Scientist of the day - Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and astronomer who is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians. Often referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum ("the Prince of Mathematicians") and "greatest mathematician since antiquity", he made significant contributions to several fields including number theory, algebra, statistics, analysis, geometry, astronomy, and matrix theory. Born to poor working-class parents in Brunswick, he started displaying evidence of his genius while he was just a young child. A child prodigy, he is said to have corrected an error in his father’s payroll calculations as a small boy of three. He began to astonish his teachers with his brilliance at school and made his first ground-breaking mathematical discovery while he was still a teenager. Even though his parents were poor, he found a patron in the Duke of Brunswick who recognized his intelligence and sent him to the prestigious University of Göttingen. Eventually he established himself as a prominent mathematician in Germany and his reputation soon spread internationally. He made notable contributions to almost all fields in mathematics, but his favorite area was number theory, a field which he revolutionized with his work on complex numbers. He also published many books including ‘Disquisitiones Arithmeticae’ which is regarded as one of the most influential mathematics books ever written. 

Major Works

• His textbook on number theory, ‘Disquisitiones Arithmeticae’, discussed important results in number theory obtained by prominent mathematicians such as Fermat, Euler, Lagrange and Legendre, along with Gauss’s own important new results. Considered highly influential at the time of its first publication, the book remained influential up until the 20th century.
• Carl Gauss formulated the Gauss’s law which related the distribution of electric charge to the resulting electric field. The law can be used to derive Coulomb's law, and vice versa.
• He invented the heliotrope, an instrument that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight over great distances with the purpose of marking positions in a land survey. Heliotropes were used in surveys in Germany up to the late 1980s, when GPS measurements replaced the use of the heliotrope in long distance surveys.

  Awards & Achievements

  • In 1810, he was honored with the Lalande Prize by the French Academy of Sciences in recognition of his contributions to astronomy.
  • He was awarded the prize of the Danish Academy of Sciences in 1823 for his study of angle-preserving maps.
  • He was presented with the Copley Medal by the Royal Society, London, in 1838 "for his inventions and mathematical researches in magnetism”.

Scientist of the day - Wallace Carothers

Wallace Hume Carothers was an American chemist who invented nylon and neoprene. The name of Wallace Carothers stands out from the list of the world’s greatest inventors.

• Major Works

  • It was his discovery that it was possible to add hydrogen chloride to monovinylacetylene with formation of 2-chloro-i, 3-butadiene, called chloroprene. This substance is analogous structurally to isoprene but polymerizes several hundreds of times more rapidly and leads to a product much superior to all previously known synthetic rubbers. Carothers' work laid the foundation for the development by other chemists and by chemical engineers of the du Pont Company of the commercial product which has found wide industrial use and which is marketed as neoprene.
  • He investigated the means by which polymers structurally analogous to cellulose and silk could be prepared, and synthesized a large number. These materials constituted the first completely synthetic fibres with a degree of strength, orientation, and pliability comparable with natural fibres. This investigation led du Pont to set up a plant in Seaford, Delaware, which cost upwards of eight million dollars, for producing a new textile yarn to be known as nylon.

    Awards & Achievements

    • In 1929 he was elected Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
    • His achievements were recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1936—the first organic chemist associated with industry to be elected to that organization.

     

World Intellectual Property Day 2016

World Intellectual Property Day is observed on April 26, 2016. The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000 to "raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life" and "to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe".
April 26th was chosen as the date for World Intellectual Property Day because it coincides with the date on which the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization entered into force in 1970. The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations.
Intellectual property is a legal concept which refers to creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works. Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade dress, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets. The text "World Intellectual Property Day" has been taken from www.cute-calendar.com

World Malaria Day 2016

Also known as WMD, World Malaria Day is commemorated every year on the 25^th April in a bid to promote global efforts to understand and control malaria. WMD is one of eight official global public health campaigns upheld by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Each is aimed at raising awareness for a specific illness or health problem. In terms of malaria, the statistics are shocking - across the world, more than 3 billion people in 106 countries are currently at risk of malaria. In 2012 alone, malaria caused approximately 627,000 deaths.

What is malaria?

Malaria is a parasitic infectious disease carried by mosquitoes. When a mosquito carrying malaria bites a human, the disease is spread from the insect’s saliva to the person’s blood. If malaria isn’t diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible after becoming infected, it can be fatal. The main signs and symptoms of malaria include:

• A severe headache
• A high temperature
• Fever-like symptoms, including sweats and chills
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Aching muscles
• Fatigue
• A dry cough

Although these are the most common symptoms of malaria, not all of the above may appear. Sometimes, people only experience two or three of the most common symptoms, such as a headache, fever and vomiting. Malaria is mainly found in tropical regions such as large areas of Africa and Asia, Central and South America, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Middle East and some Pacific Islands.

How is malaria treated?

If you have been diagnosed with malaria it is vital that you begin taking your medicine immediately. Depending on where in the world you contracted malaria and the exact type that you have will determine the treatment you receive. If you were taking antimalarial medicine prior to contracting the disease, you will need to take a different form of medication after diagnosis. You will need to stay in hospital to be monitored – it is likely that medication will be distributed intravenously to begin with, followed by a course of tablets.

Every year on 25^th April, World Malaria Day focuses on a specific theme. 2016’s theme is “End malaria for good”. For more information, visit the World Malaria Day website to find out how you can help to raise awareness. 

Careers@ADITYA

 

 

HAPPY UGADI (TELUGU NEW YEAR)

World Health Day 2016

World Health Day 2016

Theme: “Diabetes:Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance”. 

World Health Day 2016 would be celebrated worldwide on 7^th of April, at Thursday.

World Health Day
The World Health Day is celebrated by the people all across the world every year on 7^th of April under the leadership of World Health Organization to draw the mass people attention towards the importance of global health. World Health Assembly was held first time in the year 1948 in Geneva by the WHO where it was decided to celebrate the World Health Day annually on 7^th of April. It was first celebrated worldwide in the year 1950 as the World Health Day. Varieties of events related to the particular theme are organized on the international and national level by the WHO.
It is an annual event being celebrated for years to raise the common public awareness towards the health issues and concerns. A particular theme is chosen to run the celebration and take care of the health for whole year. Global Polio Eradication was also one of the special themes of the year 1995 of world health day. From then, most of the countries have become free of this fatal disease whereas in other parts of the world its awareness level has increased.
World Health Day targets all the health issues on global basis for which several programs are organized yearly by the WHO and other related health organizations at various places like schools, colleges and other crowd places. It is celebrated to remember the establishment of the World health Organization as well as draw the attention of people towards the major health issues in the world. WHO is a vast health organization working under UN for addressing the health issues on a global basis. Since its establishment it has addressed serious health issues including chickenpox, polio, smallpox, TB, leprosy and etc from various developing countries. It has played a significant role aiming to make the world a healthy world. It has all the statistics about global health reports.

How World Health Day is Celebrated

World Health Day is celebrated worldwide by the government, non-government, NGOs including various health organizations at many places by organizing programmes relating to the public health issues and awareness. Participated organizations highlight their activities and supports through the media reports by means of press releases, news and etc. Health authorities from different country take part in the celebration with their pledges in order to support on the health issues worldwide.
Varieties of activities are done in the conference of health workers to encourage people to maintain their health in the presence of media coverage. Debates on the related topics, art exhibitions, essay writing, competitions and award ceremony are organized to fulfill the aim of world health day.

Why World Health Day is Celebrated

World Health Day celebration focuses on increasing the life expectancy by adding good health to the lives of people and promoting healthier living habits. Youths of the new era are also targeted by this event to prevent and make them healthy to make the world healthy and free from AIDS and HIV.
Disease spreading vectors like mosquitoes (malaria, dengue fever, filaria, chikungunya, yellow fever and etc), ticks, bugs, sand flies, snails and etc are also spotlighted by the WHO to make the world free from a wide range of diseases caused by parasites and pathogens. It provides better prevention and cure from the vector-borne diseases spread by vectors and travelers from one country to other. WHO supports various health authorities on global basis to make their own efforts for the public health problems to enhance better life without any diseases.
Some of the objectives of why it is being celebrated yearly are listed below:

• To increase the public awareness of various causes and prevention of high blood pressure.
• To provide detail knowledge of getting prevented from various diseases and their complications.
• To encourage most vulnerable group of people to frequently check their blood pressure and follow medications from the professionals.
• To promote self care among people.
• To motivate the worldwide health authorities to make their own efforts in creating the healthy environments in their country.
• To protect families living in the disease vulnerable areas.
• To teach travelers and send them a messages about how to get protected from the vector-borne diseases while travelling.

World Health Day Themes

• The theme of World Health Day 1950 was “Know your Health Services”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1951 was “Health for your Child and World’s Children”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1952 was “Healthy surroundings make Healthy people”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1953 was “Health is Wealth”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1954 was “The Nurse: Pioneer of Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1955 was “Clean water means better Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1956 was “Destroy disease carrying Insects”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1957 was “Food for All”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1958 was “Ten years of Health progress”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1959 was “Mental illness and Mental Health in the World of today”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1960 was “Malaria eradication – A world challenge”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1961 was “Accidents and their prevention”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1962 was “Preserve sight- prevent Blindness”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1963 was “Hunger= Disease of millions”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1964 was “No Truce for Tuberculosis”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1965 was “Smallpox – constant alert”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1966 was “Man and his Cities”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1967 was “Partners in Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1968 was “Health in the World of Tomorrow”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1969 was “Health, Labor and Productivity”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1970 was “Early detection of Cancer saves Life”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1971 was “A full life despite Diabetes”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1972 was “Your Heart is your Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1973 was “Health begins at Home”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1974 was “Better food for a healthier World”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1975 was “Smallpox: Point of no return”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1976 was “Foresight Prevents Blindness”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1977 was “Immunize and protects your Child”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1978 was “Down with High Blood pressure”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1979 was “A healthy Child: A sure future”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1980 was “Smoking or Health: Choice is yours”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1981 was “Health for all by year 2000 AD”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1982 was “Add life to years”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1983 was “Health for all by year 2000 AD: Countdown has begun”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1984 was “Children’s Health: Tomorrow’s Wealth”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1985 was “Healthy Youth- Our best Resource”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1986 was “Healthy living: Everyone a winner”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1987 was “Immunization: A chance for every Child”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1988 was “Health for All: All for Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1989 was “Let’s talk Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1990 was “Our Planet our Earth: Think Globally Act Locally”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1991 was “Should Disaster Strike, be prepared”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1992 was “Heart beat: A rhythm of Health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1993 was “Handle life with care: Prevent violence and Negligence”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1994 was “Oral Health for a Healthy Life”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1995 was “Global Polio Eradication”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1996 was “Healthy Cities for better life”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1997 was “Emerging infectious diseases”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1998 was “Safe motherhood”.
• The theme of World Health Day 1999 was “Active aging makes the difference”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2000 was “Safe Blood starts with me”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2001 was “Mental Health: stop exclusion, dare to care”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2002 was “Move for health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2003 was “Shape the future of life: healthy environments for children”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2004 was “Road safety”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2005 was “Make every mother and child count”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2006 was “Working together for health”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2007 was “International health security”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2008 was “Protecting health from the adverse effects of climate change”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2009 was “Save lives, make hospitals safe in emergencies”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2010 was “Urbanization and health: make cities healthier”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2011 was “Anti-microbial resistance: no action today, no cure tomorrow”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2012 was “Good health adds life to years”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2013 was “Healthy heart beat, Healthy blood pressure”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2014 was “Vector-borne diseases”.
• The theme of World Health Day 2015 was “Food safety” (with 5 keys; Key 1: Keep clean, Key 2: Separate raw and cooked food, Key 3: Cook food thoroughly, Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures, Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials).
• The theme of World Health Day 2016 would be “Diabetes:Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance”.

Scientist of the day - James Dewey Watson

James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist. He is credited for co-discovering the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a substance that is the basis of heredity. His discovery has been described by other biologists and Nobel laureates as the most important scientific discovery of the 20th century. He was born in Illinois to James D. Watson and Jean Mitchell. Growing up, James Dewey Watson spent hours bird-watching and decided to major in ornithology but Erwin Schrodinger’s book titled ‘What is Life’ had such a profound impact on him that he chose genetics in the end. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Chicago, and his PhD from Indiana University. He was strongly opposed to the belief that genes were proteins that could replicate and DNA was a simple tetranucleotide that supported the genes. James’ perception, influenced by the discoveries and lectures of that time, was that DNA was indeed the genetic molecule. He finally found success with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, when the trio discovered the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. For this discovery James Dewey Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins earned the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962 

Childhood & Early Life

• James Watson was born on April 6, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, James D. Watson was a businessman and his mother’s name was Jean Mitchell.
• He attended Horace Mann Grammar School for eight years and South Shore High School for two years. For further education he went to the University of Chicago on a tuition scholarship in 1943.
• He graduated from Chicago University with a B. S. degree in Zoology in 1947. He could pursue his dream of studying genetics when Indiana University awarded him a fellowship.
• He did his PhD research at Salvador Luria’s (also his doctoral advisor) laboratory. Luria was one of the leaders of the new Phage group, a movement of geneticists from experiential system to microbial genetics.
• In those times the prevalent notion was that genes were proteins which could replicate and DNA was the structure that supported it. However, Avery-Macleod-McCarty’s experiment led Watson to believe that DNA was indeed the genetic molecule.
• His doctoral thesis was on the effect of hard X-rays on bacteriophage multiplication, inspired from geneticists H. J. Muller and T. M. Sonneborn and microbiologist Max Delbruck. He graduated with a PhD in Zoology in 1950.
• For his post doctoral research he went to Copenhagen University for a year to work with biochemist Herman Kalckar at his laboratory. But as the field of interest differed for both, Watson shifted his workplace after some months.
• His new partner was microbial physiologist Ole Maaloe and they did several experiments to explore the structure of the DNA. After much hard work and deliberation they accepted that the result of their first attempt was inconclusive.

  Major Works

  James Dewey Watson co-discovered the double-helical structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. The discovery is considered to be one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. In 1962, the trio of James Dewey Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery.

  Personal Life & Legacy

  • James Watson married Elizabeth Lewis in 1968 and together they have two sons, Rufus Robert Watson and Duncan James Watson. Rufus, born in 1970, suffers from schizophrenia.
  • His memoir, ‘Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science’, was published in 2007 and a UK Book Tour was scheduled. However, in an interview he made certain statements on race-and-intelligence that were widely considered insensitive. Following the controversy, he cancelled the rest of the tour.
  • The 2007 controversy significantly dented Watson’s image and as a result his financial condition became so bad that he had to auction his Nobel Prize medal in 2014. Russian tycoon, Alisher Usmanov, bought it for US $4.1 million and gave the medal back to Watson.

Birth anniversary of Babu Jagjivan Ram

 

Babu Jagjivan Ram, a Union Minister, freedom fighter and Dalit leader, was born on 5 April 1908 in Chandwa village, present-day Bhojpur district of Bihar to a Dalit family. His father, Shobhi Ram, was in the British army but later resigned, bought farmland in Chandwa, and settled there.

Jagjivan Ram was sent to the village school but soon after, his father died. His mother, Vasanti Devi, however, made sure that his education continued. 

In 1922 when he joined Arrah Town School, he realised that discrimination against Dalits was still rife. He protested against the school’s shocking decision to have separate pitchers of water for so-called ‘untouchable’ students.

Later, a meeting with the renowned nationalist leader Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, who had come to visit the school, inspired him.

He went on to study at the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU), and later secured a B.Sc. degree from the Calcutta University. Caste discrimination was unfortunately prevalent in those days in BHU as well. In 2007, when Jagjivan Ram’s daughter Meira Kumar, the then Union Minister for social justice and empowerment, was invited to speak about her father’s days at the BHU — during the inauguration of the Babu Jagjivan Ram Chair — she said that he was even denied haircuts by local barbers.

Political rise

Jagjivan Ram’s successful organisation of a workers’ rally in Calcutta brought him to the attention of leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose. In 1934 Jagjivan Ram was involved with relief work in the aftermath of the Bihar earthquake. In 1935 he was nominated to the Bihar Council. He decided to join the Congress.

  

His first wife died in 1933. Two years later, he married Indrani Devi, the daughter of a Kanpur-based social worker.

Jagjivan Ram was jailed during the Quit India Movement in the 1940s. A year before Independence he became a minister in the provisional union cabinet. Subsequently he was labour minister in independent India’s first union cabinet under Jawaharlal Nehru.  

He later held other cabinet posts such as communications and transport & railways in the Nehru regime.

After Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister, he held several important posts in successive cabinets led by her, including minister for labour, employment, and rehabilitation; minister for food and agriculture; and minister of defence. It was during his tenure as agricultural minister that the Green Revolution took place. India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war when he was the defence minister.

The renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, who worked closely with Jagjivan Ram, wrote in The Hindu in February 2008: “Babuji [Jagjivan Ram] was deeply concerned with issues of social inclusion in access to new technologies….[He] felt that small and marginal farmers might not be able to purchase the new seeds and the fertilisers needed for enabling them to realise the full genetic potential for yield of the new strains. Therefore, he initiated the Small and Marginal Farmers and Landless Labour Programmes in order to provide the needed credit and inputs to those who would have otherwise been bypassed by new technologies.”

Babuji’s legacy

In 1977 shortly after Indira Gandhi announced elections, signalling an end to the emergency, Jagjivan Ram, together with a few other politicians, became part of the Janata coalition by forming the Congress for Democracy.

As the historian Ramachandra Guha writes in India After Gandhi: “[Jagjivan] Ram was a lifelong Congressman, a prominent minister in Nehru’s and Indira Gandhi’s Cabinets and — most crucially — the acknowledged leader of the Scheduled Castes. . . . It was [Jagjivan] Ram who had moved the resolution in the Lok Sabha endorsing the emergency. His resignation came as a shock to the Congress, and as a harbinger of things to come. For Babuji was renowned for his political acumen; that he chose to leave the Congress was widely taken as a sign that this ship was, if not yet sinking, then leaking very badly indeed.”

Between March 1977 and August 1979, Jagjivan Ram was the Deputy Prime Minister in India’s first non-Congress government. But he didn’t get the country’s top job. “There is little doubt that Babuji provided the fatal blow to the Emergency regime. Not surprisingly, he was the frontrunner to the prime minister’s post,” Ajay Bose wrote in the Outlook magazine in May 2010. “But he was thwarted at the last moment by a powerful lobby led by peasant patriarch Charan Singh. . . .” 

By the time Jagjivan Ram died (on 6 July 1986), the political fortunes of another powerful Dalit leader — Kanshi Ram — were on the rise. But Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan Samaj Party sought to, at least in its initial years, distance itself from the legacy of the tallest Dalit leader of the Congress.

As a dedicated Congress member for most of his life and by virtue of the important ministerial posts he held, Babu Jagjivan Ram occupies a unique position in the arc of Dalit political mobilisation that spreads from Ambedkar to Kanshi Ram and Mayawati. But to look at Jagjivan Ram only through a caste lens would be a disservice to his memory and achievements.

International Children's Book Day

International Childrens Book Day is celebrated every 2 April, inspiring children to pick up a book and get reading!

April the 2nd was chosen to mark this day for young literature lovers as it's the same date as Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, the author of many famous children's stories like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling.

Organised by the International Board on Books For Young People, or IBBY, the aim is to promote books and reading to young people.  IBBY was founded in Zurich, Switzerland in 1953 and today there are 70 National Sections from all parts of the world.

During International Children's Book Day there will be a number of events held around the world, including writing competitions and talks from famous authors and illustrators.

While you might be familiar with well-known works like Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland, there is a whole host of fabulous children's books out there waiting to be discovered - not just by children but by adults who are young at heart too!

April Fools Day

April Fools' Day: Origin and History

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

New Year's Day Moves

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

Problems With This Explanation

There are at least two difficulties with this explanation. The first is that it doesn't fully account for the spread of April Fools' Day to other European countries. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by England until 1752, for example, but April Fools' Day was already well established there by that point. The second is that we have no direct historical evidence for this explanation, only conjecture, and that conjecture appears to have been made more recently.

Constantine and Kugel

Another 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 themselves.

Spring Fever

It is worth noting that many different cultures have had days of foolishness around the start of April, give or take a couple of weeks. The Romans had a festival named Hilaria on March 25, rejoicing in the resurrection of Attis. The Hindu calendar has Holi, and the Jewish calendar has Purim. Perhaps there's something about the time of year, with its turn from winter to spring, that lends itself to lighthearted celebrations.

Observances Around the World

April Fools' Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a "fool's errand," looking for things that don't exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things.