April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day is a day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool’s errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. The exact origins of the holiday are not clear but it is known that the tradition of practical joking and mischief-making dates back to ancient Roman times. Moreover, it would appear that the festival is closely related to the coming of spring. Ancient Romans and Celts celebrated a festival of practical joking at about the time of the Vernal Equinox, as do millions of India’s Hindus. The French also mark 1 April but instead of April Fools they call it Poisson d’Avril (April Fish).

Traditionally, in some countries, such as the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an “April Fool”. Elsewhere, such as in France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Brazil, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of January 1 as New Year’s Day the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.

On April Fools’ Day in 1957, the distinguished broadcasting network BBC played one of the most infamous hoaxes on the unsuspecting British public about “spaghetti crops” in Switzerland. The “mockumentary”, narrated by distinguished broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, featured a family from Ticino in Switzerland carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest. It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry. Mr. Dimbleby explained how each year the end of March is a very anxious time for Spaghetti harvesters all over Europe as severe frost can impair the flavor of the spaghetti. He also explained how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length thanks to years of hard work by generations of growers.

Some viewers (probably the ones who were taken in by the joke) failed to see the funny side of the broadcast and criticized the BBC for airing the item on what is supposed to be a serious factual program. Others, however, were so intrigued they wanted to find out where they could purchase their very own spaghetti bush. In 1957, spaghetti was not yet a widely-eaten food in Britain and was considered by many to be an exotic delicacy. The “Spaghetti Hoax” is believed to be one of the first times that television was used to stage an April Fools’ Day hoax.

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