About April

April: Goddess of Love & More

April is named for the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. The name for the month of April originally came for Apriliswhich means to open, which is what many trees and flower blossoms do at this time of year.
Here are six things that happened in this month:

1.   NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts on April 9, 1959. They were Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr., Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, John H. Glenn Jr., M. Scott Carpenter; Alan B. Shepard Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom and L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.

2.   Noah Webster, an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author copyrighted the first edition of his dictionary April 14, 1828.

3.   Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor and scientist who epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. He was considered to be the archetype of the Renaissance Man and was born April 15, 1452.

4.   William Shakespeare, the English playwright who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" was born on April 23, 1564.

5.   The United States Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. It was established April 24, 1800.

6.   George Washington the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States was inaugurated as the first president of the United States of America on April 30, 1789.

Photo: Aphrodite Pudica (Roman copy of 2nd century AD), National Archaeological Museum, Athens