Where does April Fools' day originate?

Tomorrow is April 1! Let's learn more about it:

Despite having no official recognition, April 1 has long been celebrated as a day to celebrate, well, foolishness to be exact. More specifically, April Fools’ Day is about making other people look stupid with practical jokes.

As dearly as we hold the tradition of making fools of the people we care about, there’s little more than theories about where April Fools’ Day came from. Figuring out the origins of the holiday can be as tricky as getting to the source of a joke.

The most common theory about the earliest April Fools’ celebrations goes like this: In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull decreeing a new standard calendar for Christian Europe that would take his name and centuries later become the standard internationally in the 21st century.

Prior to the 15th century, Europe’s nations and city states operated using the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar moved the date of the new year from April 1 to January 1, among other changes. Catholic monarchies were naturally its earliest adopters, though Protestant nations later followed suit.

Given the nature of the reform, both in terms of communicating such a fundamental change to a large population and dealing with critics of the new calendar, some Europeans continued to celebrate the new year between March 25 and April 1. April fools were those who still celebrated the holiday in the spring, and were the subject of pranks and ridicule by those who observed the new year months ago.

That’s just one theory for the origin of the holiday, however. Other occasions resembling April Fools’ Day preceded the more contemporary incarnation by centuries.

Ancient Romans held a festival known as Hilaria. The occasion was used to celebrate the resurrection of the god Attis. Hilaria, of course, resembles the word hilarity in English. The modern equivalent of Hilaria is called Roman Laughing Day.

Other non-Western cultures have their own traditions similar to April Fools’ Day as well. In India, Holi, a colorful Hindi festival that frequently entices non-Hindi participants to join in, often is celebrated by people playing jokes and throwing colorful dyes on each other.

Persian culture also has a holiday with a similar theme, known as Sizdahbedar. On this day, which typically coincides with April Fools’ Day itself, Iranians play pranks on one another.

St. Patrick's Day Traditions!

Hello people!

I've already shared with you some information about St. Patrick's day, so this year I'm sharing some traditions and meanings behind this popular Irish holiday.

Corned beef and cabbage: Contrary to what many people might think, corned beef and cabbage, a staple at almost any St. Patrick’s Day celebration, isn’t the national dish of Ireland. The custom was started in the U.S. among the first generation of Irish-Americans, according to the website Delish.com. Immigrants yearning for familiar tastes of their homeland craved boiled bacon, but had to settle for beef brisket, the cheapest of meat cuts.

Irish immigrants adopted a technique popular among Eastern Europeans of brining their meat, a method they encountered in New York. Cabbage was the least expensive vegetable at the time, so it, too, became a staple food among Irish-Americans. “Corned” simply refers to the size of the salt crystals used to brine the meat.

Shamrocks: In Catholic tradition, the shamrock represents the holy Trinity. Irish folklore says that St. Patrick, Ireland’s renowned Christian missionary, used shamrocks to explain the doctrine of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and how they represent three components of the same God. The shamrock became the national emblem of Ireland and is considered a good-luck symbol.

The color green: Green didn’t always represent St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, blue was traditionally the color associated with the famed patron saint. Given that Ireland has the reputation as the Emerald Isle, green was adopted as the national color and appears on the Irish flag. The wearing of green on St. Patrick’s Day became popular in the 19th century and was a statement of solidarity with the Irish-American community, according to National Geographic.

Leprechauns: Leprechauns are wise beyond their years, bearded and notorious hoarders of gold, but what’s their significance to St. Patrick’s Day? The word leprechaun comes from an Irish word meaning shoemaker. In folklore, leprechauns are anything but dignified. Leprechauns traditionally play the role of tricksters in Irish storytelling. They can be ruthless, nasty and unpredictable.

Their connection with St. Patrick’s Day is purely American. People often dress up to look like leprechauns, but many Irish believe the image only perpetuates ethnic stereotypes and don’t appreciate the character being associated with the holiday.  

Guinness: On St. Patrick’s Day, the number of pints of Guinness consumed around the world nearly triples. The renowned Irish stout, which originated in Dublin in the early 18th century, was brought to the U.S. hundreds of years ago along with the first Irish immigrants. It remains one of the most popular and successful beers in the world.

The beer appears black or dark brown to many people, but it’s actually a dark ruby red. Guinness is made of roasted malted barley, hops, water and yeast.

Parades: St. Patrick's’ Day parades are part of almost every major holiday celebration in Ireland and beyond. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in 1762 in New York City and was meant to honor St. Patrick.

To this day, the parade has remained a true marchers’ parade. Floats and vehicles are not allowed in the parade, staying true to the holiday’s 18th century roots.