It seems appropriate that a day in which we fool people with (hopefully) funny stories and tricks has no substantiated history. There are many ideas that include it starting in Roman times, but then those wacky Renaissance try to take credit. Chaucer, a little earlier, may have included a day of foolery in his Nun's Tale, but Ben Franklin is often cited as bringing the event to the U.S.
Share this history with your students from the LIbrary of Congress: http:// https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/03/april-fools/ and then dive into some information literacy lessons using some of the hoaxes below. They make great QFT Q-focus prompts to get students out of their seats to find out if they were true...and how they were perceived during their time. Then bring it forward with some clips from today's news. How can we check to make sure we're not being fooled ourselves? Here's one strategy: the SIFT Method for evaluating information in a digital world. I like this infographic, but for more info from the creator of the method himself, Mike Caulfield check out his blog: https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/
-want some nerdy silliness? Check out the GPOs top 10 list of funny Federal titles. Seriously…they will capture attention: Do Mandrakes Really Scream? Controlling Vampire Bats…and our favorite: Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic. Visit https://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/2014/04/01/stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-a-top-ten-list-of-funny-federal-titles/ to find out more and share info about government publications of all kinds. A teacherm might think that GPO publications have little relevance in the classroom - but they offer some great insights into the concerns and suggested solutions for a variety of daily situations.
Historic U.K. highlights some of the UKs hoax history that may be attributed to April Fools day. This ticket could be purchased to attend the infamous "washing of the lions" at the Tower of London. Unfortunately, no lions were present for this event (that didn't happen).
So... in this age of all the dis- and mis- information, let's look at a couple of hoax sites that show how some hoaxes capture the imaginations of far too many people, far too easily. Historical hoaxes can be a great entre into the discussion on sourcing information and other information literacy topicsl. Here is something to jumpstart your thinking:
1. Victorian culture was obsessed with death. Photographer William H. Mummler was well known for his photos of deceased loved ones hovering lovingly next to his client's image. 
Collected by the Getty Museum, you can see them here: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/104VG5. Learn more about this story- and others at National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/most-infamous-scams-hoaxes
2.Mencken's Bathtub Hoax - designed to show the newspaper reading public's gullibility - in 1917 - purported to describe the history of the bathtub. This is one hoax truly designed to put one over on the readership. There are definitely lessons there for us today. Check out the Museum of Hoaxes for more.
3. Here are some of the top 100 April Fools Day Hoaxes I especially like the Spaghetti Tree Harvest. Your students will love this investigation... give it a shot!
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