Running With Quills: Suzanne celebrates the Amazing Month of April

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Suzanne celebrates the Amazing Month of April

We've had the most amazing April here in the Midwest: lots of sunshine (with only a few days of "April showers bring May flowers"), warm temperatures, redbuds in bloom and tulips and daffodils and crabapple trees.

When I get up in the morning the first thing I do -- even before heading to the coffeepot -- is walk into our sunroom and gaze out at the forest behind our house. Our view literally changes overnight every night and each morning brings a surprise: wildflowers suddenly sprouting from the forest floor, tree buds that have popped into full-blown leaves since yesterday, and a clematis that seems to have grown up the bell pole another six inches.

I did a little research and, besides the perennial signs of spring, I discovered some interesting tidbits about Amazing April.

Did you know that April is National Frog Month? (April is also National Humor Month and National Poetry Month.)

Did you know that the first public library in the USA opened on April 9, 1833 in Peterborough, New Hampshire? (Although many institutions claim to be first, including the Boston Public Library.)

Did you know that the first McDonald's opened April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois? April 15th is also Leonardo DaVinci's birthday. DOB: April 15, 1452.

Did you know that April 16th is National Eggs Benedict Day? (Who knew?) Apparently it was first celebrated in New York City more than a century ago.

Did you know the third week of April is National Organize Your Files Week? (Nuff said.)

Did you know that April 27th is National Tell a Story Day? (In Scotland and England, this day is celebrated on October 27th.)

Did you know that the fourth week of April is National Karaoke Week? (I've never really understood karaoke, but Jayne explained it to me and in an "Ah-ha" moment I realized it's how I THINK I sound when I'm singing opera in the shower.:-)

And did you know that April 30th is National Honesty Day? (Honest, I didn't make this up.)

April is truly an amazing month. Do you have any interesting "tidbits" about the month of April you'd like to share with the rest of us?

20 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Don't forget about April 1st - April Fool's Day or April 15 - the IRS's favorite day of the year. Although this year they moved it to April 17th!

And, of course, the most important day of the year falls in April - my birthday!; 10:10 AM
Katrina said...: April has produced the most rain in Sacramento this year than in previous years during the same month....

Needless to say we will be having a lot of May flowers and allergies are going to be a pain in the *beep*; 11:29 AM
Pia said...: On April 1st 2002 my then boyfriend and I celebrated our 13th month anniversary (yup we celebrated every month), after having lunch, he decided to drop by his favorite Church - Immaculate Conception in Bridgewater, New Jersey. After noticing how nervous he was, He pulled me to the center of the Church, got down on one knee and proposed. I was like, "Are you kidding me? It's April Fool's!" but of couse we were inside a Church so he just laughed and said he was very serious.

This year will be our 4th year wedding anniversary.

I do love April!; 4:26 PM
talpianna said...: Courtesy of the National Mole Day Foundation: April 23rd is the Molar Equinox! The Mole Day theme for 2006 is MOLE
MADNESS. How mad will you be about the Mole?; 6:13 PM
DFender said...: lol @ Tal... Mole-y Cow.

Here are some more APRIL facts:

1. Daisy and the Sweet Pea are the flowers of the month.

2. Diamond is the birthstone for April

3. The Revolutionary War in America began on April 19, 1775, when British soldiers and American revolutionaries clashed in Massachusetts.

4. William Shakespeare, the playright, was born on April 23, 1564. He also died in Massachusetts in 1616.

5. The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when South Vietnam surrendered.

6. Adolph Hitler was born on 4/20/1889.

7. It's traditionally believed that Rome was founded on April 21, 753 BC

8. 4/30/1789 Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.

9. The Civil War began at Fort Sumter, 4/12/1861.

10.Television first publicly broadcast, from the Empire State Building, 4/30/1939.

Deb

ixomy: Irrationally, xylophones offended most.. Yikes!; 6:36 PM
Angela said...: Arbor Day is in April.

The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska. A visit to Nebraska today wouldn't disclose that the state was once a treeless plain. Yet it was the lack of trees there that led to the founding of Arbor Day in the 1800s.

Among pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 was J. Sterling Morton from Detroit. He and his wife were lovers of nature, and the home they established in Nebraska was quickly planted with trees, shrubs and flowers.

On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day” at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

This history lesson brought to you by arborday.org ;); 8:45 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't have any unsual April facts but I do think it's ironic that we start April with lies and end it with truths.(April fools day and National Honesty Day)Somebody was thinking ahead with that one!; 4:19 AM
Barbara said...: Today is John Stark day in New Hampshire. John Stark was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolution and was born and lived his life in New Hampshire. He's credited with saying "Live Free or Die" which is our state's motto (of course, in winter, we think he probably said "Live, Freeze and Die"!).; 6:55 AM
Anonymous said...: We used to celebrate "America's Day" on April 14, down here in So. America, specifically Paraguay. It was a national holiday which was cancelled a few years ago.

gve; 10:48 AM
Cbell said...: On April 10 my parents celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. They love to remind each other that the women's dean at their college berated my mother for leaving school early to marry my father who was going into the service. She told my mother they would not last two years! They have lasted more than 53 years with three children and four grandchildren to bear witness!; 1:40 PM
Brandy said...: These are all great, my best thing in April? On the 26th my Daughter will turn 11.; 8:02 PM
Suzanne Simmons said...: I've enjoyed everybody's April tidbits!

The best thing about April for me personally -- my husband's birthday is April 1st. (Yes, it has been a source of great amusement for years!:-); 8:09 AM
Anonymous said...: April is Jazz appreciation month. www.smithsonianjazz.org; 8:29 AM
Anonymous said...: On April 14 the unsinkable TITANIC struck an ice berg. Lincoln was shot on April 14, and April is Autism Awareness Month.; 6:42 PM
Jay said...: April 25th is ANZAC Day. ANZAC stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps, and April 25th is the day they stormed Gallipoli cove in Turkey, in 1915. So many thousands were slaughtered - Gallipoli Cove is a beach with a sheer cliff, and due to an error by certain allies, they landed there when they weren't supposed to.

It became a defining moment in Australian history, and went a long way to creating our national identity. ANZAC Day is one of the few when our entire country stops and honours those who fought for our freedom. Our veterans parade, along with the children or grandchildren of those who never came home, and those who are no longer with us.

'They shall grow not old
As we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET'; 7:05 PM
Joy said...: Remember Cheetah, the chimp, in the old Johnny Weismuller TARZAN movies? Well his birthday is in April and he just turned 74. He is in the Guiness Book of World Records as the oldest living chimpanzee (of course, there might be some in the wilds that are older that we don't know about). I loved watching him and his antics when I was growing up.; 4:40 PM
Ranurgis said...: Had a hard time finding anything more to add to all the accolades for April. I did find the one about ANZAC being celebrated in AUS and NZ.

And today, April 26, is "Administrative Professionals Day" according to my calendar, printed in China but put together in Indianapolis. I thought it might have something to do with the files but this is definitel the fourth, not third week of April.

pemvk - Paper emits murky voices kookily.

Actually, this is fun. We should do it every month.

Oh, btw, I didn't know Shakespeare died in Massachusetts.; 7:23 PM
Suzanne Simmons said...: There is also a National Pretzel Day in the month of April!

Ranurgis, great minds, etc. I was thinking of doing this each month . . . at least for a while. :-)

btw, I'm pretty sure Shakespeare died after retiring to Stratford-upon-Avon and is buried in the Holy Trinity Church there.; 7:01 AM
Becca said...: In my family, we have two birthdays in April (the 8th and the 30th) as well as a future wedding date for the youngest sibling (April 9, 2007).

Also, Tax Day is April 30th in Canada. Not sure whether there's an extension this year because that's a Sunday...; 8:17 AM
Shirley Jump said...: Okay, so this month I'm supposed to play with my pet frog, have a large fry in honor of St. Ronald, clog up an artery, organize my files (what masochist put that right after fries and Eggs Benedict?), then tell a story (since I have now organized my files, I can find all those awful stories I wrote in sixth grade and bore my children with them) and then, on top of that, torture my family with my off-key rendition of "Unchained Melody"?

And at the end of all of this, tell the truth to my best friend about how awful that dress really looks and what I think about her husband?

I think instead I'll raise a fry to St. Ronald and leave it at that ;-)

Shirley; 6:04 AM

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Sunday, April 23, 2006

Suzanne celebrates the Amazing Month of April

20 Comments: