With winter in the rearview mirror, it's time to welcome spring and all the fun activities that come with the season, like planting flowers, getting outside and enjoying the return of warm weather. Even spring cleaning is enjoyable because, well, it's spring.
But first up is April 1. The start of a new month and, of course, April Fools' Day.
Whether you're typically the prank perp or victim, you may be wondering when is April Fools' Day in 2024, so you can plan your jokes in advance.
Should you fall into the prankster category, naturally you want plenty of advance notice to ensure you have everything prepared for whatever tomfoolery you've cooked up, whether it's short-sheeting the bed or gluing the toilet seat closed.
If you're usually on the receiving end of someone else's trickery, then it doesn't hurt to be ready for whatever scheme they've got in store.
In either case, we've got everything you need to know about when April Fools' is this year, as well as what day of the week it lands on.
Curious to know how April Fools' Day got started to begin with? We've got that, too, as well as some insight on why we enjoy fooling other people for no other reason than pure devilish delight.
When is April Fools' Day in 2024?
This year and every year, April Fools' Day falls on April 1.
If you're curious what day of the week it lands on this year, it's on a Monday, which means you have an entire weekend to dream up and execute the perfect prank on friends and family.
And there are so many good ones to choose from.
A favorite among all practical jokes comes from an episode of "The Office" in which Jim puts Dwight Schrute’s stapler inside a Jello mold. Classic.
Other April Fools' pranks include swapping the filling in a sandwich cookie for toothpaste, putting an elastic band on the nozzle of the kitchen sink sprayer or replacing the salt in the shaker with sugar. Really, there's no end to the pranks you can play in the name of good fun.
Why do we celebrate April Fools' Day?
You might be surprised to learn that we've been celebrating April Fools' Day for centuries.
According to an article published by the Library of Congress Magazine on the subject, no knows exactly when the tradition began, but it's possible it started with a classical Roman festival called "Hilaria," a celebration of the spring equinox which took place anywhere between 625 B.C. to 476 A.D.
Given the timing of the ancient festival, the date of April Fools' Day, April 1, makes a lot of sense.
Hilaria's festivities included games and other amusements. Supposedly mocking others or wearing disguises was also part of the ritual — so not too far removed from our current April Fools' traditions.
That said, specific references to April Fools' weren't found until 1561 when Eduard De Dene wrote a poem that mentions sending a servant off to perform a series of frivolous errands just for laughs.
Sound familiar? If you've ever used the expression being sent out on a "fool's errand," this is where the term originates.
Sending someone to do a bunch of foolish things for personal amusement apparently caught on because 500 years later, the practical joke was still making the rounds, at least according to a 1902 newspaper article, which mentions sending "unsophisticated" people out to do "fruitless" errands just because it's funny.
Do other countries celebrate April Fools' Day?
The U.S. isn't the only country to get in on the fun.
According to the Museum of Hoaxes, a 1957 BBC broadcast in Britain convinced people that Swiss farmers were growing spaghetti on trees.
Gullible viewers phoned the TV station asking how they could grow pasta-bearing trees of their own. To be fair, we’d be all in for backyard penne, but, alas, it was only a prank.
The Swedes got in on the action a few years later. In 1962, people covered their televisions with stockings after a mock news segment said nylons could convert black and white into color.
Various tricksters in other countries like Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Norway (and countless others) have also used April Fools' Day as an excuse to prank gullible citizens with great success, too.
