April 1 is named Fool's Day. Have you ever wondered why?

Well there is actually a reason that we have such a silly tradition. It is the birthday of Elmer Thogmartin, an Englishman and gentleman country farmer who inherited quite the dowry when his mother Esther April passed away suddenly at the age of 39. Elmer Thogmartin, the lone heir to the family's real estate fortune, inherited more than $2.7 million pounds (an estimated $300 million by today's standards) on June 7, 1543.

Unfortunately Mr. Thogmartin was not wise with his money. He invested in more than 105 business ventures during his lifetime, all of which were a colossal failure.

The worst of which was the English Shipbuilding Company, Thogmartin Sailing. It is estimated that alone cost him more than $450,000. He gambled, and was very unlucky there, and legend has it he lost over half of his fortune playing cribbage at a local Scottish country club.

After he lost nearly all of his family assets, people in the town of Hamptonshire, England, started calling him a fool. Instead of celebrating his birthday each year on April 1, they would make fun of his misfortune, and be thankful they were not fooled into investing monies in the schemes he had.

At the age of 22, Thogmartin married a 63-year-old woman who divorced him after just one year of marriage because of his foolishness.

She was quoted as saying, "He used to read all kinds of fake stories just like you are doing now!"

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY! ~Big Stew

More From 101.5 KNUE