Easter in the western Christian church can occur as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. It is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (a fixed spring date set by the church). This Christian holy day celebrates the resurrection of Christ after his Crucifixion and was probably the earliest of the church’s annual festivals. Folk customs attached to the festival date from pre-Christian times. Eggs, traditionally forbidden during Lent, symbolize new life. The Easter Bunny recalls the hare, the Egyptian symbol of fertility. Easter may have derived its name from the Saxon goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated each spring at about this time. Or it may have derived from the word oster, meaning “rising.” Learn more about Easter.
Daily Calendar for Sunday, April 9, 2023
Question of the Day
What was the first export of produce made by the first American settlers, and for whom was it made?
Merchantable timber was the first product exported by the settlers. As early as 1640 beams, masts, spars, and planks for shipbuilding, and all sizes of lumber were sawed and split in huge quantities, shipped mainly to Britain, but also to far distant ports.
Advice of the Day
Robins arrive now with this advice: “Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up.”
Home Hint of the Day
You can mix concrete by hand in a wheelbarrow, but be careful to mix it well. If you’re planning to mix more than a few wheeelbarrows of concrete, you’re better off renting a small gas-powered cement mixer from a rental company.
Word of the Day
Celestial sphere
An imaginary sphere projected into space that represents the entire sky, with an observer on Earth at its center. All celestial bodies other than Earth are imagined as being on its inside surface.
Puzzle of the Day
What happened to the dog that swallowed the firefly?
It barked with de-light!
Died
- Pope Benedict VIII –
- Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) –
- Harry Babbitt (sang with the Kay Kyser big band on such hits as The White Cliffs of Dover” and voiced the laugh of Woody Woodpecker”) –
Born
- Theobald Boehm (inventor and musician, who perfected the modern flute) –
- Eadweard Muybridge (photographer, motion picture pioneer) –
- Hugh Hefner (editor & publisher) –
- Carl Perkins (musician) –
- Dennis Quaid (actor) –
- Seve Ballesteros (golfer) –
- Cynthia Nixon (actress) –
- Keshia Knight Pulliam (actress) –
- Jesse McCartney (actor & singer) –
- Kristen Stewart (actress) –
- Elle Fanning (actress) –
Events
- Great Britain’s King Henry I was reprimanded in church for his long hair–
- Explorer La Salle claimed the Mississippi basin for France, calling it Louisiana–
- First tax-supported U.S. public library founded, Peterborough, New Hampshire–
- Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia–
- Jumbo the circus elephant arrived in the U.S.–
- Aerial Ferry Bridge opened in Duluth, Minnesota–
- The Boston Red Sox played Harvard University in the first official baseball game at Fenway Park. (The Sox won 2-0.)–
- Battle of Vimy Ridge (WWI) began in France–
- The Boston Celtics became the first NBA team to sweep an NBA championship series–
- NASA introduced first seven astronauts to press–
- Golfer Arnold Palmer won his third Masters Tournament–
- Sir Winston Churchill proclaimed an honorary U.S. citizen–
- First baseball game in indoor stadium, Houston, Texas–
- Nature magazine published the longest known scientific name, which was about 207,000 letters–
- Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles–
- Rare Bactrian camel born at Budapest Zoo.–
Weather
- Dust storm in Colorado and Wyoming–
- F5 tornado hit Glazier and Higgins, Texas, and Woodward, Oklahoma–
- Texas experienced a bad dust storm–
- Sixteen inches of snow fell in Eastport, Maine–