Although April Fools’ Day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery, according to history.com.

Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to Jan. 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.

Historians have also linked April Fools’ Day to festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises.

There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.

Locally, readers shared a few pranks:

• Lorie Malloy of Lansford: My late Father, Michael Murlo would always make brownies for my daughter Madison. One April Fool’s day he filled the container with brown letter E’s cut out of construction paper. She was about 6 years old and so mad when she opened the container. But her Geezer ( special nickname she had for her Pap) had a real pan of brownies ready for after the joke.

This is our first April Fools without him. We will all miss the rubber snakes, hidden furry mice and spiders he always found new places to hid anytime of year, the April Fools pranks were always the best.

• John Karnish of Nesquehoning: Got a tube of white toothpaste a pack of Oreos, replaced the cream in the middle and passed it off the my older children. They didn’t really notice it my younger two knew right away.

Send your best/worst April Fools Day pranks to tneditor@tnonline.com.