Time Machine: When April Fools' Day and Easter coincide
Over the years, tomfoolery has taken a back seat to religious observances
Easter, a Christian holiday celebrated around the world, and April Fools’ Day, an event observed by pranksters everywhere, rarely fall on the same day. This year is one of the exceptions.
The two coincide because calculations made in the sixth century dictated Easter would fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21. That meant the holiday could not fall before March 22 or later than April 25. The rules allowed astronomers to calculate on what date Easter would fall far into the future, and on rare occasions, it fell on April 1.
Easter and April Fools’ Day coincided in 1714, 1725, 1736, 1804, 1866, 1877, 1888, 1923, 1934, 1945, 1956 and this year. It will happen again in 2029.
In 1877, the Burlington Hawk Eye warned pastors to check their chair cushions for “bent pins.”
In 1888, an April Fools’ Day trick was played on the irascible Major John M. May, for whom May’s Island is named in Cedar Rapids.
May, who alternately went by the ranks of colonel and major, had acquired title to the island before 1870 from the U.S. government.
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