April

April is the fourth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and one of four months with a length of 30 days.

April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern hemisphere and autumn in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.

April starts on the same day of the week as July in all years, and January in leap years. April ends on the same day of the week as December every year.

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 is from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of ἁνοιξις (anoixis) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess 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 equivalent Greek goddess 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 Venerable Bede says in The Reckoning of Time that this month Eostur is the root of the word Easter. He further states that the month was named after a goddess Eostre whose feast was in that month. 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 took place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to our April^{[citation needed]}. The Finns called (and still call) this month huhtikuu, or 'Burnwood Month', when the wood for beat and burn clearing of farmland was felled.^[2]

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'avril.^[2]

The birthstone of April is the diamond, and the birth flower is typically listed as either the Daisy or the Sweet Pea.^[3]

April holidays and events

April from the Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

Buddha's Birthday is celebrated in April (here is pictured the Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong)

• Jazz Appreciation Month (United States)
• National Poetry Month (United States)
• Sex Month (United States)
• National Poetry Writing Month
• National Arab American Heritage Month (United States)
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month (United States)
• April Fools' Day – April 1
• April 1 is the first day of Japanese fiscal year. Major Japanese companies usually have Nyushashiki (entry ceremony for companies) for new employees those who newly hired after their graduation from schools, on this day.
• Japanese school calendar also starts from April 1, although Nyugakushiki (entry ceremony for schools) are usually held later, around second week of April.
• Good Friday (Christians) – a Friday between March 20 and April 23, being the last Friday before Easter
• Easter, or Resurrection Day (Christians) - celebrated the First Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21st
• Arbor Day (Korea) – April 5
• End of Tax Year (UK) – April 5
• Passover (Hebrew:פסח) a Jewish holiday
• World Health Day – April 7
• Buddha's Birthday – Traditional Date – April 8
• Araw ng Kagitingan, also known as "Bataan Day" (Philippines) – April 9
• Thai New Year in Thailand – April 13
• Lao New Year in Laos – April 13
• Burmese New Year in Burma - April 13
• Khmer New Year in Cambodia – April 13
• Tax Day (US) – April 15
• Boston Marathon – Third Monday
• 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
• Armenian Genocide Day Armenian Genocide remembrance day – April 24
• ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand) – April 25
• Carnation Revolution (Portugal) – April 25
• Resistance day in Slovenia - formerly Liberation Front of the Slovene People day April 27
• Freedom Day (South Africa) – April 27
• April 29 is a Japanese national holiday, as Shōwa Day since 2007. It has been celebrated as The Emperor's Birthday from 1927 to 1988, then renamed as Greenery Day after Hirohito's death in 1989. It is usually marked as the first day of "Golden Week", a week-long holiday period.
• Koninginnedag in the Netherlands / Kingdom of the Netherlands – April 30
• Arbor Day – last Friday of April in some states in the United States http://www.arborday.org/
• Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day, usually fourth Thursday (United States)
• London Marathon – usually fourth Sunday
• Opening Day – first Sunday in April
• Independence day (Syria) – April 17
• Record Store Day – usually celebrated on the third Saturday

April symbols

• April's birthstone is diamond, which symbolizes innocence.
• Its birth flower is the daisy and sweet pea.^[4]

See also

• Anglo-Saxon calendar
• List of historical anniversaries

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: April

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: April

Look up April in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

External links

http://www.arborday.org/

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "April". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.com/April.