Important Dates in Women's History
by Susan G. Butruille
 

• April 1: Festival of Fools, presided over by Loki, Norse trickster god. Festival of Aphrodite/Venus and Fortuna Virilis.
• April 1, 1983: Women form a 14-mile human chain to oppose US missiles in England at the women's peace camp at Greenham Common.
• April 2: "Battle of the Flowers," a tradition originating in France in which people throw flowers at the hearts of those they desire.
• April 4, 1928: Birth of Maya Angelou, author, poet, actor, singer.
• April 4, 1967: Martin Luther King, Jr spoke against the Vietnam War: "This war is a blasphemy against all that America stands for."
• April 4, 1968: Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• April 5: Festival of Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, and Great Mother of China, marked by visits to her shrines with offerings of incense.
• April 6, 1917: Montana's Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to US Congress, joined 55 colleagues to vote against declaration of war on Germany.
• April 8: Celebration of the birthday of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha.
• April 9, 1939: Marian Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused her permission to sing at Constitutional Hall because of her race.
• April 9, 1995: Former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara admitted "We were terribly wrong" about Vietnam
• April 10, 1971: The Jeannette Rankin Brigade of 8,000 women, led by 90-year-old Jeannette Rankin, marched on the Pentagon for nuclear disarmament.
• April 7, 2007: Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• April 11, 1954: US offered France the atomic bomb to use against Vietnam. France refused.
• April 11, 1968: Enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The clause barring discrimination against women began as a joke.
• April 13: Festival of Ceres, the Roman Goddess of grains who gave us the word for cereal.
• April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City bombing killed 168, including 19 children in a day care center located in the ground floor of the federal building.
• April 24: Peace March of 200,000 in Washington, DC.
• April 25: Robigalia, Roman festival to Robigus, God of Mildew. Here in the Willamette Valley, it is useful to know that lighting an altar fire and offering incense and wine help to appease this god.
• April 25, 1982: Women in Canberra, Australia laid a wreath for all women raped in wars.
• April 26, 1986: Partial meltdown of Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine.
• April 27, 1927: Birth of activist Coretta Scott King.
• April 27, 1994: Nelson Mandela, after years of imprisonment, was elected President of South Africa.
• April 28: Floralia, a three-day Roman festival to Flora, Goddess of flowers and the pleasures of youth. Revelers were showered with beans and other symbols of fertility.
• April 29, 1915: Founding of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
• April 29, 1918: Birth of Pearl Bailey, singer and UN goodwill ambassador.
• April 30, 1975: Final US evacuation of US citizens and end of Vietnam War.
• April 30: Festivals of reproduction and renewal: Beltane (Celtic), Walburga (Germany and Scandinavia), May Eve (Central Europe), First Foods (North American Indians).