On April 1st, tradition has it to play jokes or tricks on people. But where does this custom originate from? In France, up until 1564, the new year was celebrated on April 1st, until Charles IX decided to move it to January 1st. When April 1st 1564 rolled around, jokers decided to celebrate the new year again, by offering fake gifts. That explains why April 1st, but why, in French, do they say, “April Fish”? At this time of year, again in France, fishing is prohibited. To trick dishonest fishermen, some people had the idea of putting fake fish in water. Upon spotting them, the fishermen would shout, “poisons d’avril!” Culture Buzz concocted a review of the web’s best April fish—April fool’s jokes. Some of these are quite funny, like Opera’s launching of new software, Face Gesture, a new interactive way of surfing the net!
