National Garden Month, celebrated in April, honors the joys and benefits of gardening. As spring blooms, it’s the perfect time to dig into the soil, plant flowers, vegetables, or herbs, and connect with nature. Gardening promotes health, reduces stress, and brings communities together. Whether you have a backyard plot or a windowsill container, this month encourages everyone to grow something green. Celebrate by starting a garden, visiting one, or sharing your love of plants with others!
Daily Calendar for Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Daily Calendar
View daily calendar information including holidays, advice, and daily features.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Passover begins at sundown on this day. Passover, or Pesach, is an annual weeklong festival commemorating the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and slavery. The holiday, which begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, derives its name from the passing over of the homes of the Israelite slaves during the tenth plague. Family and friends gather together on the first and second nights of the holiday for the high point of the festival observance, the Seder. During the Seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, the experience of the Exodus is told in story, song, prayer, and the tasting of symbolic foods. Perhaps the most well-known of these foods is the matzoh (flat, crackerlike unleavened bread), which is a reminder of the haste with which the slaves—who had no time to wait for the bread to rise—left Egypt. Read more about Passover here.
This full Moon heralded the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox (one of the first spring flowers). It is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon. Historically, Native Americans living in what is now the northern and eastern United States kept track of the seasons by giving a distinctive name to each full Moon. This name was used to refer to the entire month in which the Moon occurred. With some variations, the same Moon names were used throughout the Algonquian tribes from New England to Lake Superior. Learn more about the Full Moon for April.
April comes from the Latin word aperio, meaning “to open or bud,” because plants begin to grow this month. Enjoy the Almanac’s article all about April!
The term “All Fools,” was probably meant as a deliberate stab at All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2) Day.
Although the origin of playing practical jokes and pranks on this day is hazy, many folklorists believe it may go back to 16th-century France. At that time, New Year’s Day was March 25, with a full week of partying and exchanging gifts until April 1. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar moved New Year’s Day to January 1. Those who forgot or refused to honor the new calendar were teasingly called, “April Fool!”
Weather folklore states, “If it thunders on All Fools Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay.”
See our full article on the humor and history of April Fools’ Day!
Born
- Edwin Austin Abbey (illustrator) –
- Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russian composer ) –
- Debbie Reynolds (actress) –
- Gordon Jump (actor) –
- Randy Orton (professional wrestler) –
- Courtney McCool (gymnast) –
Died
- Scott Joplin (ragtime musician & composer) –
- Marvin Gaye (singer) –
- Martha Graham (dancer & choreographer) –
- John Forsythe (actor) –
- Misao Okawa (Japanese woman who was recognized as the world’s oldest person at the time. She was born on March 5, 1898, and died at age 117.) –
- Dan Robbins (artist who created paint-by-numbers pictures) –
- Val Kilmer (actor) –
Events
- In Ohio, the Cincinnati Fire Department became the first full-time, salaried fire department in the U.S. –
- The U.S. invasion of Okinawa began (WW II) –
- The United States Air Force Academy is established –
- The satellite Tiros I was launched from Cape Canaveral and eventually transmitted thousands of photographs showing the distribution of Earth’s cloud formations –
- Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer, Inc. –
- Nunavut territory created –
- The Netherlands legalized euthanasia –
- French acrobat Willy Martignon broke the world record for longest-distance somersaulting slam dunk –
Weather
- April Fool’s Day Blizzard in the Dakotas, heavy drifting snow –
- Houston, Texas, got its first natural waterspout as an April Fools Day joke from Mother Nature, when a high-velocity tornado hit the downtown area and broke into the water table. –
- April Fool’s cold, -34 degrees F in Bergland, Michigan, and 16 degrees F in Georgia –
- 27 degrees F, Atlanta, Georgia –
- Blizzard left 37 inches of snow in East Jewett, New York –