April
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Arab American Heritage Month
April is Autism Awareness Month
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
April is Financial Literacy Awareness Month
April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month
One Survivor Remembers: http://www.tolerance.org/kit/one-survivor-remembers
free online Oscar-winning documentary
April is Jazz Appreciation Month
Smithsonian Jazz: http://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz
from The National Museum of American History
April is Math Awareness Month
April is National Math Education Month
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: http://www.nctm.org/
April is National Autism Awareness Month
April is National Poetry Month
5 Poems To Learn for National Poetry Month: http://www.educationworld.com/5-poems-learn-national-poetry-month
National Poetry Month: https://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/poetry#poets
National Poetry Month: poets.org/national-poetry-month
Study Plans Poetry Page
April is Native Plants Month
April is Phonics Awareness Month
April is School Library Month
April is Women's History Month
Celebrating Women's History: Asian Pacific American Trailblazers: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/celebrating-womens-history-asian-pacific-american-trailblazers
Celebrating Women's History: Latina Trailblazers: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/celebrating-womens-history-latina-trailblazers
Native Women's History: Books for Kids: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/remarkable-girls-women-american-indian-heritage
The Overlooked History of Women with Learning Disabilities: ncld.org/news/the-overlooked-history-of-women-with-learning-disabilities/
Women in Science and Math: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/women-science-and-math
April is World Inventors Month
April is Zoo and Aquarium Month
Lincoln Park (Chicago, IL) Zoo: http://www.lpzoo.org/
Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens: http://www.lazoo.org/
San Diego Zoo wildlife Alliance: http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/
Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/
Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April.
Arbor Day is Coming. What do YOU know about Trees?: http://www.educationworld.com/blog/arbor-day-coming-what-do-you-know-about-trees
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
Easter Holiday Information: http://www.holidays.net/easter/index.htm
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter - storylineonline.net/books/peter-rabbit/ - read by Rose Byrne
Passover
Passover Holiday Information: http://www.holidays.net/passover/index.htm
Spring Activities and Crafts
April Showers Bring May Flowers: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/spring/april_showers.htm
Spring Crafts and Activities: www.pbs.org/parents/video/collection/spring-crafts-and-activities?video=craft-spring-y-flowers
April 1
April Fool's Day
Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale - read by Chris Pine: storylineonline.net/books/clark-the-shark/
-1950: Death of Charles R. Drew (45), surgeon and developer of the blood bank concept, after an automobile accident near Burlington, North Carolina.
April 2
International Children's Book Day
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
- 742: Charlemagne was born.
-1234: Edmund Rich becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. Raised to the Archbishopric by Pope Gregory IX, Edmund was an outspoken figure who clashed with King Henry III of England and preached for the Sixth Crusade.
-1285: Honorius IV elected pope. Honorius was old and crippled when elected but in his brief two years as pope he worked toward reuniting the Western and Eastern churches and supported the mendicant orders.
-1918: Charles White was a renowned African-American artist born in Chicago, IL He died October 3, 1979. Charles White began his professional career by painting murals for the WPA during the Depression. He was influenced by Mexican muralists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Among his most notable creations are: J'Accuse (1966), a series of charcoal drawings depicting a variety of African-Americans from all ages and walks of life; the Wanted posters (c. 1969), a series of paintings based on old runaway slave posters; and Homage to Langston Hughes (1971)
April 3
Find a Rainbow Day
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister - read by Ernest Borgnine: storylineonline.net/books/the-rainbow-fish/
-1823: American politician Boss Tweed was born.
-1922: Actress Doris Day was born.
-1973: The first mobile phone call was made.
-2010: Apple released the first iPad.
April 4
International Carrot Day
The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake by Robin Newman - read by Wanda Sykes: storylineonline.net/books/missing-carrot-cake/
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter - read by Rose Byrne: storylineonline.net/books/peter-rabbit/
-1841: The ninth United States President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia, the shortest presidency ever at just 31 days.
- 1928P American poet and activist May Angelou was born.
-1949: NATO was created
-1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by white sniper in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 5
-1614: John Rolfe and Pocahontas married in Jamestown. He introduced tobacco crops to Virginia, and she was the daughter of a chief, captured by colonists and converted to Christianity
-1856: Booker T. Washington was born.
-1908: Actress Bette Davis was born.
-1916: Actor Gregory Peck was born.
-1937: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was born.
April 6
Assistive Technology Awareness Day
-1483: Italian Renaissance painter Raphael was born.
-1823: Newspaper editor Joseph Medill was born.
-1830: The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints was founded in a log cabin in Fayette, N.Y.
-1846: Dred Scott and his wife Harriet filed suit against Irene Emerson for their freedom. The Dred Scott case was first brought to trial in 1847 in the first floor, west wing courtroom of St. Louis' Courthouse. He was a black slave from Missouri who claimed his freedom on the basis of seven years of residence in a free state and a free territory.
-1851: Portland, Ore., was founded.
-1866: Journalist Lincoln Steffens
-1884: Actor Walter Huston was born.
-1892: Radio commentator Lowell Thomas was born.
-1896: The first modern Olympics formally opened at Athens, Greece, after a 1,500-year hiatus.
-1903: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Gordon "Mickey" Cochrane was born.
-1909: Robert E. Peary and co-explorer Matthew Henson reached the North Pole.
-1917: The United States declared war on Germany, propelling the United States into World War I.
-1928: Geneticist James Watson was born.
-1929: Musician Andre Previn was born.
-1937: Country singer Merle Haggard and actor Billy Dee Williams were born.
-1942: Producer/director Barry Levinson was born.
-1944: Singer/actress Michelle Phillips was born.
-1947: The first Tony Awards, honoring distinguished work in the theater, were presented in New York City. Actor John Ratzenberger ("Cheers") was born.
-1952: Actress Marilu Henner ("Taxi") was born.
-1968: Federal troops and National Guardsmen were ordered out in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, as rioting continued over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
-1969: Actor Paul Rudd was born.
-1976: Actress Candace Cameron ("Full House") was born.
-1991: Iraq's parliament accepted a permanent cease-fire in the Gulf War.
-1992: Science fiction patriarch Isaac Asimov died after lengthy illness. He was 72.
-1993: Testimony concluded in the federal trial of four Los Angeles police officers charged with violating Rodney King's civil rights during his 1991 arrest. (Two of the officers would eventually be convicted.)
-1994: The presidents of the African nations of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a plane crash in the capital city of Rwanda. The incident triggered bloody fighting between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that ultimately left hundreds of thousands of people dead.
-1994: Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who had served on the U.S. Supreme Court since being chosen by President Nixon in 1970, announced his retirement.
-1996: Rioting broke out in Liberia following the arrest of factional leader Roosevelt Johnson on murder charges.
-1999: In the first state referendum of its kind, voters in Missouri voted 52 to 48 percent against a proposal to allow the carrying of concealed weapons.
-2000: The father of Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez arrived in the United States to take custody of his six-year-old son.
April 7
World Health Day
The Tooth by Avi Slodovnick - storylineonline.net/books/the-tooth/ - read by Annette Bening
April 8:
National Zoo Lovers Day
Play Music Right Next to the Zoo by John Lithgow - storylineonline.net/books/never-play-music-right-next-to-the-zoo/ - read by John Lithgow
Ponce de Leon Day
-1966: Actress Robin Wright was born.
-1974: Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's home run record.
-1975: Frank Robinson became the first Black manager of a major league baseball team.
April 10.
Encourage a Young Writer Day
National Siblings Day
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco - read by Melissa Gilbert: storylineonline.net/books/my-rotten-redheaded-older-brother/
-1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded. It was patterned after a similar -- and similarly named -- organization in Britain.
-1938: Nana Annor Adjaye, Pan-Africanist, dies in W. Nzima, Ghana
April 11
National Pet Day
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion - read by Betty White: storylineonline.net/books/harry-the-dirty-dog/
-1928: Ethel Kennedy, philanthropist and widow of Bobby Kennedy, was born.
-1968: The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed.
-1970: Apollo 13 launched.
April 12:
National D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day
-1861: United States Civil War began
April 13
-1699: The Sikh religion was formalized.
-1742: Handel's "Messiah" made its world premiere in Dublin.
-1743: Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was born.
-1853: Frank Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime stores, was born.
-1870: The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded.
-1899: Alfred Butts, inventor of the game "Scrabble," was born.
-1906: Irish playwright Samuel Beckett was born.
-1907: Harold Stassen, former Minnesota governor who sought the Republican presidential nomination seven times, was born.
-1909: American Author Eudora Welty was born.
-1917: Actor/singer Howard Keel was born.
-1935: Actors Lyle Waggoner was born.
-1939: Paul Sorvino was born.
-1945: Tony Dow (Wally on "Leave It To Beaver") was born.
-1946: Singers Al Green in 1946 was born.
-1951: Peabo Bryson was born. "Late Night with David Letterman" bandleader Max Weinberg was born.
-1950: Actor Ron Perlman ("Beauty and the Beast") was born.
-1963: Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was born.
-1964: Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win an Oscar for best actor. He was so honored for his work in "Lilies of the Field."
-1965: Lawrence Bradford Jr., a 16-year-old from New York City, started work as the first black page ever to serve in either chamber of Congress.
-1966: Andrew F. Brimmer, economist and former Professor of Economics at University of Pennsylvania, is nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System. This appointment represented the first black person to serve in this capacity.
-1970: Rick Schroeder ("NYPD Blue") was born.
-1972: The first major league baseball strike ended, eight days after it began.
-1984: Christopher Wilder, the FBI's "most wanted man," accidentally killed himself as police moved in to arrest him in New Hampshire. Wilder was a suspect in the deaths, rapes and disappearances of 11 young women in eight states.
-1987: The Population Reference Bureau reported that the world's population had exceeded 5 billion.
-1990: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave Lithuania a two-day ultimatum, threatening to cut off some supplies to the Baltic republic if it does not rescind laws passed since a March 11 declaration of independence.
-1991: An advance team of U.N. observers arrived in Kuwait City to set up a peacekeeping force along the Kuwait-Iraqi border.
-1992: Construction workers breeched a retaining wall in the Chicago River, sending water flooding through a tunnel system connecting buildings in the downtown area.
-1992: Princess Anne, daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, began divorce proceedings after a two-year separation from Capt. Mark Phillips.
-1994: Five Israelis were killed and another 30 wounded in a suicide bombing in a bus station in Hadera.
-1995: Rep. Robert Dornan, R-Calif., announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.
-1997: Tiger Woods, 21, won the Masters Tournament. He was the youngest Masters champion and the first African-American to win any of the four major professional golf tournaments for men.
-1997: Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda resigned.
April 14
Leaders for Literacy Day
-1865: President Lincoln was shot and critically wounded at Ford's Theater in Washington.
April 15
World Art Day
When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden - read by Eric Close: storylineonline.net/books/when-pigasso-met-mootisse/
-1959: African Freedom Day is declared at the All-African People's Conference in Accra, Ghana.
April 16
National Librarian Day
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen - read by Mindy Sterling-1790: Benjamin Franklin died
-1889: Actor Charlie Chaplin was born.
-1912: Hariet Quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
-1947: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born.
-1971: Singer-wongwritier Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born.
-2007: Virginia Tech mass shooting in which 32 people died and 17 were injured..
April 17
Follow Directions Day
National Bat Appreciation Day
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon - read by Pamela Reed: storylineonline.net/books/stellaluna/
-1521: German religious reformer Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. The Church's action was based on Luther's attacks against the papacy and the sale of indulgences. (A practice common at the time, a person's sins were pardoned through the purchase of an indulgence letter.)
-1790: Benjamin Franklin died.
-1872: William Monroe Trotter, crusader for full equality, publisher of "The Boston Guardian," co-founder of the Niagara Movement and close friend of W.E.B. Dubois, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
-1961: Bay of Pigs invasion began in Cuba.
-1967: Spacecraft Surveyor 3 was successfully launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. The second U.S. spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, it studied the lunar surface and sent more than 6,300 pictures back to Earth. A total of seven Surveyors were sent to the moon.
1970: Apollo 13 returned safely to Earth.
-1974: Victoria Beckham was born.
-1982: Canada Received Its Own Constitution.
-1986: Peace Treaty Signed Between Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands.
-1989: Solidarinosc Granted Legal Status. After almost a decade of struggle and suppression, the Polish labor union Solidarinosc (Solidarity) was granted legal status, clearing the path for the downfall of the Polish Communist Party.
April 18
Pet Owner's Day
-1480: Italian duchess Lucrezia Borgia was born
-1775: American patriot Paul Revere began his famed ride through the Massachusetts countryside, crying out "The British are coming!" to rally the Minutemen.
-1857: Lawyer Clarence Darrow was born.
-1882: Symphony conductor Leopold Stokowski was born.
-1922: Actress Barbara Hale was born.
-1923: Yankees Stadium opened in New York.
-1942: U.S. planes bombed the Japanese mainland for the first time during World War II.
-1946: Actress Hayley Mills was born.
-1947: Actor James Woods was born.
-1949: the Republic of Ireland formally declared itself independent from Britain.
-1954: Actor Rick Moranis was born.
-1956: Actor Eric Roberts was born.
-1961: Actress Jane Leeves ("Frasier") was born.
-1963: Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien and actor Eric McCormack were born.
-1976: Actress Melissa Joan Hart was born.
-1977: Alex Haley, author of "Roots" was awarded Pultizer Prize.
-1980: Rhodesia became the independent African nation of Zimbabwe.
-1987: Democrat Annette Strauss was elected the first woman mayor of Dallas.
-1992: An 11-year-old Florida boy sued to "divorce" his natural parents and remain with his foster parents. The boy eventually won his suit.
-1993: The U.N. Security Council voted to toughen sanctions against Serbia because of its support for Bosnian Serbs trying to carve an ethnically pure state out of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
-1996: Gunmen killed 18 people and wounded 15 more in an attack on tourists at the Egyptian pyramids.
-2000: The U.N. Commission on Human Rights embarrassed the Clinton administration by refusing to criticize China's record on human rights.
April 19
-1775: The battles of Lexington and Concord began the American revolutionary War.
-1897: The first running of the Boston Marathon, a familiar and popular annual event ever since that date. It was called the American Marathon.
-1957: Indian business mogul and billionaire Mukesh Ambani was born.
-1968: Actress Ashley Judd was born.
-1995: The Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people.
April 20
-1990: Oakland, California hosted the first Bay Area "Black Filmworks Festival." Sponsored by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the three-day event featured 25 films including a documentary entitled, "Making 'Do the Right Thing."
April 20
National Lima Bean Respect Day
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon - read by Sean Astin: storylineonline.net/books/a-bad-case-of-stripes/
-2006: According to Guinness World Records, Joe Carlucci set the record for highest pizza dough toss at the Mall of Americas in Minneapolis, Minnesota by tossing 20-ounce pizza dough 21 feet and 5 inches into the air.
April 21
Kindergarten Day
-1856: The first train crossed the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River.
-1997: Kenya's Lamuck Aguta wins the 101st Boston Marathon.
-1917: Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the revolution that removed Czar Nicholas II from power, was born.
-1917: Vladimir Ilyitch Ulyanov, who is better known as Nikolai Lenin, was born.
-1904: J. Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City. He was credited with inventing and testing the world's first Atom Bomb.
April 22:
Earth Day
Activities to Celebrate Earth Day: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson174.shtml
Best Free Earth Day Lessons & Activities: www.techlearning.com/news/best-free-earth-day-lessons-and-activities
Buster The Cloud: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/earth/mcloud.html
Discuss what makes a cloud, how the water cycle works--or for an Earth Day activity, how pollution affects the planet--all while creating this art activity cloud.
Climate Change Resources for Students and Teachers: www.commonsense.org/education/lists/climate-change-resources-for-students-and-teachers
Earth Day Groceries Project: http://www.earthdaybags.org/
Earth Day Network: http://www.earthday.org/
Earth Day Theme Ideas: http://themes.atozteacherstuff.com/781/earth-day-activities-lesson-plans-printables-teaching-ideas/
Earth Watch Institute: http://earthwatch.org/
Engaging Activities to Prep for Earth Day: http://www.educationworld.com/a_news/engaging-activities-prep-earth-day-35259681
Environmental Books for Kids: www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/environmental-books-for-kids
Excellent Ecology and Environmental Science Apps, Games, and Websites: www.commonsense.org/education/lists/excellent-ecology-and-environmental-science-apps-games-and-websites
Five Literacy-Based Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with Your Child: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/five-literacy-based-ways-celebrate-earth-day-your-child
The Great Backyard Bird Count: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/
Grist: http://grist.org/
Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter - read by Justin Theroux: storylineonline.net/books/garbage-barge/
Illinois Natural History Survey - Prairie research Institute: http://wwx.inhs.illinois.edu/
The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord - Read by Kathryn Hahn: storylineonline.net/books/the-mess-that-we-made/
Recycle City: http://www3.epa.gov/recyclecity/
Videos and Activities for Celebrating Earth Day: www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/videos-and-activities-for-celebrating-earth-day
The Water Cycle: http://www.kidzone.ws/water/index.html
-1873: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Ellen Glasgow was born.
-1909: Rita Levi-Montalcini was born. She was awarded the Nobel Prize I Physiology and Medicine in 1986 for her work on nerve growth factor.
-1914: Babe Ruth made his professional pitching debut for the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles.
April 23:
World Book Day
William Shakespeare was born.
Romeow & Drooliet by Nina Laden - read by Haylie Duff: storylineonline.net/books/romeow-drooliet/
April 24:
Arbor Day
-1800: The United States Library of Congress was founded.
-1942: Barbra Streisand was born.
-1990: The Hubble Space Telescope was launched.
April 25
-1859: Workers broke ground on the Suez Canal.
-1898: The United States declared war on Spain to begin the Spanish-American War.
-1917: Ella Fitzgerald, "First Lady of Song," was born.
-1940: Al Pacino was born.
April 26
National Pretzel Day
-1785: Wildlife artist John James Audubon was born in Haiti.
-1865: John Wilkes booth was killed 12 days after assassinating President Lincoln.
-1970: First lady Melania Trump was born.
1986: The worst nuclear disaster in history occurred in Chernobyl.
-1989: The deadliest tornado in history killed 1,300 in Bangladesh.
April 28
-1926: "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee was born.
-1947: A six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl left South America on a balsa raft called the Kon-Tiki for a journey across the Pacific Ocean ending in Polynesia 101 days later. The Norwegian ethnologist wanted to prove that the South Sea islands may have been inhabited by South Americans.
-1960: Unites States Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was born.
-1967: Mrs. Robert W. Claytor elected president of the YWCA, the first Black president of the organization.
April 29
International Dance Day
The Hula-Hoopin' Queen by Thelma Godin - read by Oprah Winfrey: storylineonline.net/books/hula-hoopin-queen/
-1913: The anniversary of a revolutionary fashion patent given to Gideon Sundback from Hoboken, New Jersey. He invented a wonderful new fastener intended to "replace" the button which came to be known as the zipper. Unlike many other inventions, the zipper was aptly named for the sound that it made when opening and closing instead of being named after its inventor.
April 30
Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros (Day of the Children)
International Jazz Day
Rent Party Jazz by William Miller - read by Viola Davis: storylineonline.net/books/rent-party-jazz/
Trombone Shorty by Troy Andres - read by Angela Bassett: storylineonline.net/books/trombone-shorty/
National Honesty Day
The Empty Pot by Demi - read by Rami Malek: storylineonline.net/books/the-empty-pot/
-1863: Sarah Thompson became the first African American woman to become a principal in the New York Public School System.
April is Arab American Heritage Month
April is Autism Awareness Month
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
April is Financial Literacy Awareness Month
April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month
One Survivor Remembers: http://www.tolerance.org/kit/one-survivor-remembers
free online Oscar-winning documentary
April is Jazz Appreciation Month
Smithsonian Jazz: http://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz
from The National Museum of American History
April is Math Awareness Month
April is National Math Education Month
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: http://www.nctm.org/
April is National Autism Awareness Month
April is National Poetry Month
5 Poems To Learn for National Poetry Month: http://www.educationworld.com/5-poems-learn-national-poetry-month
National Poetry Month: https://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/poetry#poets
National Poetry Month: poets.org/national-poetry-month
Study Plans Poetry Page
April is Native Plants Month
April is Phonics Awareness Month
April is School Library Month
April is Women's History Month
Celebrating Women's History: Asian Pacific American Trailblazers: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/celebrating-womens-history-asian-pacific-american-trailblazers
Celebrating Women's History: Latina Trailblazers: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/celebrating-womens-history-latina-trailblazers
Native Women's History: Books for Kids: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/remarkable-girls-women-american-indian-heritage
The Overlooked History of Women with Learning Disabilities: ncld.org/news/the-overlooked-history-of-women-with-learning-disabilities/
Women in Science and Math: www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/women-science-and-math
April is World Inventors Month
April is Zoo and Aquarium Month
Lincoln Park (Chicago, IL) Zoo: http://www.lpzoo.org/
Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens: http://www.lazoo.org/
San Diego Zoo wildlife Alliance: http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/
Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/
Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April.
Arbor Day is Coming. What do YOU know about Trees?: http://www.educationworld.com/blog/arbor-day-coming-what-do-you-know-about-trees
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
Easter Holiday Information: http://www.holidays.net/easter/index.htm
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter - storylineonline.net/books/peter-rabbit/ - read by Rose Byrne
Passover
Passover Holiday Information: http://www.holidays.net/passover/index.htm
Spring Activities and Crafts
April Showers Bring May Flowers: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/spring/april_showers.htm
Spring Crafts and Activities: www.pbs.org/parents/video/collection/spring-crafts-and-activities?video=craft-spring-y-flowers
April 1
April Fool's Day
Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale - read by Chris Pine: storylineonline.net/books/clark-the-shark/
-1950: Death of Charles R. Drew (45), surgeon and developer of the blood bank concept, after an automobile accident near Burlington, North Carolina.
April 2
International Children's Book Day
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
- 742: Charlemagne was born.
-1234: Edmund Rich becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. Raised to the Archbishopric by Pope Gregory IX, Edmund was an outspoken figure who clashed with King Henry III of England and preached for the Sixth Crusade.
-1285: Honorius IV elected pope. Honorius was old and crippled when elected but in his brief two years as pope he worked toward reuniting the Western and Eastern churches and supported the mendicant orders.
-1918: Charles White was a renowned African-American artist born in Chicago, IL He died October 3, 1979. Charles White began his professional career by painting murals for the WPA during the Depression. He was influenced by Mexican muralists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Among his most notable creations are: J'Accuse (1966), a series of charcoal drawings depicting a variety of African-Americans from all ages and walks of life; the Wanted posters (c. 1969), a series of paintings based on old runaway slave posters; and Homage to Langston Hughes (1971)
April 3
Find a Rainbow Day
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister - read by Ernest Borgnine: storylineonline.net/books/the-rainbow-fish/
-1823: American politician Boss Tweed was born.
-1922: Actress Doris Day was born.
-1973: The first mobile phone call was made.
-2010: Apple released the first iPad.
April 4
International Carrot Day
The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake by Robin Newman - read by Wanda Sykes: storylineonline.net/books/missing-carrot-cake/
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter - read by Rose Byrne: storylineonline.net/books/peter-rabbit/
-1841: The ninth United States President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia, the shortest presidency ever at just 31 days.
- 1928P American poet and activist May Angelou was born.
-1949: NATO was created
-1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by white sniper in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 5
-1614: John Rolfe and Pocahontas married in Jamestown. He introduced tobacco crops to Virginia, and she was the daughter of a chief, captured by colonists and converted to Christianity
-1856: Booker T. Washington was born.
-1908: Actress Bette Davis was born.
-1916: Actor Gregory Peck was born.
-1937: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was born.
April 6
Assistive Technology Awareness Day
-1483: Italian Renaissance painter Raphael was born.
-1823: Newspaper editor Joseph Medill was born.
-1830: The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints was founded in a log cabin in Fayette, N.Y.
-1846: Dred Scott and his wife Harriet filed suit against Irene Emerson for their freedom. The Dred Scott case was first brought to trial in 1847 in the first floor, west wing courtroom of St. Louis' Courthouse. He was a black slave from Missouri who claimed his freedom on the basis of seven years of residence in a free state and a free territory.
-1851: Portland, Ore., was founded.
-1866: Journalist Lincoln Steffens
-1884: Actor Walter Huston was born.
-1892: Radio commentator Lowell Thomas was born.
-1896: The first modern Olympics formally opened at Athens, Greece, after a 1,500-year hiatus.
-1903: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Gordon "Mickey" Cochrane was born.
-1909: Robert E. Peary and co-explorer Matthew Henson reached the North Pole.
-1917: The United States declared war on Germany, propelling the United States into World War I.
-1928: Geneticist James Watson was born.
-1929: Musician Andre Previn was born.
-1937: Country singer Merle Haggard and actor Billy Dee Williams were born.
-1942: Producer/director Barry Levinson was born.
-1944: Singer/actress Michelle Phillips was born.
-1947: The first Tony Awards, honoring distinguished work in the theater, were presented in New York City. Actor John Ratzenberger ("Cheers") was born.
-1952: Actress Marilu Henner ("Taxi") was born.
-1968: Federal troops and National Guardsmen were ordered out in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, as rioting continued over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
-1969: Actor Paul Rudd was born.
-1976: Actress Candace Cameron ("Full House") was born.
-1991: Iraq's parliament accepted a permanent cease-fire in the Gulf War.
-1992: Science fiction patriarch Isaac Asimov died after lengthy illness. He was 72.
-1993: Testimony concluded in the federal trial of four Los Angeles police officers charged with violating Rodney King's civil rights during his 1991 arrest. (Two of the officers would eventually be convicted.)
-1994: The presidents of the African nations of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a plane crash in the capital city of Rwanda. The incident triggered bloody fighting between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that ultimately left hundreds of thousands of people dead.
-1994: Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who had served on the U.S. Supreme Court since being chosen by President Nixon in 1970, announced his retirement.
-1996: Rioting broke out in Liberia following the arrest of factional leader Roosevelt Johnson on murder charges.
-1999: In the first state referendum of its kind, voters in Missouri voted 52 to 48 percent against a proposal to allow the carrying of concealed weapons.
-2000: The father of Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez arrived in the United States to take custody of his six-year-old son.
April 7
World Health Day
The Tooth by Avi Slodovnick - storylineonline.net/books/the-tooth/ - read by Annette Bening
April 8:
National Zoo Lovers Day
Play Music Right Next to the Zoo by John Lithgow - storylineonline.net/books/never-play-music-right-next-to-the-zoo/ - read by John Lithgow
Ponce de Leon Day
-1966: Actress Robin Wright was born.
-1974: Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's home run record.
-1975: Frank Robinson became the first Black manager of a major league baseball team.
April 10.
Encourage a Young Writer Day
National Siblings Day
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco - read by Melissa Gilbert: storylineonline.net/books/my-rotten-redheaded-older-brother/
-1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded. It was patterned after a similar -- and similarly named -- organization in Britain.
-1938: Nana Annor Adjaye, Pan-Africanist, dies in W. Nzima, Ghana
April 11
National Pet Day
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion - read by Betty White: storylineonline.net/books/harry-the-dirty-dog/
-1928: Ethel Kennedy, philanthropist and widow of Bobby Kennedy, was born.
-1968: The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed.
-1970: Apollo 13 launched.
April 12:
National D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day
-1861: United States Civil War began
April 13
-1699: The Sikh religion was formalized.
-1742: Handel's "Messiah" made its world premiere in Dublin.
-1743: Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was born.
-1853: Frank Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime stores, was born.
-1870: The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded.
-1899: Alfred Butts, inventor of the game "Scrabble," was born.
-1906: Irish playwright Samuel Beckett was born.
-1907: Harold Stassen, former Minnesota governor who sought the Republican presidential nomination seven times, was born.
-1909: American Author Eudora Welty was born.
-1917: Actor/singer Howard Keel was born.
-1935: Actors Lyle Waggoner was born.
-1939: Paul Sorvino was born.
-1945: Tony Dow (Wally on "Leave It To Beaver") was born.
-1946: Singers Al Green in 1946 was born.
-1951: Peabo Bryson was born. "Late Night with David Letterman" bandleader Max Weinberg was born.
-1950: Actor Ron Perlman ("Beauty and the Beast") was born.
-1963: Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was born.
-1964: Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win an Oscar for best actor. He was so honored for his work in "Lilies of the Field."
-1965: Lawrence Bradford Jr., a 16-year-old from New York City, started work as the first black page ever to serve in either chamber of Congress.
-1966: Andrew F. Brimmer, economist and former Professor of Economics at University of Pennsylvania, is nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System. This appointment represented the first black person to serve in this capacity.
-1970: Rick Schroeder ("NYPD Blue") was born.
-1972: The first major league baseball strike ended, eight days after it began.
-1984: Christopher Wilder, the FBI's "most wanted man," accidentally killed himself as police moved in to arrest him in New Hampshire. Wilder was a suspect in the deaths, rapes and disappearances of 11 young women in eight states.
-1987: The Population Reference Bureau reported that the world's population had exceeded 5 billion.
-1990: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave Lithuania a two-day ultimatum, threatening to cut off some supplies to the Baltic republic if it does not rescind laws passed since a March 11 declaration of independence.
-1991: An advance team of U.N. observers arrived in Kuwait City to set up a peacekeeping force along the Kuwait-Iraqi border.
-1992: Construction workers breeched a retaining wall in the Chicago River, sending water flooding through a tunnel system connecting buildings in the downtown area.
-1992: Princess Anne, daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, began divorce proceedings after a two-year separation from Capt. Mark Phillips.
-1994: Five Israelis were killed and another 30 wounded in a suicide bombing in a bus station in Hadera.
-1995: Rep. Robert Dornan, R-Calif., announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.
-1997: Tiger Woods, 21, won the Masters Tournament. He was the youngest Masters champion and the first African-American to win any of the four major professional golf tournaments for men.
-1997: Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda resigned.
April 14
Leaders for Literacy Day
-1865: President Lincoln was shot and critically wounded at Ford's Theater in Washington.
April 15
World Art Day
When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden - read by Eric Close: storylineonline.net/books/when-pigasso-met-mootisse/
-1959: African Freedom Day is declared at the All-African People's Conference in Accra, Ghana.
April 16
National Librarian Day
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen - read by Mindy Sterling-1790: Benjamin Franklin died
-1889: Actor Charlie Chaplin was born.
-1912: Hariet Quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
-1947: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born.
-1971: Singer-wongwritier Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born.
-2007: Virginia Tech mass shooting in which 32 people died and 17 were injured..
April 17
Follow Directions Day
National Bat Appreciation Day
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon - read by Pamela Reed: storylineonline.net/books/stellaluna/
-1521: German religious reformer Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. The Church's action was based on Luther's attacks against the papacy and the sale of indulgences. (A practice common at the time, a person's sins were pardoned through the purchase of an indulgence letter.)
-1790: Benjamin Franklin died.
-1872: William Monroe Trotter, crusader for full equality, publisher of "The Boston Guardian," co-founder of the Niagara Movement and close friend of W.E.B. Dubois, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
-1961: Bay of Pigs invasion began in Cuba.
-1967: Spacecraft Surveyor 3 was successfully launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. The second U.S. spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon, it studied the lunar surface and sent more than 6,300 pictures back to Earth. A total of seven Surveyors were sent to the moon.
1970: Apollo 13 returned safely to Earth.
-1974: Victoria Beckham was born.
-1982: Canada Received Its Own Constitution.
-1986: Peace Treaty Signed Between Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands.
-1989: Solidarinosc Granted Legal Status. After almost a decade of struggle and suppression, the Polish labor union Solidarinosc (Solidarity) was granted legal status, clearing the path for the downfall of the Polish Communist Party.
April 18
Pet Owner's Day
-1480: Italian duchess Lucrezia Borgia was born
-1775: American patriot Paul Revere began his famed ride through the Massachusetts countryside, crying out "The British are coming!" to rally the Minutemen.
-1857: Lawyer Clarence Darrow was born.
-1882: Symphony conductor Leopold Stokowski was born.
-1922: Actress Barbara Hale was born.
-1923: Yankees Stadium opened in New York.
-1942: U.S. planes bombed the Japanese mainland for the first time during World War II.
-1946: Actress Hayley Mills was born.
-1947: Actor James Woods was born.
-1949: the Republic of Ireland formally declared itself independent from Britain.
-1954: Actor Rick Moranis was born.
-1956: Actor Eric Roberts was born.
-1961: Actress Jane Leeves ("Frasier") was born.
-1963: Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien and actor Eric McCormack were born.
-1976: Actress Melissa Joan Hart was born.
-1977: Alex Haley, author of "Roots" was awarded Pultizer Prize.
-1980: Rhodesia became the independent African nation of Zimbabwe.
-1987: Democrat Annette Strauss was elected the first woman mayor of Dallas.
-1992: An 11-year-old Florida boy sued to "divorce" his natural parents and remain with his foster parents. The boy eventually won his suit.
-1993: The U.N. Security Council voted to toughen sanctions against Serbia because of its support for Bosnian Serbs trying to carve an ethnically pure state out of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
-1996: Gunmen killed 18 people and wounded 15 more in an attack on tourists at the Egyptian pyramids.
-2000: The U.N. Commission on Human Rights embarrassed the Clinton administration by refusing to criticize China's record on human rights.
April 19
-1775: The battles of Lexington and Concord began the American revolutionary War.
-1897: The first running of the Boston Marathon, a familiar and popular annual event ever since that date. It was called the American Marathon.
-1957: Indian business mogul and billionaire Mukesh Ambani was born.
-1968: Actress Ashley Judd was born.
-1995: The Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people.
April 20
-1990: Oakland, California hosted the first Bay Area "Black Filmworks Festival." Sponsored by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the three-day event featured 25 films including a documentary entitled, "Making 'Do the Right Thing."
April 20
National Lima Bean Respect Day
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon - read by Sean Astin: storylineonline.net/books/a-bad-case-of-stripes/
-2006: According to Guinness World Records, Joe Carlucci set the record for highest pizza dough toss at the Mall of Americas in Minneapolis, Minnesota by tossing 20-ounce pizza dough 21 feet and 5 inches into the air.
April 21
Kindergarten Day
-1856: The first train crossed the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River.
-1997: Kenya's Lamuck Aguta wins the 101st Boston Marathon.
-1917: Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the revolution that removed Czar Nicholas II from power, was born.
-1917: Vladimir Ilyitch Ulyanov, who is better known as Nikolai Lenin, was born.
-1904: J. Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City. He was credited with inventing and testing the world's first Atom Bomb.
April 22:
Earth Day
Activities to Celebrate Earth Day: www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson174.shtml
Best Free Earth Day Lessons & Activities: www.techlearning.com/news/best-free-earth-day-lessons-and-activities
Buster The Cloud: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/earth/mcloud.html
Discuss what makes a cloud, how the water cycle works--or for an Earth Day activity, how pollution affects the planet--all while creating this art activity cloud.
Climate Change Resources for Students and Teachers: www.commonsense.org/education/lists/climate-change-resources-for-students-and-teachers
Earth Day Groceries Project: http://www.earthdaybags.org/
Earth Day Network: http://www.earthday.org/
Earth Day Theme Ideas: http://themes.atozteacherstuff.com/781/earth-day-activities-lesson-plans-printables-teaching-ideas/
Earth Watch Institute: http://earthwatch.org/
Engaging Activities to Prep for Earth Day: http://www.educationworld.com/a_news/engaging-activities-prep-earth-day-35259681
Environmental Books for Kids: www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/environmental-books-for-kids
Excellent Ecology and Environmental Science Apps, Games, and Websites: www.commonsense.org/education/lists/excellent-ecology-and-environmental-science-apps-games-and-websites
Five Literacy-Based Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with Your Child: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/five-literacy-based-ways-celebrate-earth-day-your-child
The Great Backyard Bird Count: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/
Grist: http://grist.org/
Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter - read by Justin Theroux: storylineonline.net/books/garbage-barge/
Illinois Natural History Survey - Prairie research Institute: http://wwx.inhs.illinois.edu/
The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord - Read by Kathryn Hahn: storylineonline.net/books/the-mess-that-we-made/
Recycle City: http://www3.epa.gov/recyclecity/
Videos and Activities for Celebrating Earth Day: www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/videos-and-activities-for-celebrating-earth-day
The Water Cycle: http://www.kidzone.ws/water/index.html
-1873: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Ellen Glasgow was born.
-1909: Rita Levi-Montalcini was born. She was awarded the Nobel Prize I Physiology and Medicine in 1986 for her work on nerve growth factor.
-1914: Babe Ruth made his professional pitching debut for the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles.
April 23:
World Book Day
William Shakespeare was born.
Romeow & Drooliet by Nina Laden - read by Haylie Duff: storylineonline.net/books/romeow-drooliet/
April 24:
Arbor Day
-1800: The United States Library of Congress was founded.
-1942: Barbra Streisand was born.
-1990: The Hubble Space Telescope was launched.
April 25
-1859: Workers broke ground on the Suez Canal.
-1898: The United States declared war on Spain to begin the Spanish-American War.
-1917: Ella Fitzgerald, "First Lady of Song," was born.
-1940: Al Pacino was born.
April 26
National Pretzel Day
-1785: Wildlife artist John James Audubon was born in Haiti.
-1865: John Wilkes booth was killed 12 days after assassinating President Lincoln.
-1970: First lady Melania Trump was born.
1986: The worst nuclear disaster in history occurred in Chernobyl.
-1989: The deadliest tornado in history killed 1,300 in Bangladesh.
April 28
-1926: "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee was born.
-1947: A six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl left South America on a balsa raft called the Kon-Tiki for a journey across the Pacific Ocean ending in Polynesia 101 days later. The Norwegian ethnologist wanted to prove that the South Sea islands may have been inhabited by South Americans.
-1960: Unites States Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was born.
-1967: Mrs. Robert W. Claytor elected president of the YWCA, the first Black president of the organization.
April 29
International Dance Day
The Hula-Hoopin' Queen by Thelma Godin - read by Oprah Winfrey: storylineonline.net/books/hula-hoopin-queen/
-1913: The anniversary of a revolutionary fashion patent given to Gideon Sundback from Hoboken, New Jersey. He invented a wonderful new fastener intended to "replace" the button which came to be known as the zipper. Unlike many other inventions, the zipper was aptly named for the sound that it made when opening and closing instead of being named after its inventor.
April 30
Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros (Day of the Children)
International Jazz Day
Rent Party Jazz by William Miller - read by Viola Davis: storylineonline.net/books/rent-party-jazz/
Trombone Shorty by Troy Andres - read by Angela Bassett: storylineonline.net/books/trombone-shorty/
National Honesty Day
The Empty Pot by Demi - read by Rami Malek: storylineonline.net/books/the-empty-pot/
-1863: Sarah Thompson became the first African American woman to become a principal in the New York Public School System.