“Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.” Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
April 1: April Fools’ Day, a time for playing pranks on one another. Elaborate pranks have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, websites, and have been performed by large corporations. One famous prank in 1957 was the BBC broadcasting an item in a current affairs series purporting to show Swiss farmers picking freshly-grown spaghetti, in what they called the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest. The BBC was later flooded with requests to purchase a spaghetti plant, forcing them to announce it a hoax the next day. Now, with the advent of the internet and readily available news, April Fools’ pranks can deceive and embarrass a larger audience than ever before. After all, if you see it on the internet or read it in the paper, it must be true…watch out, and don’t be taken in by pranks today.
April 6, 1896: After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece.
April 8, 563: Buddhists celebrate the birthday of Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.). An estimated 350 million persons currently profess the Buddhist faith.
April 9, 1865: After over 500,000 American deaths, the Civil War effectively ended as General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the village of Appomattox Court House. The surrender occurred in the home of Wilmer McLean. Terms of the surrender, written by General Grant, allowed Confederates to keep their horses and return home. Officers were allowed to keep their swords and side arms.
April 11 – 27: Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival, Clearwater Beach
This beach celebration pays tribute to Tampa Bay’s two most valuable assets: sugar sands and sunsets. The showcase is a 21,000-square-foot structure that transforms into an art gallery of sand sculptures created by master sculptors from around the world. Located at Pier 60, Clearwater Beach. Visit sugarsandfestival.com
April 12: Sopchoppy Worm Gruntin’ Festival, Sopchoppy
The age-old idiom about the early bird getting the worm is a way of life for earthworm harvester Gary Revell. Revell and his wife spend their mornings making “music,” which sounds like grunting, to coax thousands of earthworms from the dirt. This event also includes a 5K run, live worm gruntin’ demo, the crowning of the Earthworm King and Queen, the Wakulla County Horseshoe Championship, live music and art vendors. Located in Downtown Sopchoppy. Visit wormgruntinfestival.com
April 12: Members of the Jewish faith celebrate Passover from April 12 to April 20. The holiday of Pesach, or Passover, is an annual weeklong festival commemorating the emancipation of Jewish people from slavery (in ancient Egypt). The Hebrew name, Pesach, means “to passover” because the plague in Egypt that killed all firstborns passed over the Israelites’ homes, sparing the lives of their children.
April 14, 1828: The first dictionary of American-style English was published by Noah Webster as the American Dictionary of the English Language.
April 15, 1912: In the icy waters off Newfoundland, the luxury liner Titanic with 2,224 persons on board sank at 2:27 a.m. after striking an iceberg just before midnight. Over 1,500 persons drowned, while 700 were rescued by the liner Carpathia, which arrived about two hours after Titanic went down.
April 18 – 27: 38th Annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration, Key West Calling all Patriots, Pirates and Partiers to embrace their FUN-dependence and head to Key West’s Annual Conch Republic Independence Celebration. This festival celebrates Key West’s Conch Republic with events dedicated to bringing humor, warmth, peace and respect to a world greatly in need of all four. Visit conchrepublic.com/
April 18, 1775: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes occurred as the two men rode out of Boston about 10 p.m. to warn patriots at Lexington and Concord of the approaching British.
April 18, 1906: The San Francisco Earthquake struck at 5:13 a.m., followed by a massive fire from overturned wood stoves and broken gas pipes. The fire raged uncontrollably for three days resulting in the destruction of over 10,000 acres of property and 4,000 lives lost.
April 20: Christians celebrate Easter. Its history is founded in the New Testament of the Bible. The resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith. The name of the holiday, Easter, comes from the name for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre. She was a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name is derived from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east, and so also in the rising of Jesus. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon, therefore, the date varies from year to year.
April 22, 1864: “In God We Trust” was included on all newly minted U.S. coins by an Act of Congress.
April 24, 1800: The Library of Congress was established in Washington, D.C. It is America’s oldest federal cultural institution and the world’s largest library. Among the 145 million items in its collections are more than 33 million books, 3 million recordings, 12.5 million photographs, 5.3 million maps, 6 million pieces of sheet music and 63 million manuscripts. About 10,000 new items are added each day.
April 26, 1937: During the Spanish Civil War, the ancient town of Guernica was attacked by German warplanes. After destroying the town in a three-hour bombing raid, the planes machine-gunned fleeing civilians. The event was made famous by Pablo Picasso in his painting Guernica.
April 30, 1789: George Washington became the first U.S. President as he was administered the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City.
