Aristotle's April Fool's Day = A: Blogging from A to Z
Did you know that April Fool's Day originated with Aristotle?
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher. According to Wikipedia: Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
SourceEvery April 1st, Aristotle would present his theories and logic to the masses in hopes of spreading knowledge and stirring the people to overtake Alexander the Great, a former pupil of his. What he found instead were "masses of fools" incapable of understanding his intellect.
Frustrated, he decided to amuse himself every April 1 by presenting the most outrageous theories to see which fools would fall for it. The crowd would then beat to death the most gullible. Ever since then, the day was known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day.
What was once a feared day of ridicule became a day of practical jokes and pranks.
April Fool's! I totally made that up.
Although there is much debate on the true origin of April Fool's Day, the most common theory (found summarized at multiple sites): in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar so that New Year's Day to January 1st from April 1st. Those who still celebrated the old New Year's were called fools.
I couldn't find anywhere online to tie this theory to how it became the prankster holiday it is today.
Do you celebrate April Fool's Day? If so, how?
*****
Welcome to my first post of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Please enjoy A and join me for B to Z. Check out some other great A to Z bloggers here.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher. According to Wikipedia: Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
SourceEvery April 1st, Aristotle would present his theories and logic to the masses in hopes of spreading knowledge and stirring the people to overtake Alexander the Great, a former pupil of his. What he found instead were "masses of fools" incapable of understanding his intellect. Frustrated, he decided to amuse himself every April 1 by presenting the most outrageous theories to see which fools would fall for it. The crowd would then beat to death the most gullible. Ever since then, the day was known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day.
What was once a feared day of ridicule became a day of practical jokes and pranks.
April Fool's! I totally made that up.
Although there is much debate on the true origin of April Fool's Day, the most common theory (found summarized at multiple sites): in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar so that New Year's Day to January 1st from April 1st. Those who still celebrated the old New Year's were called fools.
I couldn't find anywhere online to tie this theory to how it became the prankster holiday it is today.
Do you celebrate April Fool's Day? If so, how?
*****
Welcome to my first post of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Please enjoy A and join me for B to Z. Check out some other great A to Z bloggers here.
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