Where Did April Fool's Day Come From?

“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year” - Mark Twain

Where did April Fool’s Day come from? It isn’t a surprise that the origins of April Fool’s Day are varied and often contradictory. What would you expect of history regarding a day where pranks and jokes rule?

One theory begins in ancient times when New Year’s was celebrated following the vernal equinox, usually the end of March. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the adoption of the new Gregorian calendar. This meant meant that New Year’s day would be celebrated on January 1 instead of in the spring. Many people were reluctant to change their traditions in accordance with what they felt an arbitrary calendar. In France, people following/using the new calendar may have decided to play tricks on the more traditionalist people by sending them on fake errands on April 1. The French began to call April 1 Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish, in reference to someone gullible.

In 1752, Great Britain finally adopted the Gregorian calendar and also began the practice of playing pranks on April 1, and the tradition made it across the ocean to the American colonies.

Playing pranks on April 1 is still common today both in Europe and America. Remember, superstition holds that if you are going to play a prank, you must do so before noon. All pranks that occur after noon on that day spell bad luck for the perpetrator.

Need some ideas, or want to read about April Fool’s Day pranks from the past? Check out some online resources:

• Wikipedia's April Fool's Day
• Snopes April Fool's Day
• Museum of Hoaxes

The newest library in our system is the Maury Maverick, Jr. Branch Library, located off Bandera Road and Mystic Park, in northwest San Antonio. On February 18, over 2200 people braved the cold weather to attend the joint grand opening of the Library and Fire Station #49, located next door.

Maury Maverick, Jr. was a native San Antonian. He was an attorney, a Texas state legislator, and a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News. Because Mr. Maverick was a lover of birds and animals, the Library has a purple martin birdhouse on its grounds.

The Library has twenty-one public access Internet computers and four catalog computers. In addition, there are two quiet study rooms and a large meeting room. Six storytimes are currently offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for infants up to preschool-aged children.

We hope to see you at Maverick soon!
 

April Events at Maverick!

Retratos/Portraits in Motion. Saturday, April 8, 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Portraits in Motion invites children to create digital self-portraits using period costumes and life-sized backdrops inspired by art from Latin American portraits.

Poetry Writing Workshop. Monday, April 10, 7:00 p.m.
Presented by Nicole Provencher, Graduate Facilitator of Writers at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Meet the Computer. Thursday, April 13, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Computer class. Learn the basics about computer parts and care and develop mouse skills. No computer experience necessary.

Poetry Slam. Monday, April 17, 7:00 p.m.
All ages welcome!

Storytime. Every Tuesday and Wednesday.
9:15 a.m. Infant Storytime
10:00 a.m. Toddler Storytime
11:00 a.m. Preschool Storytime

Web Basics I. Thursday, April 20, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Computer class. Discover the wealth of knowledge available on the World Wide Web! Learn the basics of web addressing, navigating your browser and following links. Computer experience is necessary.

All events are free and open to the public. Call (210) 680-9346 for more information.
 

Where the Word Things Grow
An Exhibition of Visual Poetry for Poetry Month – April 2006

From William Blake to Kenneth Patchen, from illuminated manuscripts to pop art word works, from concrete poetry to appropriations of signs and symbols, visual poetry has a long tradition in both the literary and visual art worlds. During April at the Central Library, 600 Soledad, works by students and teachers, visual artists and poets will explore the marriage of words and pictures in a variety of media. Where the Word Things Grow is an exhibit of visual poetry by artists and writers from all over the community.

The exhibit will include collaborations between artists and writers, works which illustrate or illuminate poems, finely printed broadsides of poems, and examples on three-dimensional forms, on clothing, on handmade paper, and other media and methods. Installed throughout the public spaces of the Central Library, Where the Word Things Grow will also provide a short history of visual poetry.

The show includes works by:

• Felipe Barajas
• Jesse Castro
• Alex Graham
• Martha Grant
• Jim LaVilla-Havelin
• LaStarsha McGarity
• Miriam Moore
• Claire Rhodes Stevenson
• Mobi Warren
• young people from Salvation Army / Boys & Girls Club

Works in the exhibit were selected and assembled by Jesse Castro and Jim LaVilla-Havelin.

One hour of free parking is available in the Central Library parking garage with a validated ticket. For more information, please call 207-2500.

Want a chance to read your poetry aloud to a group of like-minded people? Want to listen to some original poetry written by local friends and neighbors? Stop by the 3rd-floor Children’s Room at the Central Library Tuesday, April 11, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. for Poetry Picante. Poetry will flow every second Tuesday, with refreshments provided. Join us for Poetry Picante and celebrate imagination, creativity, and innovation all through verse.
 

Once a year, children hunt in parks and backyards looking for Easter eggs hidden by their parents. Despite their bright coloring, some eggs are hard to find. During the other 364 days of the year, you can keep looking for virtual Easter eggs – concealed in books, DVDs, video games and, in the case of one five-centuries-old egg, in the Bible. Finding these eggs is tricky, but just as delightful.

Accessing the hip-hop Yoda scene – complete with breakdancing Clone Troopers – in the DVD release of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith requires entering the code “1138”. This number appears as audio and visual references in other Lucas films as an homage to his first film, THX-1138. (full instructions)

Whether it was intentional or an unusual coincidence, it’s been noted that in Psalm 46 of the King James Version of the Bible, the 46th word from the beginning is “shake” and the 46th word from the end is “spear.” William Shakespeare was 46 years old the year before the KJV Bible was published in 1611.

Early Microsoft products were famous for all sorts of hidden goodies. Tired of working on that resume or that paper for class? Follow these steps to access the pinball game in Word 97:

1. Open a new document.
2. Type "Blue" without the quotes.
3. Select the word you just typed.
4. Go to Format > Font.
5. Change font style to bold and font color to blue. Click OK.
6. Making sure cursor is right after the word, hit the spacebar once.
7. Go to Help > About.
8. While holding down the control and shift buttons, click the Word logo.
9. Use Z for left flipper, M for right flipper, and ESC to exit.

For examples of more virtual Easter eggs, visit the Easter Egg Archive. Happy Hunting!

• Wikipedia's “Easter egg”
• The Easter Egg Archive
• Hip-Hop Yoda
• Word 97 pinball

STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS

Michelle Ricondo, Westfall Library, goes far for a good book.

Currently Reading:
Domain by Steve Alten

Fiction Favorites:
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Fruit by Brian Francis
The Lady Who Liked Clean Restrooms by J. P. Donleavy
Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Non-Fiction Favorites:
Tab Hunter Confidential by Tab Hunter
Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

Juvenile/Young Adult Favorites:
Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
Hellboy Graphic Novels by Mike Mignola

FEATURED DATABASE

MasterFILE Premier

Which one of  your 2,000-plus subscriptions do you want to read today?

The best part: there are no ads, especially those subscription cards that seem to fall out of every other page. By using the MasterFILE Premier database, you have access to the full text of more than 2,000 magazines and newspapers that cover a wide range of topics. MasterFILE also contains indexing and abstracts of 2,700 additional titles. Sample titles include:

• Consumer Reports – find an expert review before you buy that new TV, lawn mower or stereo.
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• U.S. News & World Report – in addition to the week’s news, U.S. News provides annual rankings of America’s best colleges, graduate schools, hospitals and health plans.
• Rolling Stone – for those about to rock...or hip-hop or line dance.

Want to stay on top of a current event, but don’t want to browse the collection every day? Let MasterFILE do the work for you. You can set up two kinds of “alerts”: receive an email notification when the latest edition of a magazine is added to the collection or have MasterFILE run a regularly scheduled search on a topic of your choice and email the results directly to you.

MasterFILE is more than a magazine and newspaper database, though. It contains thousands of primary source documents (the Emancipation Proclamation, the Warren Report), over 100,000 photographs, maps and flags, and a collection of reference books, including the American Heritage Dictionary and the World Almanac.

MasterFILE has everything except the kitchen sink. But it can tell you how to repair it!

This database is available at your library branch or from your home computer.
 

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If you have any questions about the library or would like to see something included in this newsletter, please contact our Web Administrator at librarywebadmin@sanantonio.gov.

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