The name for our month April comes from the Latin mensis Aprilis, the "month of Venus", via the Etruscan apru from the Greek Aphro, short form of Aphrodite.

Variations on the origin of April Fools' Day exist, but here's one that is plausible. In France, the first country to adopt the Gregorian calendar, Charles IX decreed that January 1 be the beginning of the New Year. Previously, the advent of spring on March 25 was celebrated as the beginning of the year with a week-long festival that ended in the exchange of gifts and a feast on the first of April. People who forgot or resisted the change in the calendar were ridiculed by being sent foolish gifts and invitations to non-existent parties.

First of April

Higgledy-Piggledy
Day of the April Fool
Targets unwary with
Practical jokes,
Making the innocent,
Ever-so-gullible
(Fill in your name here) the
Butt of a hoax.

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