april

     

April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calenar, 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.

Trivia about april

  • It's the second-shortest month in most of the U.S., beating out the third-shortest months by one hour
  • If you were born in this month, the diamond is your traditional birthstone -- no foolin'
  • AP is the Associated Press; Apr. is short for this month
  • A good month for fools (5)
  • ...of the 12 months of the year
  • The cruelest month:"PRL"
  • Flanders & Swann sang that it "brings the sweet spring showers--on and on for hours and hours!"
  • The name of this month might come from a Latin word meaning "to open", being a time when flowers open
  • Easter Sunday takes place on the fourth day of this month in 1999
  • The first month of the year with just 30 days in it
  • "The Waste Land" gives us the line this "is the cruellest month"
  • It's Keep America Beautiful month, & the month in which you'd find Earth Day
  • "No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than myself, before the fatal" 19th of this month, 1775
  • Administrative Professionals Day& National CPAs Goof-off Day
  • (2003)"Pieces of ___"
  • It's International Daffynitions Month & National Pecan Month, no foolin'
  • Marquette, Michigan averages 2.35 inches of precipitation in this month known proverbially for showers
  • National Arbor Day
  • John Cranko choreographed a ballet called "Harlequin in" this month--no fooling
  • Of the 12 months of the year
  • Sara Teasdale: "when I am dead and over me bright" this month "shakes out her rain-drenched hair... I shall not care"
  • It is both National Poetry Month & National Humor Month
  • In this cruel month in 1923, T.S. went on a hellish holiday near Chichester with his ill & unstable wife
  • In the first line of "The Canterbury Tales" this calendar word is spelled to end with a double L
  • The name of this month may derive from that of the Greek goddess of love
  • T.S. Eliot wrote that it was the "cruellest month...stirring dull roots with spring rain"
  • My Latin teacher often reminded me that the name of this month comes from a Latin word meaning "'when flower buds open"