April Fools’ Day is a holiday that is either celebrated or lamented by people all around the world, but people do not always understand where or when it began.

It is not certain when the exact time and date of April Fools’ Day was created, but there are some speculations as to when it could have started.

According to History Channel, some historians believe that it could have been initiated in 1582 during the changing of France’s calendar.

The New Year now started Jan. 1 after the change, but people did not realize that and continued to celebrate the New Year during the last week of March through April 1.

This started the horde of pranks and jokes French civilians participated in; historians believe this is the true origin of April Fools’ Day.

History Channel also says that in ancient Rome there were festivals, once called Hilaria, and at the end of March people would dress up in disguises at the festival.

Along with that, the 1700s was when April Fools’ Day started to become more widespread.

People in Scotland would have a two-day event called “Hunt the Gowk” that would basically have people run errands and be pranked along the way, according to History Channel.

Today, after years of celebration, college students at Eastern shared their own April Fools’ Day tales.

Ari Hockman, a senior corporate communications major, said that April Fools’ Day reminds her of her childhood and is a fun day to goof around with her friends and family.

Hockman said an April Fools story that comes to mind involves her mother and the place every child wants to visit — Disney World.

“My mom woke me up early in the morning before school and told me we were going to Disney World and she had suitcases packed and everything,” Hockman said. “Overnight she froze my cereal and my orange juice, and I was so confused with why it was frozen.”

She said that after she tried eating her food her mom told her that it was April Fools’ Day and her Disney World dreams came to a fast end.

Hockman said even though she was disappointed that she was not actually going to Disney World, she can now look back on the experience as an adult and laugh.

Alyssa Bitner, a freshman communication disorders and sciences major, said that April Fools’ Day reminds her of playing jokes on her friends and cousin. Overall, April Fools’ Day is a really playful, goofy day for her, she said.

“After school (my friends and I) managed to take one of my friend’s car keys. He thought his keys were lost for an hour and he went to go check the student parking lot where his car was parked at,” Bitner said. “But his car wasn’t there because it was really me who took his car just around the school.”

She said that her friend was pretty flustered, but once he found out it was just a prank he laughed along with his friends.

Brianna Gaston, a sophomore elementary education major, said she was usually the butt of the prank during the mischievous holiday.

“My high school, instead of an oreo, took out the cream and added mint toothpaste to the middle of it, so I bit into it and it was just toothpaste,” she said.

Gaston said she was so confused and grossed out at first but then thought it was funny when she realized what day it was.

Maria Ruettiger can be reached at 581-2812 or mgruettiger@eiu.edu.