April 14^th is

Dictionary Day *

Look Up at the Sky Day

National Dolphin Day

Pan American Day *

National Pecan Day

World Marbles Day

International Moment of Laughter Day *
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MORE! Christiaan Huygens, Anne Sullivan and Tom Petty, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Christianity – Good Friday, which commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, a day of penance and fasting

Sikhism – Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan a processional singing of holy hymns

Angola – Youth Day

Cambodia – Choul Chnam Thmey
(Cambodian New Year)

Haiti and Honduras – Pan American Day *

Japan – Orange Day
(orange love token exchange day)

Laos – Pi Mai (New Year)

Thailand – Songkran Holidays
(New Years celebrations)
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On This Day in HISTORY

AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital with four Roman legions

1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty with the reigning titles Oljeitu and Chengzong

1434 – The foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral, in France, is laid

1629 – Christiaan Huygens born, Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist; first to sight rings of Saturn and its moon Titan, invented the pendulum clock

1775 – The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage is organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush, the first American abolition society

1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, leads a slave rebellion and is killed; first national hero of Barbados

1827 – Augustus Pitt-Rivers born, English archaeologist, “father of British archaeology”

1828 – Dictionary Day * – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary

1844 – Anatole France born, French poet and novelist; La Révolte des anges 

1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, and dies the next day

1866 – Anne Sullivan born, American educator, Helen Keller’s teacher

1889 – Arnold Toynbee born, English historian-author; 12 volume Study of History

1890 – Pan American Day *- The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.

1894 – The first commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films

1900 – Opening Day of the Exposition Universelle, the world’s fair in Paris, France

1909 – Massacres of 15,000 Armenians in the Armenian provinces, especially in Adana, Cilicia; some of the Young Turks were probably involved

1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40, sinks morning of April 15th

1919 – Shamshad Begum born, Indian singer, sang in a number of languages including Hindi, Tamil, and Punjabi

1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden

1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter; 7 American Music Awards, 12 Academy of Country Music awards and 4 Grammys

1939 – John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is published

1941 – German forces under General Erwin Rommel attack Tobruk in Libya

1955 – Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame” is released

1960 – The musical Bye Bye Birdie opens on Broadway

1978 – David Hare’s play Plenty premieres in London

1978 – Thousands of Georgians demonstrate in the capital Tbilisi against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language

1988 – In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan

1989 – Tom Petty releases his first solo album Full Moon Fever 

1991 – The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President after its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union

2003 – The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%

2013 – International Moment of Laughter Day * is launched by Izzy Gesell, American “Humorologist,” because laughter relieves stress and boosts optimism

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Visuals

• National Dolphin Day
• International flags
• Nantes Cathedral
• Christiaan Huygens, world quote
• Arnold Toynbee – survival quote
• 1900 Exposition Universelle poster
• John Steinbeck – Grapes of Wrath quote
• International Moment of Laughter Day – poster

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