April Fools’ Day has a tradition of harmless jokes directed at those near and dear to us.   Where did this day come from? Most historians believe that this day traces back to when the western world employed the Julian calendar. Here the New Year began on March 25. The festivals to mark this New Year needed to be celebrated after the Holy week, which put the festival on April 1^st.  The adoption of the Gregorian calendar during the 1500s moved New Year to January 1^st.  April Fools’ Day started with people being tricked into believing April 1st was still the proper day to celebrate the New Year. To this end, French peasants would unexpectedly drop in on their neighbors on April 1^st to confuse them into thinking they were receiving a New Year’s call. Out of this deception grew the tradition of testing the patience of family and friends that we know today.