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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. 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 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 most of the Roman months were named in honor 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 (Aphros), or from the Etruscan name Apru. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus.[1]
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 symbolic ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood takes place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to our April. The Finnish called this month Huhtikuu, or 'Burnwood Month', when the wood for beat and burn clearing of farmland was felled.
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.
The birthstone of April is the diamond or the sapphire, and the birth flower is typically listed as either the Daisy or the Sweet Pea.[2] However, a few questionable online sources also cite the Tulip, as well.
In The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot called April "the cruellest month".
April starts on the same day of the week as July in all years, and January in leap years.
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April holidays and events
- National Poetry Month - in United States
- National Sexual Assault Awareness Month - in United States
- Jazz Appreciation Month
- April Fools' Day - April 1
- World Autism Awareness Day - April 2
- World Health Day- April 7
- Arbor Day- in Korea - April 5
- End of Tax Year (UK) - April 5
- Buddha's Birthday - Traditional Date - April 8
- Araw ng Kagitingan, also known as "Bataan Day" (Philippines) - April 9
- Tax Day - April 15 (in US)
- Khmer New Year in Cambodia - April 13
- Passover begins on the fifteenth day of Nisan, which in 2008 begins at sunset on April 19
- 4:20- April 20
- Patriots' Day- April 21
- Earth Day - April 22
- Conch Republic Independence Celebration (Key West, Florida) - April 23
- St George's Day Patron Saint Celebration (England, Europe) - April 23
- ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand) - April 25
- Carnation Revolution (Portugal) - April 25
- Arbor Day - last Friday of April in United States
- Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day, usually fourth Thursday (United States)
See also
References
- ^ Jacob Grim Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. Cap. "Monate"
- ^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (1997) The Order of Things. New York: Random House
External links
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 26 August 2008, at 01:53.
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