April Fool's Day originated from the New Year festival in the 16th century. The New Year celebrations began on March 25th and ended on April 1st.

People sent each other presents and invited guests round to their houses.

Then in 1582 King Charles IX of France declared, that there should be a new calendar, for the Christians, called the Gregorian Calendar. New Year was then celebrated on January 1st.

However, some people liked the old traditions and still celebrated New Year on April 1st. These people were called "April fools" and a lot of tricks were played on them, like inviting them to imaginary parties or they were given funny presents.

After a while, everybody agreed to the new calendar, but they liked the fun they had on April 1st and carried on playing jokes on people. So that is how it all started. Today it's a big tradition in Britain and people really enjoy themselves.

Most April Fool jokes are meant to be funny and not to hurt others. The best April Fool joke is the one where everybody laughs - even the person who the trick was played on in the first place.