English:
Media related to April
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
decemviri
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 ?νοιξι? (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
.
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
.
Saint 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" (
journees 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
Le proces des insurges d'avril
.
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
. 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.
General
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Holidays
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