Anniversaries: April Commemorations and Celebrations

In the Gregorian calendar, April is the fourth month of the year and is one of the four months that have 30 days. It was the second month of the year in the ancient Roman calendar before King Numa Pompilius added January and February around 700 B.C. The ancient Romans called it aprilis, in Latin.

The exact origin of the word "abril" (April) is unknown. It has been linked to the verb aperire ('to open'), due to the supposed form aperilis, associating it with the fact that in this month spring opens the earth, the flowers, etc. Ovid joins this idea; but there is no etymological basis to support it. International Fun at Work Day: It is celebrated every year on April 1st or the first Thursday of April if the 1st is a holiday, with the aim of making the workplace a happy and fun place. International Children's Book Day: Celebrated every April 2nd in commemoration of the birth of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. International Day for Mine Awareness: It is celebrated every year on April 4th as declared on December 8, 2005 by the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the danger of mines.

National Journalist Day: It is celebrated on April 5th of each year to commemorate the birth of the newspaper El Telégrafo Constitucional de Santo Domingo, the first Dominican newspaper that circulated in the year 1821.

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace: It is celebrated every year on April 6 as declared on August 23, 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly. This date commemorates the inauguration of the Olympic Games in Athens in the year 1896. National Coffee Day: April 11th is celebrated in the Dominican Republic in honor of one of the most important products of the country's agricultural industry and the coffee industry for its tireless work. World Noise Awareness Day: Celebrated every April 12th to raise awareness among the world's population about noise pollution. Noise pollution is defined as annoying noise caused by human activity such as traffic, household appliances, airplanes, factories or industrial centers. Sound intensity is measured in decibels (dB). International Day of Human Space Flight: It is celebrated every April 12 as declared by the United Nations General Assembly on April 7, 2011 to commemorate the first human spaceflight and the beginning of the space age.

The Battle of El Memiso: It was fought on April 13, 1844, in El Memiso, province of Azua, between a Dominican and a Haitian army during the Dominican War of Independence, with the Dominicans ultimately victorious.

World Art Day: It is celebrated every April 15th as declared by the International Association of Art (IAA) on April 15, 2012, to promote creative activity in the world and pay tribute to all those who have the maximum sensitivity to express love, hate, sadness through art. World Day Against Child Slavery: It is celebrated every April 16th in commemoration of the assassination of Iqbal Masih, whose childhood was taken away when he started working at the age of four. International Day for Monuments and Sites: It is celebrated every April 18th as approved by the UNESCO General Assembly in 1983. The date was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on April 18, 1982, for the purpose of promoting the protection and conservation of monuments and patron sites, and to raise awareness of the diversity of the cultural heritage of humanity. National Broadcaster's Day. It is celebrated every year on April 18th in the Dominican Republic as proclaimed on April 2, 1974 by Decree #4476. It was on this date in 1938 when the Department of Communications of the Dominican Government held the first official exam for aspiring broadcasters with the intention of regulating national broadcasting.

World Bicycle Day: It is celebrated every year on April 19 with the aim of promoting this means of transport and drawing attention to the rights of cyclists. According to studies, the health benefits of cycling in the city are much greater than the risks from air pollution and traffic accidents.

World Creativity and Innovation Day: It is celebrated every April 21st to promote the personal creativity of each citizen worldwide. International Creativity and Innovation Day was promoted by Canadian advertising designer Marci Segal in 2001, who was upset by an article criticizing the lack of ideas of Canadian advertisers. Earth Day: Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22nd. Its promoter, US Senator Gaylord Nelson, established this day to create a common awareness of the problems of pollution, the conservation of biodiversity, and other environmental concerns to protect the Earth.

International Book Day: It is celebrated every April 23rd. A date to recognize the value of the book and all those who participate in its production, publication, and distribution, was chosen by UNESCO, as many important events in the literary world coincide on this day.

Dominican Civil War: The Revolution of '65, as it is also known, took place between April 24 and September 3 of the same year. Despite having been a bloody time, it was also considered the most heroic and significant in Dominican history, as thousands of women and men took to the streets armed to demand the return to the 1963 Constitution. World Frog Day: According to the World Union for Nature, the last Saturday of April is World Frog Day, celebrated to educate the population about the importance of these animals and the threat of extinction they face worldwide. Secretaries Day: It is celebrated on the 26th of this month. Men and women all over the world work as secretaries. They are executive assistants who must know office techniques, however their functions are so diverse that they really need to know a little bit of everything. Some of the main virtues of a good secretary are organization, a vocation for service, and responsibility. World Marriage Day: It is celebrated every fourth Sunday of April to commemorate marriage. Marriage is a social union or legal contract between spouses, which establishes the rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. World Intellectual Property Day: It is celebrated every April 26th as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 2000 to raise public awareness about patents and copyrights. It is a date to celebrate the creativity and innovations that have contributed to the development of societies around the world. Day of the Morse Code: It is celebrated every April 27th to commemorate the birth of Samuel Morse (1791-1872), the inventor of the communication system that uses electrical pulses to transmit messages. World Day for Safety and Health at Work: It is celebrated every April 28th according to a proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly to promote safe, healthy and decent work. International Noise Awareness Day: It is held every year on the last Wednesday of April to raise awareness about the damage that noise can generate to both our quality of life and the environment. This date was promoted by the League for the Hard of Hearing in New York, USA, and is now celebrated in many countries to inform the world population about the importance of taking care of the sound environment. International Dance Day: It is celebrated on April 29 as established by Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1982 to draw attention to the art of dance as a means of artistic expression that transcends cultural, political and ethnic barriers. International Day of Jazz: It is celebrated on April 30 with the aim of raising public awareness of the virtues of jazz music as an educational tool and promoting peace and cooperation among peoples.