Thursday, April 01, 2010

April Fool's Day Originated in Iran?

Here in the modern now-a-go-go days of the 21st century, one can easily do some online research to explore the origins of April Fool's Day. Which means I Googled the infamous prank day (do I say "Topeka'ed" instead??)

While I am reluctant to believe anything I read on the Internet - especially today - I did learn something I had never known before.

April Fool's Day originated as long ago as 538 BC, when Iranian's marked the end of their New Year's celebration on April 1st, and designated that day as Sizdah Be-dar, the "Festival of Joy and Solidarity". Not exactly the two words I've used to describe Iran before.

Still, the day of pranks seems to start there ... it seems to involve lentil sprouts known as sabzeh. (I always thought the word "lentil" was rather humorous.)

It's just that no one really called that country "Iran" until the 20th century ... or did they? Does that make it a Persian holiday now celebrated worldwide?

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