All About April
By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — As we enter a new month, take a look at some April-associated holidays, trivia and events.
HOLIDAYS
- April 1 — All Fools’ Day, also known as April Fools’ Day
- April 15 — Good Friday
- April 17 — Easter Sunday
- April 22 — Earth Day
- April 29 — National Arbor Day
TRIVIA
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April 7, 2022 — Major League Baseball’s 2022 regular season will officially begin April 7 with nine Opening Day contests, including seven divisional matchups. The start date was pushed back because of a labor dispute.
- April 15, 2013 — Two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260. Suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police; his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death.
- April 4, 1968 — Civil Rights Leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tenn. He championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor.
- April 4, 1949 — Twelve nations signed the treaty creating NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The nations united for common military defense against the threat of expansion by Soviet Russia into Western Europe.
- April 15, 1912 — The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank during her maiden voyage. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died, including Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the ship.
- April 14, 1865 — President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington. Lincoln died the following day, nine hours after being shot. Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president.
- Those born in April have a diamond as their birthstone, which represents innocence. The birth flower is a Daisy or a Sweet Pea.
- There are two zodiac signs in April: Aries, which is until April 19, and Taurus, which is April 20 and onward.
- April’s full Pink Moon will rise on Saturday, April 16, reaching peak illumination at 2:57 p.m. This full moon is also the Paschal Full Moon this year.
THIS MONTH IN SPORTS
- April 5, 1984 — The LA Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the league’s all-time leading scorer after passing Wilt Chamberlain, scoring his 31,420th point. The Lakers faced the Utah Jazz in Las Vegas when Magic Johnson passed Kareem the ball with less than nine minutes to go in the game. Abdul-Jabbar scored point number 22 of the game on that assist, and his 31,420th.
- April 4, 1974 — It’s Opening Day 1974 and Hank Aaron has been waiting all of offseason to tie Babe Ruth. On April 4, 1974, Hank Aaron stepped up to the plate for his first at bat of the season, and knocked the ball out of the park. A 400-foot, three-run home run over the left-center field fence. It took Aaron 11,289th at bats to reach home run number 714.
- April 1, 1972 — MLB players staged the first ever MLB strike, due to player pensions and arbitration. The strike lasted for nearly two weeks, and 86 games were missed because of it.
- April 7, 1963 — Jack Nicklaus, 23, becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters, beating Tony Lema by a stroke.
- April1 5, 1947 — Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to appear in a Major League Baseball game.
- April 15, 1927 — Babe Ruth homers, his first of a record 60 that season.
- April 6, 1896 — The birth of modern day Olympics. On this day in 1896, the first modern-day Olympics were held in the birthplace of the competition, Athens, Greece. At that time, only men competed, and over 240 male athletes from 14 different countries participated in the games.
THIS MONTH IN MUSIC
- April 18, 1993 — Police arrest David Lee Roth in New York City for buying a $10 bag of marijuana.
- April 23, 1988 — Whitney Houston becomes the first artist to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart with seven consecutive singles.
- April 1, 1984 — Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father during an argument, one day before his 45th birthday.
- April 2, 1977 — ABBA was No. 1 on the UK singles chart with their fifth No. 1 hit, “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” The song was also a Top 10 hit in over 15 countries.
- April 10, 1970 — Paul McCartney announces he quit The Beatles.
- April 2, 1964 — The Beach Boys recorded their single, “I Get Around,” which became their first U.S. No. 1 hit that summer.
EVENTS
- April 2 — Plow Day, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 3546 East CR 1300S, North Manchester, hosted by Echoes of the Past.
- April 16 — First Annual Easter Egg Hunt, 6 p.m., CCAC Sports Complex, Warsaw.
- April 30 — Annual Cake Auction, 1 p.m., Syracuse Community Center, 1013 N. Long Drive, Syracuse.