9 April fools’ pranks that went horribly wrong

There are many theories as to the origins of April Fools’ Day, but some historians believe the day originated in 1582 when France switched over to the Gregorian calendar, which changed New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1. Back in those days, the news took a little longer to reach everyone, and those who were a bit slow on the uptake (celebrating New Year’s Day on April 1, for example) became the butt of pranks, including having paper fish glued onto their backs – because fish are easy to catch. People still refer to easily fooled people as “fish” to this day. They would call them “gullible,” except – ahem – that word isn’t in the dictionary.