There was Germany born, riding high
World War I came to end with a sigh
From a small lodge for sport
To the home of the court
Royal power, thy name was Versailles

Event: Louis XIV relocates the French royal court to the Palace at Versailles
Year: 1682
Learn more: Palace of Versailles

Named at first for its flora and rays
Later known as a place where crime pays
But the crim’nal resort
Turned to world-leading port
One of planet Earth’s most famous bays

Event: James Cook lands at Botany Bay
Year: 1770
Learn more: Botany Bay
James Cook’s First Voyage

Work or play, Jack will never be dull
Batt’ling Batman, there’s nary a lull
As a Chinatown sleuth
He could handle the truth
‘Til they took out a chunk of his skull

Event: Birth of Jack Nicholson, holder of the record for most nominations for a male actor in the history of the Oscars, with 12
Year: 1937
Learn more: Jack Nicholson

How could anyone stay even-keeled
‘Gainst the vile abuses they’d wield?
Faced with hatred prolonged
Jackie proved he belonged
On the basepaths at old Ebbets Field

Event: Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in over fifty years
Year: 1947
Learn more: Jackie Robinson

From some angles she sets off alarms
But that’s really just one of her charms
So to Paris she came
To achieve worldwide fame
Not too bad for a girl without arms

Event: The Venus de Milo (also known as Aphrodite of Milos) is discovered on the island of Milos
Year: 1820
Learn more: Venus de Milo

So you think this day’s all about jokes?
Not so funny to those who sell smokes
Was Jobs kidding around
When he did Apple found?
Even Gmail was no kind of hoax

Events: Numerous TOTALLY SERIOUS and NOT AT ALL MADE-UP events occurred, including but not limited to:

(1970) Nixon signs into law the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which requires the surgeon general’s warning on cigarette packs and bans cigarette ads from TV and radio
(1976) Jobs, Wozniak, and Wayne found Apple
(2004) Google announces Gmail
(1976) Astronomer Patrick Moore announces the Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect, in which the alignment of Jupiter and Pluto would alter Earth’s gravity, allowing those who jumped into the air at precisely the right moment to hover . . . wait a second . . .

Learn more: The Real Truth about April Fool’s Day

To the marchers, the miles weren’t far
Though they traveled without horse or car
They survived Sunday’s blood
And the billy club’s thud
To demand they be treated on par

Event: Marchers from Selma, AL arrive at the state capitol in Montgomery to protest in favor of voting rights
Year: 1965
Learn more: Selma to Montgomery marches

On the morn after Paddy’s parade
Two fake cops did the Gardner invade
And from Chez Tortoni
To the Galilee Sea
A baked dozen of works were mislaid

Event: History’s largest art theft: Two thieves steal 13 works valued at $500 million from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston
Year: 1990
Learn more: The Heist

Seeing Europe and China aflame
FDR sought to even the game
So he said, “I propose
That we lend them the hose
Charging money for aid would be lame”

Event: The Lend-Lease Act goes into effect
Year: 1941
Learn more: Lend-Lease

Roman Emperor and German King
Mighty Redbeard could war and law bring
Now in Kyffhäuser lays
Frederick ’til end of days
When the ravens no longer take wing

Event: Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany
Year: 1152
Learn more: Frederick I