April Fools! This holiday is celebrated by tricksters everywhere. On this day you have to make sure to watch your back to see if your roommate has glued your toothbrush to the sink, or worse, replaced your shampoo with hair dye.

While those examples may be a bit extreme, this is the general idea behind April Fool’s Day. Even though we celebrate it every year, we never know why. It’s fun to celebrate, but why? What is its history?

We do not know the exact origins of this day, but there are some theories behind it. The first theory is that it was once the start of the New Year. Before a Pope decided to change the date the new calendar was celebrated with the change of season from winter to spring. Back then news didn’t travel fast so for a while people would make a fool of themselves by celebrating the New Year on April 1. Others simply didn’t want to accept the change of calendar. People took advantage of this by making them run “Fool’s errands” or try to trick them in other ways so that everyone would know they were a traditionalist fool. Thus they would be an April Fool.

The next reasoning is that it is truly just because of the seasons changing. People would become so struck with spring fever that they would act foolishly on that day in particular. I find this one the most believable because nothing can compare to that feeling of being able to stow away your coat and put on a pair of shorts for the first time in months.

The final theory that we have is that one day in ancient Rome the emperor at the time, Constantine, had a conversation with his jester. In this conversation, the fool stated that he thought the jesters of the world could rule better than he, so he decided to put him to the test. The jester then declared that everyone should act foolishly. Constantine was so amused that he decided to make it an annual holiday. The catch to this explanation is that the historian who wrote it did it as an April Fool’s joke.

Although we may never actually know the true origins of April Fool’s day, we can still have a fun time pranking our friends. But remember, prank responsibly.