2. April Fools' Day (sometimes called April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day) is celebrated every year on 1 April by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. People playing April Fool jokes expose their prank shouting April Fool. Some newspapers, magazines, and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1392) contains the first recorded association between 1 April and foolishness.

3. In 1508, French poet Eloy d'Amerval referred to a poisson d’avril (April fool, literally "April fish"), a possible reference to the holiday. In 1539 a Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on 1 April. In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the holiday as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference. On 1 April 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed".

4. In Scotland, April Fools’ Day was traditionally called ‘Huntigowk Day’, although this name has fallen into disuse. The name is a corruption of ‘Hunt the Gowk’, «gowk» being Scots for a cuckoo or a foolish person; alternate terms in Gaelic would be Là na Gocaireachd’ gowking day’ or Là Ruith na Cuthaige ‘the day of running the cuckoo’. The traditional prank is to ask someone to deliver a sealed message that supposedly requests help of some sort.

5. In Ireland it was a tradition to entrust the victim with an «important letter» to be given to a named person. That person would then ask the victim to take it to someone else, and so on. The letter when finally opened contained the words «send the fool further».

6. In Italy, as in MANY COUNTRIES of the world, April 1st is traditionally a day of practical jokes, pranks, and silliness. The origin of this custom is ancient and ambiguous, but one thing is certain: much buffoonery and hilarity will take place…. SO YOU BETTER WATCH OUT ON THIS DAY!!!