April

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April's_Shower :: April_Captains :: April :: April_Wine :: Aprilia :: April_Fool's_Day

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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. See:-Months in various calendars

April begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Aries and ends in the sign of Taurus. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Pisces and ends in the constellation of Aries.

The derivation of the name (Latin Aprilis) is uncertain. The traditional etymology from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (opening) for spring. Since all the Roman months were named in honour of divinities, and as April was sacred to Venus, the Festum Veneris et Fortunae Virilis being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her Greek name Aphrodite, or from the Etruscan name Apru. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus.

The Anglo-Saxons called April Oster-monath or Eostur-monath, the period sacred to Eostre or Ostara, the pagan Saxon goddess of spring, from whose name is derived the modern Easter. St George's day is the twenty-third of the month; and St Mark's Eve, with its superstition that the ghosts of those who are doomed to die within the year will be seen to pass into the church, falls on the twenty-fourth. In China the symbolical ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood takes place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to our April; and in Japan the feast of Dolls is celebrated in the same month.

The "days of April" (journées d'avril) is a name appropriated in French history to a series of insurrections at Lyons, Paris and elsewhere, against the government of Louis Philippe in 1834, which led to violent repressive measures, and to a famous trial known as the procès d'avrill.

April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar and had 29 days. Julius Caesar's calendar reform in 45 BCE resulted in April having 30 days and becoming the fourth month, as the year now began in January.

The tragic month of April

Wars that started/ended in April include

The American Revolution (Started with Paul Revere's Ride: April 18-19 April 1775)
The American Civil War (Started April, 1861, ended April, 1865, thus "Across Five Aprils")
The Bosnian War began in the first of days April, 1992
The Rwandan Genocide began in April, 1994

Other tragedies that have occurred in the month of April include

President Abraham Lincoln's assassination (April 14, 1865)
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake (April 18, 1906)
The sinking of the RMS Titanic (April 14-15 April 1912)
The Armenian Genocide (April 24, 1915)
Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination (April 4, 1968)
Super Tornado Outbreak (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)
In Lebanon, at least 106 Lebanese civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the UN compound at Qana (see Qana Massacre). (April 18, 1996)
The Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia (April 28, 1996)
The Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999)

Trivia

April begins on the same day of the week as July every year, and as January in leap years.
April's flowers are the daisy and sweet pea.
April's birthstone is the diamond.
April in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.

Events in April

Monthlong events in April

Rip on Maddog Month
Chocolate Eaters Month
Poetry Month
Cancer Control Month
Marcus H. Birthday (National Holiday in Australia)
Child Abuse Prevention Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
International Guitar Month
Mathematics Awareness Month
National Humor Month
National Welding Month
National Smile Month
National Pecan Month
VD Awareness Month
Stress Awareness Month
Alcohol Awareness Month
Autism Awareness Month
Occupational Therapy Month

Weeklong events in April

1st Week in April

Medic Alert Week
Cherry Blossom Festival
Publicity Stunt Week
National Birthparents Week
Week of the Young Child
Straw Hat Week
National Bake Week (begins 1st Mon)
Consider Christianity Week
National Reading a Road Map Week

2nd Week in April

Be Kind to Animals Week
Masters Golf Tournament
National Medical Laboratory Week
Private Property Week (10th-16th)
National Library Week
Harmony Week
National Garden Week
National Guitar Week
National Building Safety Week
National Home Safety Week

3rd Week in April

National Police Week
Boys and Girls Club Week
National Coin Week
Bike Safety Week
National Bubblegum Week
Pan American Week
National Week of the Ocean
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
National Volunteer Week
National Adult Films Week

Last Week in April

Forest Week
National Lingerie Week
Canada-US Goodwill Week
Big Brothers/Sisters Appreciation Week
Consumer Protection Week
National TV-Free Week
Jewish Heritage Week
Keep America Beautiful Week
National YMCA Week
Professional Secretaries Week
Intergenerational Week
Reading Is Fun Week
Egg Salad Week
Teacher Appreciation Week (begins Last Mon)
TV-Turn Off Week

A Week in April

Astronomy Week (determined by 1st Quarter Moon)

April movable daily holidays

1st Sunday

Set-Your Clock-Forward-Day (Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States; turn your clock ahead at 2:00 a.m.)
Budoha Day (Hawaii)
Vesak (Buddha's Birthday)

1st Saturday

Saturday Market Day (Oregon)

1st Saturday before 5th

Tax Saturday (UK)

1st Thursday

Glarus Festival (Osman land)

1st Friday

Student Government Day (Massachusetts)

Friday after 1st

Arbor Day (Apache, Navajo, Coconino, Mohave, Yavapai; Arizona)

2nd Friday

Audubon Day

3rd Sunday & Monday

Sechselauten (Six Ringing Festival; Switzerland)

3rd Monday

Patriot's Day (Maine, Massachusetts)

Thursday between 19th & 26th

First Day of Summer (Iceland)

Saturday nearest St. George's Day (23rd)

Peppercorn Day (Bermuda)

Monday nearest Feast Day of St. George (23rd)

St. George's Day (Newfoundland)

Sunday after 1st full moon after vernal equinox following Passover

Lambri (Bright Day; Greece)

4th Monday

Fast Day (New Hampshire)

4th Thursday

Take Our Daughters (and Sons) to Work Day

4th Weekend

Just Pray No weekend

Last Monday

Confederate Memorial Day (Alabama, Mississippi)

Last Friday

Arbor Day
Bird Day

Wednesday of Last Full Week

Administrative Professionals Day (Secretaries Day)

Other special days

April Fools' Day (April 1)
Conch Republic Independence Celebration (April 23) - Key West, Fla.

References

Chambers's Book of Days
Grimm's Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. Cap. "Monate"

Months

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