April Fools Day is celebrated each year in the United States and many other countries on the first day of April. On this day, people traditionally attempt to trick one another with jokes and hoaxes, feed one another surprisingly flavored food and generally have a ridiculously good time. More recently, businesses, media outlets and other institutions play pranks on the general public, salting their newspapers and television programs with hoax news stories.

One famous prank, chosen by the Museum of Hoaxes as the top April Fools Joke of all time, was played by the BBC in 1957. The normally dignified television aired a documentary that showed Swiss farmers having a bumper crop of spaghetti that year. The report featured images of people plucking limp strands of pasta from trees. Some people called the news station to ask where they could get their own spaghetti trees! The BBCs recommendation? "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."Museum of Hoaxes: The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time

One persistent theory about the origin of April Fools Day is that the practice began as a political commentary associated with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in France. The theory is that in 1564, Charles IX ruled that the French would adopt the new calendar by celebrating New Year's Day on the first day of January. Prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the new year was celebrated between March 25 and April 1, to coincide with the onset of Spring.

Some people refused to adopt the new custom and continued to celebrate the new year in the spring. These hidebound traditionalists came to be known as "April Fools", and were the butt of jokes, pranks, and hoaxes played upon them by the adopters, who believed themselves to be more sophisticated. The gullible were sent on "Fool's Errands" to find non-existent items and animals, much like the fabled snipe-hunt.National Geographic: April Fools' Day Facts: Behind the Laughs (March 28, 2008)