April Fool’s Day – Where Did That Come From? And Why?

It's the first day of April, otherwise known as April Fool's Day.  It's a day when there could be a lot of harmless jokes or pranks played on people who are not expecting it, or just forgot what day it is.

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I don't know if I'm just annoyed by the whole thing, or if my sense of humor doesn't extend to this "day of pranks".  But the day, to me, is really just another day.  But it does get my curiosity up.  Where and why is April 1st considered April Fool's Day?

I did a little research, and there were a few explanations.

Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563.  

This was when the new year moved to January 1st, and some people apparently didn't get the memo on that one.  And since the beginning of the year was no longer on April 1, those who thought it was were called an April Fool.

Another theory

April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.

This one actulaly seems kind of fun to me, other than what we do now... which in all honesty, I think is kind of silly.  But that's probably exactly what it's supposed to be.  The History channel also had this explanation for "Modern Times".

In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools' Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.

What's the best April Fool's joke have you played on someone, or has been played on you?