|
April 1 -- April Fools Day!
One explanation of the origins of April Fools' Day was provided
by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He
explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine,
when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that
they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused,
allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an
edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an
annual event.
"In a way," explained Prof. Boskin, "it was a very serious day. In
those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to
put things in perspective with humor."
This explanation was brought to the public's attention in an
Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was
only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of
weeks for the AP to realize that they'd been victims of an April Fools'
joke.
(http://www.factmonster.com/spot/aprilfools1.html)
April 9th:
Friends of the Library Potluck Social!
|
