a proud rooster is tricked by a fox. Chaucer writes that the story happened on the thirty-second day since the start of March, which could be April first. However, some scholars believe this was a mistake in copying the text.

Another theory suggests April Fools' Day started in France. In the Middle Ages, New Year's was celebrated in late March, ending on the first of April. Later, when France officially moved New Year’s Day to January 1 in 1564, people who still followed the old date were mocked, which may have been the start of April Fools’ traditions. (127 words)

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Transcript 2

In Britain in 1686, the day was called "Fooles holy day". People were tricked into visiting the
Tower of London to watch the "washing of the lions.” There was no such event, but many fell for the joke and showed up at the Tower expecting to see lions being bathed.

Some also link the tradition to
Noah’s Ark, saying Noah mistakenly sent out a dove too early on April one, inspiring later pranks.

One of the most famous modern April Fools’ Day pranks was Google's
"Google Nose" hoax in 2013. Google announced a new feature called Google Nose, claiming it allowed users to search for smells online. The fake feature supposedly let people sniff their screens to experience different scents, from flowers to wet dogs. The prank was convincing because Google is known for innovative technology. Many people were fooled, and the joke spread widely online before they realized it was fake. (152 words)

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