We can be pretty mischievous most of the year round, but have you ever wondered why we’re especially mischievous on April Fools’ Day?

Well, in 1582, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar. It was called the Gregorian calendar and this is the calendar we use today.

The old calendar, called the Julian calendar, was ahead by ten days because each year was a little too long. So Gregory moved the new calendar forward by ten days.

Also, because each year is roughly 365.25 days long, he introduced a leap year every four years. During a leap year, an extra day is added to make up for the 0.25, or quarter of a day, lost each year.

Britain didn’t accept the new calendar until 1752.

In the Julian calendar, New Year was celebrated from March 25th to April 1st. The first day of the Gregorian calendar is January 1st.

In France, people were forgetful and other people refused to accept the new calendar, so they still celebrated New Year on April 1st. Other people would play tricks on them and call them April Fools.

So you could say that it’s thanks to a little science and maths that we celebrate April Fools’ Day!