Today, April Fools’ Day, is a day when people play practical jokes on each other. Wikipedia says that in Italy, France and Belgium, children and adults traditionally tack paper fishes on each other’s backs as a trick and shout ‘April fish!’ in their local languages. Such fish feature prominently in many late 19th and early 20th century April Fools’ Day postcards from France.

A recap of April Fools’ history shows us that in 1539, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1. While many pranks which are recorded on the Internet seem innocent enough, history is replete with instances where jokes on April 1 have backfired, often with unintended, tragic consequences.