April Fools Day in France

Did you know that April fools day is called "poisson d'Avril" in France? The literal translation is: "fish of April".

It is traditional to cut a fish shape out of a piece of paper and stick it on someone's back without them seeing it. Rumours say that the tradition was born in the sixteenth century following the change of the new calendar year when Kings Charles IV of France changed the start of the year from the end of March to the first of January. At that time, people who failed to keep up with this change and so still celebrated New Year at the end of March and beginning of April had jokes played on them.