April Fools’ Day

In case you were wondering, April Fools’ Day also called All Fools Day has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures. Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1st and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1st became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish, to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.)