The origin of April Fool’s Day is not really known. In 18th century Britain, there was a two-day event that encouraged many of the jokes and pranks we still use for our April Fool’s Day. The first day was “Hunting the Gowk,” in which people were sent all over on phony errands. Gowk was another name for a cuckoo bird, which was considered a silly bird, a fool.
When I was working in Boulder, we…