History Lesson. No, I'm Not Kidding.

Since I'm a historical writer, I think it's appropriate that today I lecture on the history of April Fool's Day. Don't worry. I won't make you memorize any dates.

Way back when gladiators duked it out with sharp, pointy swords in the Coliseum, there was the Roman festival of Hilaria. Sounds, umm, hilarious, eh? Yes, Captain Obvious, that is where the word comes from. It was held on March 25th.

Another theory is that France changed its calendar in the 1500's so that the New Year would begin in January, matching the Roman calendar instead of beginning at the start of spring. However, lacking Twitter, word traveled slowly and many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the New Year in the spring. These country hicks became known as "April fools."

In India, Holi (a Hindi festival that entices non-Hindi participants to join in) is celebrated by people playing jokes and throwing colorful dyes on each other, kind of like a 5k color run but without sweating.

In France, people who are fooled on April 1 are called "Poisson d'Avril," which means the "April Fish." A common prank is to hook a cardboard fish to the back of someone, kind of like slapping on a "Kick Me" sign. No one is sure what's up with the fish thing, but some believe it's tied to the early Christian fish symbol (ichthys) or maybe the Zodiac sign of Pisces, which falls near April. Napoleon earned the Poisson d'Avril nickname when he married Marie-Louise of Austria on April 1, 1810.

Honestly, no one really knows where or how it began, but it is doggone fun to put sugar in the salt shaker and vice versa.