Daily Calendar for Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Month of April

April comes from the Latin word aperio, meaning “to open or bud,” because plants begin to grow this month. Enjoy the ��’s article all about April!

April Fools' Day

The term “All Fools,” was probably meant as a deliberate stab at All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2) Day.

Although the origin of playing practical jokes and pranks on this day is hazy, many folklorists believe it may go back to 16th-century France. At that time, New Year’s Day was March 25, with a full week of partying and exchanging gifts until April 1. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar moved New Year’s Day to January 1. Those who forgot or refused to honor the new calendar were teasingly called, “April Fool!”

�� folklore states, “If it thunders on All Fools Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay.”

See our full article on the humor and history of April Fools’ Day!

Born

Edwin Austin Abbey (illustrator) – 1852
Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russian composer ) – 1873
Gordon Jump (actor) – 1932
Debbie Reynolds (actress) – 1932
Randy Orton (professional wrestler) – 1980
Courtney McCool (gymnast) – 1988

Died

Scott Joplin (ragtime musician & composer) – 1917
Marvin Gaye (singer) – 1984
Martha Graham (dancer & choreographer) – 1991
John Forsythe (actor) – 2010
Misao Okawa (Japanese woman who was recognized as the world’s oldest person at the time. She was born on March 5, 1898, and died at age 117.) – 2015
Dan Robbins (artist who created paint-by-numbers pictures) – 2019

Events

In Ohio, the Cincinnati Fire Department became the first full-time, salaried fire department in the U.S.– 1853
The U.S. invasion of Okinawa began (WW II)– 1945
The United States Air Force Academy is established– 1954
The satellite Tiros I was launched from Cape Canaveral and eventually transmitted thousands of photographs showing the distribution of Earth’s cloud formations– 1960
Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer, Inc.– 1976
Nunavut territory created– 1999
The Netherlands legalized euthanasia– 2002
French acrobat Willy Martignon broke the world record for longest-distance somersaulting slam dunk– 2007

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April Fool’s Day Blizzard in the Dakotas, heavy drifting snow– 1877
Houston, Texas, got its first natural waterspout as an April Fools Day joke from Mother Nature, when a high-velocity tornado hit the downtown area and broke into the water table.– 1912
April Fool’s cold, -34 degrees F in Bergland, Michigan, and 16 degrees F in Georgia– 1923
27 degrees F, Atlanta, Georgia– 1987
Blizzard left 37 inches of snow in East Jewett, New York– 1997

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