Good Friday is a Christian religious holiday commemorating the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during
Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover.

The earliest recorded association between April 1 and some of the jokes, hoaxes,
and pranks of the day can be found in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).

Some writers suggest that the restoration of January 1 as New Year’s Day in the
16th century was responsible for the holiday’s creation, but this theory does not
explain the existence of some earlier references.

Mike Gracia

Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of February. It was 
originally established in 1885 in recognition of George Washington, and it is still
officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22, Washington’s actual birth date, the holiday became
known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday
Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s
workers.

While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of
Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents’ Day is now
popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present.