“April is the cruelest month . . .” begins the first line of The Waste Land, the signature modernist poem by T. S. Eliot.

The poem reads:

APRIL is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers

Sure the weather is fickle and rebirth of nature is a difficult process as described in the poem, but was T.S. Eliot on to something more? After all, April begins by encouraging folks to play awful tricks on friends and family. Although popular since the 19th century, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales(1392) contains the first recorded association between April 1 and foolishness.

April’s Fool Prank within a Prank

This year’s story which was later revealed to be a prank. Still, fellas be warned.

EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PROVEN TO HAVE BEEN FALSE – This isn’t a great idea.

Lisa Estevez, 31, is facing first degree murder charges after she shot and killed Ray Jordan, age 25, in the chest. According to authorities, Lisa shot Ray after an April fool’s prank had gone terribly wrong. Authorities say Ray, who had been dating Lisa for 3 years, apparently got on his knees and proposed to Lisa, only to them open the engagement ring box and reveal the words "April Fools" written inside with no engagement ring to be found. Lisa then immediately reached for Jordan's firearm, which was laying on the living room couch and shot Jordan once in the chest, killing him instantly.

Authorities arrived to the home when neighbors reported the gunshots. "We arrived at the scene and saw Mr. Jordan's corpse" says NYPD officer James Patterson, "Then I looked to his side and immediately saw the Engagement ring box with 'April Fools' written inside and immediately knew what had happened," finished Officer Patterson.

The only real thing about this story is the mug shot as it is an actual mug shot of the purportedly jilted murderess was taken from an unrelated public arrest notice from December 2015 (not April 2016):

April 15th

The 15th of April could easily be named the cruelest day of April, as it is the annual deadline for Americans to mail their tax returns, and checks, to the Internal Revenue Service.

But is there more to April being so very, very cruel?

Here is a list of events that took place in April that may have had something to do with perpetuating may have gotten this reputation.

Wars that started/ended in April include:

The American Revolution (Started with Paul Revere's Ride: April 18-19, 1775)

The American Civil War (Started April, 1861, ended April, 1865, thus "Across Five Aprils")

The Bosnian War began in the first days April, 1992

The Rwandan Genocide began in April, 1994

Tragedies and Disasters that have occurred in the month of April include:

Toussaint Louverture the Leader of the Haitian Revolution, who's political strategies and fighting abilities earned him eloquent nicknames such as: The Black George Washington, The Black Napoleon Bonaparte, The Black Spartacus, died in Fort de Joux, France on (April 7, 1803)

President Abraham Lincoln's assassination (April 14, 1865)

Adolf Hitler was born on (April 20, 1889)

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Over 3000 dead (April 18, 1906)

The sinking of the RMS Titanic killing over 1500 (April 14-15, 1912)

The Armenian Genocide (April 24, 1915)

The Bataan Death march started. Some of Man's most cruel moments to another country's soldiers. (April 9, 1942)

The Deir Yassin (located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) Massacre took place on (April 9, 1948)

The Hadassah Convoy Massacre took place on (April 13, 1948)

Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination (April 4, 1968)

Super Tornado Outbreak 148 in 18 hours, killing 300 (April 3-4, 1974)

Chernobyl nuclear accident (April 26, 1986)

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots after the Rodney King verdict (April 29, 1992)

The bloody end to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas (April 19, 1993)

The Oklahoma City Bombing (April 19, 1995)

Shelling of Qana, (also spelled Cana) a village in Southern Lebanon also known as the First Qana Massacre (April 1996)

The Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia (April 28th, 1996)

The Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999)

Pope John Paul II's death (April 2, 2005)

It seems that there may be some truth to the month’s reputation.