april

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, before January and February were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it also was given 29 days. The Julian calendar reform of 46 BC gave April 30 days, effective in 45 BC.

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

• Chocolate Eaters Month
• Poetry Month
• Cancer Control Month
• 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
• Dartmouth Outing Club vertical Challenge

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 Fool's Day (April 1)
• Reconciliation Day (Always April 2nd)
• Earth Day (April 22)
• Conch Republic Independence Celebration (April 23) - Key West, Florida
• ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand) (25 April)

See also

• List of historical anniversaries

References

• Chambers's Book of Days
• Grimm's Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. Cap. "Monate"
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.