Month of the Year: April Trivia Quiz

Answer: Doris Day

The Assistant Secretary to the Assistant to the Undersecretary of State, and was formerly Assistant Assistant Secretary to the Assistant to the Undersecretary of State sends an invitation to a chorus girl rather than a famous actress (Ethel Barrymore) to represent American theatre in France. Ethel "Dynamite" Jackson, played by Doris Day, gladly accepts. Great confusion, romance and a happy ending follow.

Answer: April Fool's Day

About April Fool's Day, Mark Twain once wrote "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." This is the day on which it is traditional to play practical jokes and create hoaxes. Organs of the mass media sometimes participate by printing or broadcasting fantastic stories, only to retract them on April second.

The practice is very old; there might be a reference to it in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" in 1392 but it is only arguable. In France, the day is called "poisson d'avril" which means "April fish"; parallels are "april vis" in Holland and "pesce de aprile" in Italy.

Answer: The April Fools

Two ordinary people (Lemmon and Deneuve) are in loveless marriages, find each other, and humour follows. Peter Lawford, Sally Kellerman and Harvey Korman co-star. Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer are wonderful as an old married couple. Shirley MacLaine almost played the female lead but was busy with her film "Sweet Charity." Dionne Warwick performs "The April Fools" and "I Say a Little Prayer" by David and Bacharach, both of which are on the soundtrack album.

Answer: Portuguese, Cebuano & Filipino

A remarkable number of languages call the fourth month of the year April (or something that sounds very much like April). Outliers "duben" (Czech), "kwiecień" (Polish), "Nisan" (Turkish), "Mmesa" (Sesotho) and "Kubvumbi" (Shona).

Answer: diamond

Diamond is not only the birthstone for April but is also the traditional stone of choice for both the 60th and 75th wedding anniversaries. It is also the stone most often selected for engagement rings and wedding rings. The hardness and durability of diamond is reflected (no pun intended) in its derivation from the Greek word "adamas" meaning invincible or unbreakable.

There is ancient authority that wearing a diamond wards off the evil eye, that it has magical healing powers, provides protection against the plague and is an antidote to poison.

As debatable as these claims may be, there is a sparkling loveliness to diamonds which make them popular and valuable.

Answer: Simon & Garfunkel

Paul Simon wrote "April Come She Will" in 1964 in England. He used the changing seasons -- April, May, June, July, August and September -- to parallel the falling into intense young love which then wanes and burns itself out. It was recorded as the B side of "Scarborough Fair" and used on the soundtrack of the motion picture "The Graduate." Simon has recorded it as a solo but the best known recording is one in which Simon plays acoustic guitar and Art Garfunkel performs the vocal.

Answer: Arabic

National Arab American Heritage Month occurs in April. There has been argument that the month should recognize all persons of Middle Eastern heritage, not all of whom are ethnically Arab, but MENAHM (Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month) has not prevailed.

The Arab-American initiative became national in 2017. A congressional resolution was adopted in 2019. The Department of State recognized it in 2021. President Biden's proclamation was made on 1 April 2021. These efforts are partially in response to anti-Arab sentiments arising from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Answer: Al Jolson

Louis Silvers composed and B.G. DeSilva wrote the lyrics for "April Showers." Al Jolson introduced it in the Broadway musical "Bombo" and used it as one of his signature standards thereafter. Jolson sang the song in four movies: "The Singing Kid" (1936), "Rose of Washington Square" (1939), "The Jolson Story" (1946) and "Jolson Sings Again" (1949).

It was covered by numerous artists: Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Cab Calloway, Bing Crosby, Eddie Fisher, Judy Garland, Eydie Gorme, Woody Herman, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Leslie Uggams, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, and Margaret Whiting. "So keep on looking for a blue bird / And list'ning for his song / Whenever April showers come along."

Answer: 30

"Countdown" is a long story about the consequences of an event which instantly kills six billion people, leaving only teenagers to survive. Adults and small children are reduced to puddles of "black goo." Each of the twelve volumes tells of the aftermath in one month of 1999. Daniel Parker is the pen name of Daniel Ehrenhaft, who writes lots of children's and YA books.

Answer: a Latin verb meaning "to bud"

The Latin verb "aperire" means to open or to bud (in terms of a flower). The name was chosen to describe this month because (in the Northern Hemisphere) it is the season in which flowers reappear after winter and begin to bud and open. There are other etymologies, earnestly advanced, but this one appears to be ascendant.