Watch your back, it's April Fools Day! But where does #AprilFools come from?

April Fool’s Day is celebrated around the world each year in April 1, when people play pranks and try fool one another with bogus stories. The origins of April Fool’s Day are hazy, largely because the tradition is so old. There are records of the day right back to the early 1500s in France. Here’s a look at some of the origin theories, and the rules on how to play.

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Where does April Fool’s come from?

An 18th-century folk rhyme goes:

The first of April some do say,

Is set apart for All Fools' Day;

But why the people call it so

Nor I, nor they themselves, do know…

Andrea Livesey, a historian from the University of Bristol, told the BBC: There is surprisingly little known about the origins of April Fools' Day and there are a large number of completely different - and quite entertaining - theories of its origin."

April Fool's DayApril Fool's Day: A depiction of April Fool's Dayt circa 1770 (Image: Getty)

Here are some of the origin theories of April Fool’s Day, sometimes known as All Fool’s Day:

1: Calendars

Something called renewal festivals date back to Roman times - these were a celebration at the start of a new year or season.

Things went a bit off kilter in these celebrations, with servants controlling the masters and children bossing their parents around.

March is the time of the Spring Equinox, so people think the joker tradition could come from this, as the beginning of spring and planting flowers was considered the start of the new year.

There is

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