Today in History: 1700 - April Fools’ tradition popularized
On April 1, 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other.
Although the day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.
These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as poisson d’avril (April fish), said to symbolize a young, “easily hooked” fish and a gullible person.
April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.
Also on this day:
1789 - First U.S. House of Representatives elects speaker
1918 - RAF founded
1945 - U.S. troops land on Okinawa
1963 - Soap operas “General Hospital” and “The Doctors” premiere
1993 - The “Polish Prince” killed in plane crash
Born on this day:
Unknown (before dirt I think) @sean-spiceworks
Unknown (shes only 20 something though) @suzanne-spiceworks
1985 Josh Zuckerman
1995 Logan Paul
Deaths on this day:
1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine 1870 Patrick Gass
1950 Charles R. Drew
2014 Joe “Speedo” Frazier
The Funnies:
On the Menu Today – Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting
Today, I am planning to make these meatloaf cupcakes and putting them out at work (cue evil laughing…) to see the reactions that I get.
Ingredients:
1 meatloaf recipe (Ill probably use this one )
1 mashed potato recipe (Ill probably use instant ones)
Instructions:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin.
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Make your meatloaf mixture.
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Make everything except the glaze.
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Form meatloaf into large meatballs that fill the muffin tin holes. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Once baked, remove from muffin tin and place in cupcake liners.
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Meanwhile, make a batch of mashed potatoes
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Transfer mashed potatoes to a pastry bag with a star tip.
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Frost “cupcakes” with mashed potatoes.
Quote of the Day:
April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four. - Mark Twain
Comic of the Day:
Mouseover: " Plot twist: Thanks to [mumble mumble] second-order [mumble] Rayleigh-Taylor [mumble] turbulent [mumble] shear, it turns out powered flight is way EASIER on Mars! ”
Image Credit: XKCD
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
**Read @jontydda 's super “secure” Spark! from yesterday here . **
Also any mistakes in here are due to @mikedecamp (and me being tired)
