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Hercule Poirot	Retirement	Retirement That's the way of it. Just a case or two, just one case more – the Prima Donna's farewell performance won't be in it with yours, Poirot. Dr. Burton in the Preface Confusion surrounds Poirot's retirement. Most of the cases covered by Poirot's private detective agency take place before his retirement to attempt to grow larger marrows, at which time he solves The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It has been said that the twelve cases related in The Labours of Hercules (1947) must refer to a different retirement, but the fact that Poirot specifically says that he intends to grow marrows indicates that these stories also take place before Roger Ackroyd, and presumably Poirot closed his agency once he had completed them. There is specific mention in "The Capture of Cerberus" of the twenty-year gap between Poirot's previous meeting with Countess Rossakoff and this one. If the Labours precede the events in Roger Ackroyd, then the Ackroyd case must have taken place around twenty years later than it was published, and so must any of the cases that refer to it. One alternative would be that having failed to grow marrows once, Poirot is determined to have another go, but this is specifically denied by Poirot himself. in response to the suggestion that he might take up gardening in his retirement, Poirot answers "Once the vegetable marrows, yes – but never again". In "The Erymanthian Boar", a character is said to have been turned out of Austria by the Nazis, implying that the events of The Labours of Hercules took place after 1937. Another alternative would be to suggest that the Preface to the Labours takes place at one date but that the labours are completed over a matter of twenty years. None of the explanations is especially attractive. In terms of a rudimentary chronology, Poirot speaks of retiring to grow marrows in Chapter 18 of The Big Four (1927) which places that novel out of published order before Roger Ackroyd. He declines to solve a case for the Home Secretary because he is retired in Chapter One of Peril at End House (1932). He has certainly retired at the time of Three Act Tragedy (1935) but he does not enjoy his retirement and repeatedly takes cases thereafter when his curiosity is engaged. He continues to employ his secretary, Miss Lemon, at the time of the cases retold in Hickory Dickory Dock and Dead Man's Folly, which take place in the mid-1950s. It is, therefore, better to assume that Christie provided no authoritative chronology for Poirot's retirement but assumed that he could either be an active detective, a consulting detective, or a retired detective as the needs of the immediate case required. One consistent element about Poirot's retirement is that his fame declines during it, so that in the later novels he is often disappointed when characters, especially younger characters, recognise neither him nor his name: "I should, perhaps, Madame, tell you a little more about myself. I am Hercule Poirot." The revelation left Mrs Summerhayes unmoved. "What a lovely name," she said kindly. "Greek, isn't it?"
Hercule Poirot	Post–World War II	Post–World War II Poirot is less active during the cases that take place at the end of his career. Beginning with Three Act Tragedy (1934), Christie had perfected during the inter-war years a subgenre of Poirot novel in which the detective himself spent much of the first third of the novel on the periphery of events. In novels such as Taken at the Flood, After the Funeral, and Hickory Dickory Dock, he is even less in evidence, frequently passing the duties of main interviewing detective to a subsidiary character. In Cat Among the Pigeons, Poirot's entrance is so late as to be almost an afterthought. Whether this was a reflection of his age or of Christie's distaste for him, is impossible to assess. Crooked House (1949) and Ordeal by Innocence (1957), which could easily have been Poirot novels, represent a logical endpoint of the general diminution of his presence in such works. Towards the end of his career, it becomes clear that Poirot's retirement is no longer a convenient fiction. He assumes a genuinely inactive lifestyle during which he concerns himself with studying famous unsolved cases of the past and reading detective novels. He even writes a book about mystery fiction in which he deals sternly with Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins. In the absence of a more appropriate puzzle, he solves such inconsequential domestic riddles as the presence of three pieces of orange peel in his umbrella stand. Poirot (and, it is reasonable to suppose, his creator) becomes increasingly bemused by the vulgarism of the up-and-coming generation's young people. In Hickory Dickory Dock, he investigates the strange goings-on in a student hostel, while in Third Girl (1966) he is forced into contact with the smart set of Chelsea youths. In the growing drug and pop culture of the 1960s, he proves himself once again but has become heavily reliant on other investigators, especially the private investigator, Mr. Goby, who provide him with the clues that he can no longer gather for himself. Notably, during this time his physical characteristics also change dramatically; by the time Arthur Hastings meets Poirot again in Curtain, he looks very different from his previous appearances, having become thin with age and with obviously dyed hair.
Hercule Poirot	Death	Death On the ITV television series, Poirot died in October 1949 from complications of a heart condition at the end of Curtain. This took place at Styles Court, the scene of his first English case in 1916. In Christie's novels, he lived into the early 1970s, perhaps even until 1975 when Curtain was published. In Curtain, Poirot himself became a murderer, in order to prevent further murders instigated by a man who manipulated others to kill for him, subtly and psychologically manipulating the moments where others desire to commit murder so that they carry out the crime when they might otherwise dismiss their thoughts as nothing more than a momentary passion. Poirot executed the man, as otherwise he would have continued his actions and never been convicted. Poirot himself died shortly after having committed murder. He had moved his amyl nitrite pills out of his own reach, possibly because of guilt. Poirot himself noted that he wanted to kill his victim shortly before his own death so that he could avoid succumbing to the arrogance of the murderer, concerned that he might come to view himself as entitled to kill those whom he deemed necessary to eliminate. It is revealed at the end of Curtain that he fakes his need for a wheelchair to fool people into believing that he is suffering from arthritis, to give the impression that he is more infirm than he is. His last recorded words are "Cher ami!", spoken to Hastings as the Captain left his room. The TV adaptation adds that as Poirot is dying alone, he whispers out his final prayer to God in these words: "Forgive me... forgive...". Poirot was buried at Styles, and his funeral was arranged by his best friend Hastings and Hastings' daughter Judith. Hastings reasoned, "Here was the spot where he had lived when he first came to this country. He was to lie here at the last." Poirot's actual death and funeral occurred in Curtain, years after his retirement from the active investigation, but it was not the first time that Hastings attended the funeral of his best friend. In The Big Four (1927), Poirot feigned his death and subsequent funeral to launch a surprise attack on the Big Four.
Hercule Poirot	Recurring characters	Recurring characters
Hercule Poirot	Captain Arthur Hastings	Captain Arthur Hastings Hastings, a former British Army officer, meets Poirot during Poirot's years as a police officer in Belgium and almost immediately after they both arrive in England. He becomes Poirot's lifelong friend and appears in many cases. Poirot regards Hastings as a poor private detective, not particularly intelligent, yet helpful in his way of being fooled by the criminal or seeing things the way the average man would see them and for his tendency to unknowingly "stumble" onto the truth. Hastings marries and has four children – two sons and two daughters. As a loyal, albeit somewhat naïve companion, Hastings is to Poirot what Watson is to Sherlock Holmes. Hastings is capable of great bravery and courage, facing death unflinchingly when confronted by The Big Four and displaying unwavering loyalty towards Poirot. However, when forced to choose between Poirot and his wife in that novel, he initially chooses to betray Poirot to protect his wife. Later, though, he tells Poirot to draw back and escape the trap. The two are an airtight team until Hastings meets and marries Dulcie Duveen, a beautiful music hall performer half his age, after investigating the Murder on the Links. They later emigrated to Argentina, leaving Poirot behind as a "very unhappy old man". Poirot and Hastings reunite during the novels The Big Four, Peril at End House, The ABC Murders, Lord Edgware Dies, and Dumb Witness, when Hastings arrives in England for business, with Poirot noting in ABC Murders that he enjoys having Hastings over because he feels that he always has his most interesting cases with Hastings. The two collaborate for the final time in Curtain when the seemingly-crippled Poirot asks Hastings to assist him in his final case. When the killer they are tracking nearly manipulates Hastings into committing murder, Poirot describes this in his final farewell letter to Hastings as the catalyst that prompted him to eliminate the man himself, as Poirot knew that his friend was not a murderer and refused to let a man capable of manipulating Hastings in such a manner go on.
Hercule Poirot	Mrs Ariadne Oliver	Mrs Ariadne Oliver Detective novelist Ariadne Oliver is Agatha Christie's humorous self-caricature. Like Christie, she is not overly fond of the detective whom she is most famous for creating–in Ariadne's case, Finnish sleuth Sven Hjerson. We never learn anything about her husband, but we do know that she hates alcohol and public appearances and has a great fondness for apples, until she is put off them by the events of Hallowe'en Party. She has a habit of constantly changing her hairstyle. In every appearance by her much is made of her clothes and hats. Her maid Maria prevents the public adoration from becoming too much of a burden on her employer but does nothing to prevent her from becoming too much of a burden on others. She has authored more than 56 novels and greatly dislikes people modifying her characters. She is the only one in Poirot's universe to have noted that "It's not natural for five or six people to be on the spot when B is murdered and all have a motive for killing B." She first met Poirot in the story Cards on the Table and has bothered him ever since.
Hercule Poirot	Miss Felicity Lemon	Miss Felicity Lemon Poirot's secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, has few human weaknesses. The only mistakes she makes within the series are a typing error during the events of Hickory Dickory Dock and the mis-mailing of an electricity bill, although she was worried about strange events surrounding her sister who worked at a student hostel at the time. Poirot described her as being "Unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient. Anything that she mentioned as worth consideration usually was worth consideration." She is an expert on nearly everything and plans to create the perfect filing system. In The Agatha Christie Hour, she was portrayed by Angela Easterling, while in Agatha Christie's Poirot she was portrayed by Pauline Moran (where she was shown to be efficient, prim and modest, but not remotely "unbelievably ugly".) On a number of occasions, she joins Poirot in his inquiries or seeks out answers alone at his request.
Hercule Poirot	Chief Inspector James Harold Japp	Chief Inspector James Harold Japp Japp is a Scotland Yard Inspector and appears in many of the stories trying to solve cases that Poirot is working on. Japp is outgoing, loud, and sometimes inconsiderate by nature, and his relationship with the refined Belgian is one of the stranger aspects of Poirot's world. He first met Poirot in Belgium in 1904, during the Abercrombie Forgery. Later that year they joined forces again to hunt down a criminal known as Baron Altara. They also meet in England where Poirot often helps Japp and lets him take credit in return for special favours. These favours usually entail Poirot being supplied with other interesting cases.Captain Arthur Hastings In Agatha Christie's Poirot, Japp was portrayed by Philip Jackson. In the film, Thirteen at Dinner (1985), adapted from Lord Edgware Dies, the role of Japp was taken by the actor David Suchet, who would later star as Poirot in the ITV adaptations.
Hercule Poirot	Major novels	Major novels The Poirot books take readers through the whole of his life in England, from the first book (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), where he is a refugee staying at Styles, to the last Poirot book (Curtain), where he visits Styles before his death. In between, Poirot solves cases outside England as well, including his most famous case, Murder on the Orient Express (1934). Hercule Poirot became famous in 1926 with the publication of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, whose surprising solution proved controversial. The novel is still among the most famous of all detective novels: Edmund Wilson alludes to it in the title of his well-known attack on detective fiction, "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" Other critically acclaimed Poirot novels include Murder on the Orient Express (1934); The ABC Murders (1935); Cards on the Table (1936); and Death on the Nile (1937), a tale of multiple murders upon a Nile steamer. Death on the Nile was judged by the famed detective novelist John Dickson Carr to be among the ten greatest mystery novels of all time. The 1942 novel Five Little Pigs (a.k.a. Murder in Retrospect), in which Poirot investigates a murder committed sixteen years before by analysing various accounts of the tragedy, has been called "the best Christie of all"Barnard (1980), p. 85 by critic and mystery novelist Robert Barnard. In 2014, the Poirot canon was added to by Sophie Hannah, the first author to be commissioned by the Christie estate to write an original story. The novel was called The Monogram Murders, and was set in the late 1920s, placing it chronologically between The Mystery of the Blue Train and Peril at End House. A second Hannah-penned Poirot came out in 2016, called Closed Casket, and a third, The Mystery of Three Quarters, in 2018.
Hercule Poirot	Portrayals	Portrayals
Hercule Poirot	Stage	Stage The first actor to portray Poirot was Charles Laughton. He appeared on the West End in 1928 in the play Alibi which had been adapted by Michael Morton from the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. In 1932, the play was performed as The Fatal Alibi on Broadway. Another Poirot play, Black Coffee, opened in London at the Embassy Theatre on 8 December 1930 and starred Francis L. Sullivan as Poirot. Black Coffee was revived by The Agatha Christie Theatre Company for an extensive UK tour in 2014. Poirot was initially portrayed by Robert Powell, with Jason Durr later taking over the role partway through the run. American playwright Ken Ludwig adapted Murder on the Orient Express into a play, which premiered at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey on 14 March 2017. It starred English actor Allan Corduner in the role of Hercule Poirot. A 2022 UK production starred Henry Goodman. A new touring production will star Michael Maloney as Poirot. Other notable actors who have portrayed Poirot on stage include Ronnie Barker, Leonard Rossiter, Ronald Magill, Patrick Cargill and Alfred Marks.
Hercule Poirot	Film	Film
Hercule Poirot	Austin Trevor	Austin Trevor Austin Trevor debuted the role of Poirot on screen in the 1931 British film Alibi. The film was based on the stage play. Trevor reprised the role of Poirot twice, in Black Coffee and Lord Edgware Dies. Trevor said once that he was probably cast as Poirot simply because he could do a French accent.At the Hercule Poirot Central website Notably, Trevor's Poirot did not have a moustache. Leslie S. Hiscott directed the first two films, and Henry Edwards took over for the third.
Hercule Poirot	Tony Randall	Tony Randall Tony Randall portrayed Poirot in The Alphabet Murders, a 1965 film also known as The ABC Murders. This was more a satire of Poirot than a straightforward adaptation and was greatly changed from the original. Much of the story, set in modern times, was played for comedy, with Poirot investigating the murders while evading the attempts by Hastings (Robert Morley) and the police to get him out of England and back to Belgium.
Hercule Poirot	Albert Finney	Albert Finney thumb\|Albert Finney as Poirot in the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express Albert Finney played Poirot in 1974 in the cinematic version of Murder on the Orient Express. Finney is the only actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for playing Poirot, though he did not win.
Hercule Poirot	Peter Ustinov	Peter Ustinov Peter Ustinov as Poirot in a 1982 adaptation of the novel Evil Under the Sun\|frame Peter Ustinov played Poirot six times, starting with Death on the Nile (1978). He reprised the role in Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment with Death (1988). Christie's daughter Rosalind Hicks observed Ustinov during a rehearsal and said, "That's not Poirot! He isn't at all like that!" Ustinov overheard and remarked "He is now!" He appeared again as Poirot in three television films: Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Dead Man's Folly (1986), and Murder in Three Acts (1986). Earlier adaptations were set during the time in which the novels were written, but these television films were set in the contemporary era. The first of these was based on Lord Edgware Dies and was made by Warner Bros. It also starred Faye Dunaway, with David Suchet as Inspector Japp, just before Suchet began to play Poirot. David Suchet considers his performance as Japp to be "possibly the worst performance of [his] career".
Hercule Poirot	Kenneth Branagh	Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Branagh played Poirot in film adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express in 2017, Death on the Nile in 2022, and A Haunting in Venice, based on the novel Hallowe'en Party, in 2023. Branagh directed all three and co-produced them alongside Ridley Scott. They were all written by Michael Green.
Hercule Poirot	Other	Other Anatoly Ravikovich, Zagadka Endkhauza (End House Mystery) (1989; based on "Peril at End House") Pál Mácsai, A titokzatos stylesi eset (The Mysterious Affair at Styles) (2023) Television David Suchet David Suchet starred as Poirot in the ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot from 1989 until June 2013, when he announced that he was bidding farewell to the role. "No one could've guessed then that the series would span a quarter-century or that the classically trained Suchet would complete the entire catalogue of whodunits featuring the eccentric Belgian investigator, including 33 novels and dozens of short stories." His final appearance in the show was in an adaptation of Curtain, aired on 13 November 2013. The writers of the "Binge!" article of Entertainment Weekly December 2014/January 2015) picked Suchet as "Best Poirot" in the "Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple" timeline. The episodes were shot in various locations in the UK and abroad (for example "Triangle at Rhodes" and "Problem at Sea"), whilst other scenes were shot at Twickenham Studios. Other Heini Göbel, (1955; an adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express for the West German television series Die Galerie der großen Detektive) José Ferrer, Hercule Poirot (1961; Unaired TV Pilot, MGM; adaptation of "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim") Martin Gabel, General Electric Theater (4/1/1962; adaptation of "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim") Horst Bollmann, Black Coffee 1973 Ian Holm, Murder by the Book, 1986 Arnolds Liniņš, Slepkavība Stailzā (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), 1990 Hugh Laurie, Spice World, 1997 Alfred Molina, Murder on the Orient Express, 2001 Konstantin Raikin, Neudacha Puaro (Poirot's Failure) (2002; based on "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd") Anthony O'Donnell, Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures, 2004 Shirō Itō (Takashi Akafuji), Meitantei Akafuji Takashi (The Detective Takashi Akafuji), 2005 Mansai Nomura (Takeru Suguro), Orient Kyūkō Satsujin Jiken (Murder on the Orient Express), 2015; Kuroido Goroshi (The Murder of Kuroido), 2018 (based on "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"); Shi to no Yakusoku, 2021 (based on Appointment with Death) John Malkovich was Poirot in the 2018 BBC adaptation of The ABC Murders. Anime In 2004, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK produced a 39-episode anime series titled Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, as well as a manga series under the same title released in 2005. The series, adapting several of the best-known Poirot and Marple stories, ran from 4 July 2004 through 15 May 2005, and in repeated reruns on NHK and other networks in Japan. Poirot was voiced by Kōtarō Satomi and Miss Marple was voiced by Kaoru Yachigusa. Audio BBC Radio An adaptation of Murder in the Mews was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1955 starring Richard Bebb as Poirot; this program was thought lost, but was discovered in the BBC archives in 2015. From 1985 to 2007, Radio 4 produced a series of twenty-seven adaptations of Poirot novels and short stories, adapted by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enyd Williams. Twenty five starred John Moffatt as Poirot; Maurice Denham and Peter Sallis played Poirot on BBC Radio 4 in the first two adaptations, The Mystery of the Blue Train and Hercule Poirot's Christmas respectively. Audible In 2017, Audible released an original audio adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express starring Tom Conti as Poirot. The cast included Jane Asher as Mrs. Hubbard, Jay Benedict as Monsieur Bouc, Ruta Gedmintas as Countess Andrenyi, Sophie Okonedo as Mary Debenham, Eddie Marsan as Ratchett, Walles Hamonde as Hector MacQueen, Paterson Joseph as Colonel Arbuthnot, Rula Lenska as Princess Dragimiroff and Art Malik as the Narrator. According to the Publisher's Summary on Audible.com, "sound effects [were] recorded on the Orient Express itself." Audible is scheduled to release a dramatisation of The Mysterious Affair at Styles in November 2024. The cast includes Peter Dinklage as Poirot. Others In 1939, Orson Welles and the Mercury Players dramatised Roger Ackroyd on CBS's Campbell Playhouse. On 6 October 1942, the Mutual radio series Murder Clinic broadcast "The Tragedy at Marsden Manor" starring Maurice Tarplin as Poirot. At least two other Poirot stories were adapted for the series, but it is unknown who voiced him. A 1945 radio series of at least 13 original half-hour episodes (none of which apparently adapt any Christie stories) transferred Poirot from London to New York and starred character actor Harold Huber, perhaps better known for his appearances as a police officer in various Charlie Chan films. On 22 February 1945, "speaking from London, Agatha Christie introduced the initial broadcast of the Poirot series via shortwave". In 2021, L.A. Theatre Works produced an adaptation of The Murder on the Links, dramatised by Kate McAll. Alfred Molina starred as Poirot, with Simon Helberg as Hastings. Video games In the video games Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases and Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The London Case, Poirot is voiced by Will De Renzy-Martin. Parodies and references thumb\|Holmes and Poirot in Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2007) Parodies of Hercule Poirot have appeared in a number of movies, including Revenge of the Pink Panther, where Poirot makes a cameo appearance in a mental asylum, portrayed by Andrew Sachs and claiming to be "the greatest detective in all of France, the greatest in all the world"; Neil Simon's Murder by Death, where "Milo Perrier" is played by American actor James Coco; the 1977 film The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977); the film Spice World, where Hugh Laurie plays Poirot; and in Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, Poirot appears as a young boy on the train transporting Holmes and Watson. Holmes helps the boy in opening a puzzle-box, with Watson giving the boy advice about using his "little grey cells". In the book series Geronimo Stilton, the character Hercule Poirat is inspired by Hercule Poirot. The Belgian brewery Brasserie Ellezelloise makes a stout called Hercule with a moustachioed caricature of Hercule Poirot on the label. In season 2, episode 4 of TVFPlay's Indian web series Permanent Roommates, one of the characters refers to Hercule Poirot as her inspiration while she attempts to solve the mystery of the cheating spouse. Throughout the episode, she is mocked as Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie by the suspects. TVFPlay also telecasted a spoof of Indian TV suspense drama CID as "Qissa Missing Dimaag Ka: C.I.D Qtiyapa". In the first episode, when Ujjwal is shown to browse for the best detectives of the world, David Suchet appears as Poirot in his search. See also List of actors who have played Hercule PoirotPoirot InvestigatesTropes in Agatha Christie's novels Footnotes References Bibliography Works Goddard, John (2018), Agatha Christie’s Golden Age: An Analysis of Poirot’s Golden Age Puzzles'', Stylish Eye Press, .
Hercule Poirot	External links	External links Official Agatha Christie website Hercule Poirot on IMDb Listen to Orson Welles in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" Listen to the 1945 Hercule Poirot radio program Wiktionary definition of Edgar Allan Poe's "ratiocination" Category:Characters in British novels of the 20th century Category:Characters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction Category:Fictional Belgian detectives Category:Fictional Belgian police officers Category:Fictional Belgian police detectives Category:Fictional Christians Category:Fictional characters from Wallonia Category:Fictional contract bridge players Category:Fictional criminologists Category:Fictional illeists Category:Fictional private investigators Category:Agatha Christie characters Category:Hercule Poirot characters Category:Literary characters introduced in 1920 Category:Male characters in literature Category:Book series Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot	Table of Content	short description, Overview, Influences, Popularity, Appearance and proclivities, Methods, Life, Origins, Policeman, Private detective, Retirement, Post–World War II, Death, Recurring characters, Captain Arthur Hastings, Mrs Ariadne Oliver, Miss Felicity Lemon, Chief Inspector James Harold Japp, Major novels, Portrayals, Stage, Film, Austin Trevor, Tony Randall, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, Kenneth Branagh, Other, External links
Miss Marple	Short description	Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster,agathachristie.com: Facts about Miss Marple she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, "The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of The Thirteen Problems (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, and her last appearance was in Sleeping Murder in 1976.
Miss Marple	Origins	Origins The character of Miss Marple is based on friends of Christie's step grandmother, Margaret Miller, née West.Margaret West was the sister of Mary Ann Boehmer, Agatha Christie's maternal grandmother. Margaret married Christie's paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Frary Miller, in 1863 in Westbourne, West Sussex. He died in 1869 and she dedicated a stained glass window to his memory in St. John's Church, Main Road, Southbourne, West Sussex. Margaret's stepson, Frederick Alvah Miller, went on to marry her niece Clarissa Boehmer. Apart from Agatha, they had two other children, Margaret Watts and Louis Montant Miller. Christie attributed the inspiration for the character to multiple sources, stating that Miss Marple was "the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my step grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl". Christie also used material from her fictional creation, spinster Caroline Sheppard, who appeared in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. When Michael Morton adapted the novel for the stage, he replaced the character of Caroline with a young girl. This change saddened Christie and she determined to give old maids a voice; thus, Miss Marple was born. It is popularly believed that Christie may have taken her iconic character's name from Marple railway station, through which she passed,"Marple's Profile" , Hercule Poirot Central, accessed 30 March 2009. while a letter – ostensibly from Christie to a fan – appeared to prove that the name was inspired by a visit to a sale at Marple Hall in the same town, near her sister Margaret Watts' home at Abney Hall. The letter has been established as a fake as the auction had been held after the date of publication of the first Miss Marple story.
Miss Marple	Character	Character The character of Jane Marple in the first Miss Marple book, The Murder at the Vicarage, is quite different from how she appears in later books. This early version of Miss Marple is a gleeful gossip and not an especially nice woman. The residents of St. Mary Mead like her but are often tired of her nosy nature and the fact she seems to expect the worst of everyone. In later books, she becomes a kinder person. Miss Marple solves difficult crimes thanks to her shrewd intelligence, and St. Mary Mead, over her lifetime, has given her seemingly infinite examples of the negative side of human nature. Crimes always remind her of a previous incident, although acquaintances may be bored by analogies that often lead her to a deeper realisation about the true nature of a crime. She also has a remarkable ability to latch onto a casual comment and connect it to the case at hand. In several stories, she is able to rely on her acquaintance with Sir Henry Clithering, a retired commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, for official information when required. Miss Marple never married and has no close living relatives. Her nephew, the "well-known author" Raymond West, appears in some stories, including The Thirteen Problems, Sleeping Murder, and Ingots of Gold (which also feature his wife, Joyce Lemprière). Raymond overestimates himself and underestimates his aunt's mental acuity. Miss Marple employs young women (including Clara, Emily, Alice, Esther, Gwenda, and Amy) from a nearby orphanage, whom she trains for service as general housemaids after the retirement of her long-time maid-housekeeper, faithful Florence. She was briefly looked after by her irritating companion, Miss Knight. In her later years, companion Cherry Baker, first introduced in The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, lives with her. Miss Marple has never worked for her living and is of independent means, although she benefits in her old age from the financial support of her nephew, Raymond. She is not from the aristocracy or landed gentry, but is quite at home among them; as a gentlewoman, Miss Marple may thus be considered a female version of the gentleman detective, a staple of British detective fiction. She demonstrates a remarkably thorough education, including some art courses that involved the study of human anatomy using human cadavers. In They Do It with Mirrors (1952), it is revealed that Miss Marple grew up in a cathedral close, and that she studied at an Italian finishing school with American sisters Ruth Van Rydock and Caroline "Carrie" Louise Serrocold. While Miss Marple is described as "an old lady" in many of the stories, her age is rarely mentioned and is not consistently presented. In At Bertram's Hotel, published in 1965, it is said she visited the hotel when she was 14 and almost 60 years have passed since then, implying that she is nearly 75 years old; but in 4:50 from Paddington, published almost a decade earlier in 1957, she says she will be "90 next year." Excluding Sleeping Murder, 41 years passed between the first and last-written novels, and many characters grow and age. An example would be the Vicar's nephew: in The Murder at the Vicarage, the Reverend Mr Clement's nephew Dennis is a teenager; in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, it is mentioned that the nephew is now an adult and has a successful career. The effects of ageing are seen on Miss Marple, such as needing a holiday after illness in A Caribbean Mystery, but she is if anything more agile in Nemesis, set only 16 months later. Miss Marple's background is described in some detail, albeit in glimpses across the novels and short stories in which she appears. She has a very large family, including a sister, the mother of Raymond, and Mabel Denham, a young woman who was accused of poisoning her husband, Geoffrey (The Thumb Mark of St. Peter).
Miss Marple	Bibliography	Bibliography Agatha Christie wrote 12 novels and 20 short stories featuring Miss Marple.
Miss Marple	Miss Marple series	Miss Marple series The Murder at the Vicarage (1930, Novel) The Body in the Library (1942, Novel) The Moving Finger (1943, Novel) A Murder Is Announced (1950, Novel) They Do It with Mirrors (1952, Novel) – also published in the United States as Murder With Mirrors A Pocket Full of Rye (1953, Novel) 4.50 from Paddington (1957, Novel) – also published in the United States as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1962, Novel) A Caribbean Mystery (1964, Novel) At Bertram's Hotel (1965, Novel) Nemesis (1971, Novel) Sleeping Murder (1976, Novel) – published last but written and set in the 1940s.
Miss Marple	Miss Marple short story collections	Miss Marple short story collections The Thirteen Problems (1932, short story collection featuring Miss Marple, also published as The Tuesday Club Murders) The Regatta Mystery (1939, Collection) Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1950, Collection) The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960, Collection) Double Sin and Other Stories (1961, Collection) Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories (short stories collected posthumously, also published as Miss Marple's Final Cases, but only six of the eight stories actually feature Miss Marple) (written between 1939 and 1954, published 1979) Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories, published 1985, includes 20 from 4 sets: The Thirteen Problems, The Regatta Mystery, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, and Double Sin and Other Stories. Miss Marple also appears in "Greenshaw's Folly", a short story included as part of the Poirot collection The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960). Four stories in the Three Blind Mice collection (1950) feature Miss Marple: "Strange Jest", "Tape-Measure Murder", "The Case of the Caretaker", and "The Case of the Perfect Maid". The Autograph edition of Miss Marple's Final Cases includes the eight in the original plus "Greenshaw's Folly".
Miss Marple	Continuations not by Christie	Continuations not by Christie Marple: Twelve New Stories, collection with stories written by Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, and Ruth Ware (published 2022)
Miss Marple	Books about Miss Marple	Books about Miss Marple The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple – a biography by Anne Hart Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness – by Mark Aldridge
Miss Marple	Stage	Stage A stage adaptation of Murder at the Vicarage, by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy, was first seen at Northampton on 17 October 1949;'Chit Chat', The Stage, 29 September 1949 it was directed by Reginald Tate, starred the 35-year-old Barbara Mullen as Miss Marple, and after touring, reached the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End on 14 December. Having run till late March 1950, it then went on tour again.Frances Stephens (ed), Theatre World Annual (London) number 1, Rockliff Publishing Corporation 1950 In July 1974, Mullen (by then 60) returned to the role in another national tour of the same play, culminating 12 months later when the show opened at London's Savoy Theatre on 28 July 1975.Murder at the Vicarage programme: Theatre Print vol 5 # 9 [October 1975], Martin Tickner (ed) At the end of March 1976, the Miss Marple role was taken over by Avril Angers, after which the production transferred to the Fortune Theatre on 5 July. The role then passed to Muriel Pavlow in June 1977Murder at the Vicarage programme: Theatre Print # 27 [December 1977], Martin Tickner (ed) and to Gabrielle Hamilton late the following year; the production finally closed in October 1979.'On Next Week', The Stage, 18 October 1979 On 21 September 1977, while Murder at the Vicarage was still running at the Fortune, a stage adaptation by Leslie Darbon of A Murder Is Announced opened at the Vaudeville Theatre, with Dulcie Gray as Miss Marple.Vaudeville Theatre programme, No.29 February 1978 The show ran to the end of September 1978 and then toured.'On the Way', The Stage, 10 August 1978
Miss Marple	Films	Films
Miss Marple	Margaret Rutherford	Margaret Rutherford Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple in four films directed by George Pollock between 1961 and 1964. These were successful light comedies, but Christie herself was disappointed with them.Matthew Bunson, The Complete Christie: An Agatha Christie Encyclopedia. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2000. 386-87. books.google.com/books?id=R3syC8weGO8C&pg=PA386 Nevertheless, Agatha Christie dedicated the novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side to Rutherford. Rutherford presented the character as a bold and eccentric old lady, different from the prim and birdlike character Christie created in her novels. As penned by Christie, Miss Marple has never worked for a living, but the character as portrayed by Margaret Rutherford briefly works undercover as a cook-housekeeper, a stage actress, a sailor, and criminal reformer, and is offered the chance to run a riding establishment-cum-hotel. Her education and genteel background are hinted at when she mentions her awards at marksmanship (and demonstrates her shooting prowess), dancing, fencing, and equestrianism, although these hints are played for comedic value. Murder, She Said (1961) was the first of the four British MGM productions starring Rutherford. This film was based on the 1957 novel 4:50 from Paddington (U.S. title, What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!), and the changes made in the plot were typical of the series. In the film, Mrs. McGillicuddy is cut from the plot. Miss Marple herself sees an apparent murder committed on a train running alongside hers. Actress Joan Hickson, who played Marple in the 1984–1992 television adaptations, has a role as a housekeeper in this movie. Murder at the Gallop (1963), based on the 1953 Hercule Poirot novel, After the Funeral (in this film, she is identified as Miss JTV Marple, though there was no indication as to what the extra initials might stand for). Murder Most Foul (1964), based on the 1952 Poirot novel Mrs McGinty's Dead. Murder Ahoy! (1964). The last film is not based on any Christie work but displays a few plot elements from They Do It With Mirrors (viz., the ship is used as a reform school for wayward boys and one of the teachers uses them as a crime force), as well as similarities to The Mousetrap. The music to all four films was composed and conducted by Ron Goodwin. The same theme is used on all four films with slight variations in each. The score was written within a couple of weeks by Goodwin who was approached by Pollock after Pollock had heard about him from Stanley Black. Black had worked with Pollock on Stranger in Town in 1957 and had previously hired Goodwin as his orchestrator. Rutherford, who was 68 years old when the first film was shot in February 1961, insisted that she wear her own clothes during the filming of the movie, as well as having her husband, Stringer Davis, appear alongside her as the character Mr Stringer. The Rutherford films are frequently repeated on television in Germany, and in that country Miss Marple is generally identified with Rutherford's quirky portrayal. Rutherford also appeared briefly as Miss Marple in the parodic Hercule Poirot adventure The Alphabet Murders (1965).
Miss Marple	Angela Lansbury	Angela Lansbury In 1980, Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd (EMI, directed by Guy Hamilton), based on Christie's 1962 novel. The film featured an all-star cast that included Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis, and Kim Novak. Edward Fox appeared as Inspector Craddock, who did Miss Marple's legwork. Lansbury's Marple was a crisp, intelligent woman who moved stiffly and spoke in clipped tones. Unlike most incarnations of Miss Marple, this one smoked cigarettes. Lansbury was later cast as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, a similar role.
Miss Marple	Ita Ever	Ita Ever In 1983, Estonian stage and film actress, Ita Ever, starred in the Russian language Mosfilm adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, A Pocket Full of Rye (using the Russian edition's translated title, The Secret of the Blackbirds), as the character of Miss Marple. Ever has also portrayed the character of Miss Marple in the Eesti Televisioon (ETV) series Miss Marple Stories in 1990, and onstage at the Tallinn City Theatre in a production of The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side in 2005.
Miss Marple	Future works	Future works In October 2024, it was revealed that 20th Century Studios, which has produced the Hercule Poirot films with Kenneth Branagh, plans to adapt more of Christie's work, including unspecified Miss Marple titles.
Miss Marple	Television	Television The first on-screen portrayal of Miss Marple was by British actress and singer Gracie Fields, playing her in a 1956 episode of the American series Goodyear TV Playhouse based on A Murder Is Announced, the 1950 Christie novel. In 1970, the character of Miss Marple was portrayed by in a West German television adaptation of The Murder at the Vicarage (Mord im Pfarrhaus).
Miss Marple	Helen Hayes	Helen Hayes American stage and screen actress, Helen Hayes, portrayed Miss Marple in two American television films near the end of her decades-long acting career, both for CBS: A Caribbean Mystery (1983) and Murder with Mirrors (1985). Sue Grafton contributed to the screenplay of the former. Hayes's Marple was benign and chirpy. She had earlier appeared in a television film adaptation of the non-Marple Christie story, Murder Is Easy, playing an elderly lady somewhat similar to Miss Marple.
Miss Marple	Joan Hickson	Joan Hickson From 1984 to 1992, the BBC adapted all of the original Miss Marple novels as a series titled Miss Marple. Joan Hickson played the lead role. In the 1940s, she had appeared on stage in an Agatha Christie play Appointment with Death, seen by Christie, who wrote in a note to her, "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple". Hickson portrayed a maid in the 1937 film Love from a Stranger, which starred Ann Harding and Basil Rathbone, another Agatha Christie play adaptation. As well as portraying Miss Marple on television, Hickson narrated Miss Marple stories for audio books. In the "Binge!" article of Entertainment Weekly Issue #1343–1344 (26 December 2014 – 3 January 2015), the writers picked Hickson as "Best Marple" in the "Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple" timeline. Listing of the TV series featuring Joan Hickson: The Body in the Library (1984) The Moving Finger (1985) A Murder Is Announced (1985) A Pocket Full of Rye (1985) The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) – BAFTA nomination Sleeping Murder (1987) At Bertram's Hotel (1987) Nemesis (1987) – BAFTA nomination 4.50 from Paddington (1987) A Caribbean Mystery (1989) They Do It With Mirrors (1991) The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992)
Miss Marple	Geraldine McEwan (2004–2008)/Julia McKenzie (2009–2013)	Geraldine McEwan (2004–2008)/Julia McKenzie (2009–2013) Beginning in 2004, ITV broadcast a series of adaptations of Agatha Christie's books under the title Agatha Christie's Marple, usually referred to as Marple. Geraldine McEwan starred in the first three series. Julia McKenzie took over the role in the fourth season. The adaptations change the plots and characters of the original books (e.g. incorporating lesbian affairs, changing the identities of some killers, renaming or removing significant characters, and even using stories from other books in which Miss Marple did not originally feature). In the Geraldine McEwan series, it is revealed that when she was young (portrayed by Julie Cox in a flashback), Miss Marple had an affair with a married soldier, Captain Ainsworth, who was killed in action in World War I, in December 1915. It is also said (in A Murder Is Announced) that she served as an ambulance driver during World War I. Listing of the TV series featuring Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie: The Body in the Library (2004) The Murder at the Vicarage (2004) 4.50 from Paddington (2004) A Murder Is Announced (2005) Sleeping Murder (2005) The Moving Finger (2006) By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006) The Sittaford Mystery (2006) At Bertram's Hotel (2007) Ordeal by Innocence (2007) Towards Zero (2008) Nemesis (2008) A Pocket Full of Rye (2009) Murder Is Easy (2009) They Do It with Mirrors (2010) Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (2011) The Pale Horse (2010) The Secret of Chimneys (2010) The Blue Geranium (2010) The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (2011) A Caribbean Mystery (2013) Greenshaw's Folly (2013) Endless Night (2013) In 2015, CBS planned a "much younger" version of the character, a granddaughter who takes over a California bookstore. In 2018, Miss Marple was portrayed by Yunjin Kim in the South Korean television series Ms. Ma, Nemesis.
Miss Marple	Anime	Anime From 2004 to 2005, Japanese TV network NHK produced a 39 episode anime series titled Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, which features both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Miss Marple's voice is provided by Kaoru Yachigusa. Episodes adapted both short stories and novels. The anime series dramatised the following Miss Marple stories: "Strange Jest" (EP 3) "The Case of the Perfect Maid" (EP 4) "The Tape-Measure Murder" (EP 13) "Ingots of Gold" (EP 14) "The Blue Geranium" (EP 15) 4.50 from Paddington (EP 21–24) "Motive versus Opportunity" (EP 27) Sleeping Murder (EP 30–33)
Miss Marple	Radio	Radio June Whitfield starred as Miss Marple in Michael Bakewell's adaptations of all twelve novels, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1993 and 2001. Three short stories with Whitfield ("Tape-Measure Murder", "The Case of the Perfect Maid" and "Sanctuary") were later broadcast under the collective title Miss Marple's Final Cases weekly 16 – 30 September 2015.
Miss Marple	Other appearances	Other appearances thumb\|Marple, as she appeared in volume 20 of Case Closed Marple was highlighted in volume 20 of the Case Closed manga's edition of "Gosho Aoyama's Mystery Library", a section of the graphic novels (usually the last page) where the author introduces a different detective (or occasionally, a villain) from mystery literature, television, or other media. In the 1976 Neil Simon spoof Murder by Death, Miss Marple is parodied as "Miss Marbles" by Elsa Lanchester.
Miss Marple	See also	See also List of female detective characters
Miss Marple	References	References
Miss Marple	External links	External links Miss Marple at the official Agatha Christie website Miss Marple on IMDb Category:Miss Marple characters Category:Book series introduced in 1930 Category:British novels adapted into films Category:British novels adapted into plays Category:Characters in British novels of the 20th century Category:Characters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction Category:Detective television series Category:Agatha Christie characters Category:Female characters in literature Category:Fictional amateur detectives Category:Fictional British detectives Category:Literary characters introduced in 1927 Category:Fictional English people Category:Novel series Category:British novels adapted for radio Category:British novels adapted into television shows Category:Fictional female amateur detectives
Miss Marple	Table of Content	Short description, Origins, Character, Bibliography, Miss Marple series, Miss Marple short story collections, Continuations not by Christie, Books about Miss Marple, Stage, Films, Margaret Rutherford, Angela Lansbury, Ita Ever, Future works, Television, Helen Hayes, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan (2004–2008)/Julia McKenzie (2009–2013), Anime, Radio, Other appearances, See also, References, External links
April	short description	April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to October in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.
April	History	History thumb\|April, Brevarium Grimani, fol. 5v (Flemish) The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis"April" in Chambers's Encyclopædia. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 497. but the derivation of this name is uncertain. The traditional etymology is from the verb aperire, "to open", in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open", which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of άνοιξη (ánixi) (opening) for spring. Since some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, and as April was sacred to the goddess Venus, her Veneralia being held on the first day, it has been suggested that Aprilis was originally her month Aphrilis, from her equivalent Greek goddess name Aphrodite (Aphros), or the Etruscan name Apru. Jacob Grimm suggests the name of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus.Jacob Grimm Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. Cap. "Monate" April was the second month of the earliest Roman calendar, before Ianuarius and Februarius were added by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC. It became the fourth month of the calendar year (the year when twelve months are displayed in order) during the time of the decemvirs about 450 BC, when it was 29 days long. The 30th day was added back during the reform of the calendar undertaken by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s BC, which produced the Julian calendar. The Anglo-Saxons called April ēastre-monaþ. The Venerable Bede says in The Reckoning of Time that this month ēastre is the root of the word Easter. He further states that the month was named after a goddess Eostre whose feast was in that month. It is also attested by Einhard in his work Vita Karoli Magni. St George's day is the twenty-third of the month; and St Mark's Eve, with its superstition that the ghosts of those who are doomed to die within the year will be seen to pass into the church, falls on the twenty-fourth. In China the symbolic ploughing of the earth by the emperor and princes of the blood took place in their third month, which frequently corresponds to April. In Finnish, April is huhtikuu, meaning slash-and-burn moon, when gymnosperms for beat and burn clearing of farmland were felled. In Slovene, the most established traditional name is mali traven, the month when plants start growing. It was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript. The month April originally had 30 days; Numa Pompilius made it 29 days long; finally, Julius Caesar's calendar reform made it 30 days long again, which was not changed in the calendar revision of Augustus Caesar in 8 BC. In Ancient Rome, the festival of Cerealia was held for seven days from mid-to-late April, but exact dates are still being determined. Feriae Latinae was also held in April, with the date varying. Other ancient Roman observances include Veneralia (April 1), Megalesia (April 10–16), Fordicidia (April 15), Parilia (April 21), Vinalia Urbana (April 23), Robigalia (April 25), and Serapia (April 25). Floralia was held April 27 during the Republican era, or April 28 on the Julian calendar, and lasted until May 3. However, these dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. The Lyrids meteor shower appears on April 16 – April 26 each year, with the peak generally occurring on April 22. The Eta Aquariids meteor shower also appears in April. It is visible from April 21 to May 20 each year, with peak activity on or around May 6. The Pi Puppids appear on April 23, but only in years around the parent comet's perihelion date. The Virginids also shower at various dates in April. The "Days of April" (journées d'avril) is a name assigned in French history to a series of insurrections at Lyons, Paris and elsewhere, against the government of Louis Philippe in 1834, which led to violent repressive measures, and to a famous trial known as the procès d'avril.
April	Symbols	Symbols alt=Faceted diamond\|thumb\|Faceted diamondApril's birthstone is the diamond. The birth flower is the common daisy (Bellis perennis) or the sweet pea.Kipfer, Barbara Ann (1997) The Order of Things. New York: Random House The zodiac signs are Aries (until April 19) and Taurus (April 20 onward).The Earth passed the junction of the signs at 14:45 UT/GMT on April 19, 2020, and will pass it again at 20:33 UT/GMT on April 19, 2021. Signs in UT/GMT for 1950–2030. alt=Daisy flower\|thumb\|Daisy flower alt=Sweet pea\|thumb\|Sweet pea
April	Observances	Observances This list does not necessarily imply official status or general observance.
April	Month-long	Month-long thumb\|A fresco in a Catholic church in Switzerland representing the Resurrection of the Lord In Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox tradition, April is the Month of the Resurrection of the Lord. April and March are the months in which the moveable Feast of Easter Sunday is celebrated. National Pet Month (UK)
April	United States	United States Arab American Heritage Month Autism Awareness Month Cancer Control Month Community College Awareness Month Confederate History Month (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia) Financial Literacy Month Jazz Appreciation Month Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month Month of the Military Child National Poetry Month National Poetry Writing Month Occupational Therapy Month National Prevent Child Abuse Month National Volunteer Month Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month Rosacea Awareness Month Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April	United States food months	United States food months Fresh Florida Tomato Month National Food Month National Grilled Cheese Month National Pecan Month National Soft Pretzel Month National Soyfoods Month
April	Non-Gregorian	Non-Gregorian (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.) List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar List of observances set by the Chinese calendar List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar List of observances set by the Islamic calendar List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar
April	Movable	Movable
April	Variable; 2021 dates shown	Variable; 2021 dates shown Youth Homelessness Matters Day National Health Day (Kiribati): April 6 Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week (United States): April 13–19 National Park Week (United States): April 18–26 Crime Victims' Rights Week (United States): April 19–25 National Volunteer Week: April 19–25 European Immunization Week: April 20–26 Day of Silence (United States): April 24 Pay It Forward Day: April 28 (International observance) Denim Day: April 29 (International observance) Day of Dialogue (United States) Vaccination Week In The Americas See: List of movable Western Christian observances See: List of movable Eastern Christian observances
April	First Wednesday	First Wednesday National Day of Hope (United States)
April	First Saturday	First Saturday Ulcinj Municipality Day (Ulcinj, Montenegro)
April	First Sunday	First Sunday Daylight saving time ends (Australia and New Zealand) Geologists Day (former Soviet Union countries) Kanamara Matsuri (Kawasaki, Japan) Opening Day (United States)
April	First full week	First full week National Library Week (United States) National Library Workers Day (United States) (Tuesday of National Library week, April 9 in 2024) National Bookmobile Day (Wednesday of National Library week, April 10 in 2024) National Public Health Week (United States) National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (United States)
April	Second Wednesday	Second Wednesday International Day of Pink
April	Second Thursday	Second Thursday National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States)
April	Second Friday	Second Friday Fast and Prayer Day (Liberia) Air Force Day (Russia) Kamakura Matsuri at Tsurugaoka Hachiman (Kamakura, Japan), lasts until third Sunday.
April	Second Sunday	Second Sunday Children's Day (Peru)
April	Week of April 14	Week of April 14 Pan American Week (United States)
April	Third Wednesday	Third Wednesday Administrative Professionals Day (New Zealand)
April	Third Thursday	Third Thursday National High Five Day (United States)
April	Third Saturday	Third Saturday Record Store Day (International observance)
April	Last full week of April	Last full week of April Administrative Professionals Week (Malaysia, North America) World Immunization Week
April	Week of April 23	Week of April 23 Canada Book Week (Canada)
April	Week of the [[new moon]]	Week of the new moon International Dark Sky Week (United States)
April	Third Monday	Third Monday Patriots' Day (Massachusetts, Maine, United States) Queen's Official Birthday (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) Sechseläuten (Zurich, Switzerland)
April	Wednesday of last full week of April	Wednesday of last full week of April Administrative Professionals Day (Hong Kong, North America)
April	First Thursday after April 18	First Thursday after April 18 First Day of Summer (Iceland)
April	Fourth Thursday	Fourth Thursday Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (United States)
April	Last Friday	Last Friday Arbor Day (United States) Día de la Chupina (Rosario, Argentina)
April	Last Friday in April to first Sunday in May	Last Friday in April to first Sunday in May Arbour Week in Ontario
April	Last Saturday	Last Saturday Children's Day (Colombia) National Rebuilding Day (United States) National Sense of Smell Day (United States) World Tai Chi and Qigong Day
April	Last Sunday	Last Sunday Flag Day (Åland, Finland) Turkmen Racing Horse Festival (Turkmenistan)
April	April 27 (April 26 if April 27 is a Sunday)	April 27 (April 26 if April 27 is a Sunday) Koningsdag (Netherlands)
April	Last Monday	Last Monday Confederate Memorial Day (Alabama, Georgia (U.S. state), and Mississippi, United States)
April	Last Wednesday	Last Wednesday International Noise Awareness Day
April	Fixed	Fixed thumb\|Celebration of the 2777th Natale di Roma at the Circus Maximus April 1 April Fools' Day Arbor Day (Tanzania) Civil Service Day (Thailand) Cyprus National Day (Cyprus) Edible Book Day Fossil Fools Day Kha b-Nisan (Assyrian people) National Civil Service Day (Thailand) Odisha Day (Odisha, India) Start of Testicular Cancer Awareness week (United States), April 1–7 Season for Nonviolence January 30 – April 4 April 2 International Children's Book Day (International observance) Malvinas Day (Argentina) National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (United States) Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand) Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus) World Autism Awareness Day (International observance) April 3 April 4 Children's Day (Hong Kong, Taiwan) Independence Day (Senegal) International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action Peace Day (Angola) April 5 Children's Day (Palestinian territories) National Caramel Day (United States) Sikmogil (South Korea) April 6 Chakri Day (Thailand) National Beer Day (United Kingdom) New Beer's Eve (United States) Tartan Day (United States & Canada) April 7 Flag Day (Slovenia) Genocide Memorial Day (Rwanda), and its related observance: International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide (United Nations) Motherhood and Beauty Day (Armenia) National Beer Day (United States) Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day (Tanzania) Women's Day (Mozambique) World Health Day (International observance) April 8 Buddha's Birthday (Japan only, other countries follow different calendars) Feast of the First Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) International Romani Day (International observance) April 9 Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark) Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan) Constitution Day (Kosovo) Day of National Unity (Georgia) Day of the Finnish Language (Finland) Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines) Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) International Banshtai Tsai Day Martyr's Day (Tunisia) National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States) Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth) Vimy Ridge Day (Canada) April 10 Day of the Builder (Azerbaijan) Feast of the Third Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) Siblings Day (International observance) April 11 Juan Santamaría Day, anniversary of his death in the Second Battle of Rivas. (Costa Rica) International Louie Louie Day National Cheese Fondue Day (United States) World Parkinson's Day April 12 Children's Day (Bolivia and Haiti) Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia) International Day of Human Space Flight Yuri's Night (International observance) Halifax Day (North Carolina) National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (United States) National Redemption Day (Liberia) April 13 Jefferson's Birthday (United States) Katyn Memorial Day (Poland) Teachers' Day (Ecuador) First day of Thingyan (Myanmar) (April 13–16) Unfairly Prosecuted Persons Day (Slovakia) April 14 ʔabusibaree (Okinawa Islands, Japan) Ambedkar Jayanti (India) Black Day (South Korea) Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan) Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives) Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia) Day of the Georgian language (Georgia (country)) Season of Emancipation (April 14 to August 23) (Barbados) N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers) Pohela Boishakh (Bangladesh) Pana Sankranti (Odisha, India) Puthandu (Tamils) (India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka) Second day of Songkran (Thailand) Pan American Day (several countries in the Americas) The first day of Takayama Spring Festival (Takayama, Gifu, Japan) Vaisakh (Punjab), (India and Pakistan) Youth Day (Angola) April 15 Day of the Sun (North Korea). Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England) Jackie Robinson Day (United States) Pohela Boishakh (West Bengal, India) (Note: celebrated on April 14 in Bangladesh) Last day of Songkran (Thailand) Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines) Universal Day of Culture World Art Day April 16 Birthday of José de Diego (Puerto Rico, United States) Birthday of Queen Margrethe II (Denmark) Emancipation Day (Washington, D.C., United States) Foursquare Day (International observance) Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Hungary) National Healthcare Decisions Day (United States) Remembrance of Chemical Attack on Balisan and Sheikh Wasan (Iraqi Kurdistan) World Voice Day April 17 Evacuation Day (Syria) FAO Day (Iraq) Flag Day (American Samoa) Malbec World Day National Cheeseball Day (United States) National Espresso Day (Italy) Women's Day (Gabon) World Hemophilia Day April 18 Anniversary of the Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice, 1242 (Russia) Army Day (Iran) Coma Patients' Day (Poland) Friend's Day (Brazil) Independence Day (Zimbabwe) International Day For Monuments and Sites Invention Day (Japan) April 19 Army Day (Brazil) Beginning of the Independence Movement (Venezuela) Bicycle Day Dutch-American Friendship Day (United States) Holocaust Remembrance Day (Poland) Indigenous Peoples Day (Brazil) King Mswati III's birthday (Eswatini) Landing of the 33 Patriots Day (Uruguay) National Garlic Day (United States) National Rice Ball Day (United States) Primrose Day (United Kingdom) April 20 420 (cannabis culture) (International) UN Chinese Language Day (United Nations) April 21 Natale di Roma(Italy) A&M Day (Texas A&M University) Civil Service Day (India) Day of Local Self-Government (Russia) Grounation Day (Rastafari movement) Heroic Defense of Veracruz (Mexico) Kang Pan-sok's Birthday (North Korea) Kartini Day (Indonesia) Local Self Government Day (Russia) National Tree Planting Day (Kenya) San Jacinto Day (Texas) Queen's Official Birthday (Falkland Islands) Tiradentes' Day (Brazil) Vietnam Book Day (Vietnam) April 22 Discovery Day (Brazil) Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia) National Jelly Bean Day (United States) April 23 Castile and León Day (Castile and León, Spain) German Beer Day (Germany) Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida) International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day Khongjom Day (Manipur, India) National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus) Navy Day (China) St George's Day (England) and its related observances: Canada Book Day (Canada) La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain) World Book Day UN English Language Day (United Nations) April 24 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia) Concord Day (Niger) Children's Day (Zambia) Democracy Day (Nepal) Fashion Revolution Day Flag Day (Ireland) International Sculpture Day Kapyong Day (Australia) Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh) National Panchayati Raj Day (India) National Pigs in a Blanket Day (United States) Republic Day (The Gambia) St Mark's Eve (Western Christianity) World Day for Laboratory Animals April 25 Anniversary of the First Cabinet of Kurdish Government (Iraqi Kurdistan) Anzac Day (Australia, New Zealand) Arbor Day (Germany) DNA Day Feast of Saint Mark (Western Christianity) Flag Day (Faroe Islands) Flag Day (Eswatini) Freedom Day (Portugal) Liberation Day (Italy) Major Rogation (Western Christianity) Military Foundation Day (North Korea) National Zucchini Bread Day (United States) Parental Alienation Awareness Day Red Hat Society Day Sinai Liberation Day (Egypt) World Malaria Day April 26 Chernobyl disaster related observances: Memorial Day of Radiation Accidents and Catastrophes (Russia) Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl tragedy (Belarus) Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, United States) Hug A Friend Day Lesbian Visibility Day National Pretzel Day (United States) Old Permic Alphabet Day Union Day (Tanzania) World Intellectual Property Day April 27 Day of Russian Parliamentarism (Russia) Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia) Flag Day (Moldova) Freedom Day (South Africa) UnFreedom Day Independence Day (Sierra Leone) Independence Day (Togo) National Day (Mayotte) National Day (Sierra Leone) National Prime Rib Day (United States) National Veterans' Day (Finland) April 28 Lawyers' Day (Orissa, India) Mujahideen Victory Day (Afghanistan) National Day (Sardinia, Italy) National Heroes Day (Barbados) Restoration of Sovereignty Day (Japan) Workers' Memorial Day and World Day for Safety and Health at Work (international) National Day of Mourning (Canada) April 29 Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare (United Nations) International Dance Day (UNESCO) Princess Bedike's Birthday (Denmark) National Shrimp Scampi Day (United States) Shōwa Day, traditionally the start of the Golden Week holiday period, which is April 29 and May 3–5. (Japan) April 30 Armed Forces Day (Georgia (country)) Birthday of the King (Sweden) Camarón Day (French Foreign Legion) Children's Day (Mexico) Consumer Protection Day (Thailand) Honesty Day (United States) International Jazz Day (UNESCO) Martyrs' Day (Pakistan) May Eve, the eve of the first day of summer in the Northern hemisphere (see May 1): Beltane begins at sunset in the Northern hemisphere, Samhain begins at sunset in the Southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year) Carodejnice (Czech Republic and Slovakia) Walpurgis Night (Central and Northern Europe) National Persian Gulf Day (Iran) Reunification Day (Vietnam) Russian State Fire Service Day (Russia) Tax Day (Canada) Teachers' Day (Paraguay)
April	See also	See also Germanic calendar List of historical anniversaries Sinking of the RMS Titanic
April	References	References
April	External links	External links National Arbor Day Foundation *04
April	Table of Content	short description, History, Symbols, Observances, Month-long, United States, United States food months, Non-Gregorian, Movable, Variable; 2021 dates shown, First Wednesday, First Saturday, First Sunday, First full week, Second Wednesday, Second Thursday, Second Friday, Second Sunday, Week of April 14, Third Wednesday, Third Thursday, Third Saturday, Last full week of April, Week of April 23, Week of the [[new moon]], Third Monday, Wednesday of last full week of April, First Thursday after April 18, Fourth Thursday, Last Friday, Last Friday in April to first Sunday in May, Last Saturday, Last Sunday, April 27 (April 26 if April 27 is a Sunday), Last Monday, Last Wednesday, Fixed, See also, References, External links
August	short description	thumb\|Depiction of harvesting in the August calendar page of the Queen Mary Psalter (fol. 78v), ca. 1310 August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August falls in summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the month falls during winter. In many European countries, August is the holiday month for most workers. Numerous religious holidays occurred during August in ancient Rome.Supplicia canum was held on August 3, Lychnapsia on August 12, Nemoralia was held from August 13–15 (or on the full moon of August), Tiberinalia and Portumnalia on August 17, Consuales Ludi on August 18, Vinalia rustica on August 19, Vulcanalia on August 23, Opiconsivia on August 25, and Volturnalia on August 27. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. Certain meteor showers take place in August. The Kappa Cygnids occur in August, with yearly dates varying. The Alpha Capricornids meteor shower occurs as early as July 10 and ends around August 10. The Southern Delta Aquariids occur from mid-July to mid-August, with the peak usually around July 28–29. The Perseids, a major meteor shower, typically takes place between July 17 and August 24, with the peak days varying yearly. The star cluster of Messier 30 is best observed around August. Among the aborigines of the Canary Islands, especially among the Guanches of Tenerife, the month of August received the name of Beñesmer or Beñesmen, which was also the harvest festival held that month. The month was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in , giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, the month was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis had 31 days before it was renamed. It was not chosen for its length. Sacrobosco's theory is discussed on pages 585–587.
August	Symbols	Symbols thumb\|Gladiolus alt=Peridot gemstones\|thumb\|Peridot gemstones alt=Sardonyx stone\|thumb\|Sardonyx stone alt=Red spinel on calcite\|thumb\|Red spinel on calciteAugust's birthstones are the peridot, sardonyx, and spinel. Its birth flower is the gladiolus or poppy, meaning beauty, strength of character, love, marriage and family.Birth months, flowers, and gemstones, shgresources.com The Western zodiac signs are Leo (until August 22) and Virgo (from August 23 onward).The Earth passes the junction of the signs at 15:44 UT/GMT August 22, 2020. It will pass again at 21:34 UT/GMT on August 22, 2021. Signs in UT/GMT for 1950–2030.
August	Observances	Observances This list does not necessarily imply official status or general observance.
August	Non-Gregorian: {{CURRENTYEAR}} dates	Non-Gregorian: dates (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at sundown before the listed date and end at sundown on the date in question unless otherwise noted.) List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar List of observances set by the Chinese calendar List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar List of observances set by the Islamic calendar List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar
August	Month-long	Month-long Women's Month (South Africa) American Adventures Month (celebrates vacationing in the Americas) Children's Eye Health and Safety Month Digestive Tract Paralysis (DTP) Month Get Ready for Kindergarten Month Happiness Happens Month Month of Philippine Languages or Buwan ng Wika (Philippines) Neurosurgery Outreach Month Psoriasis Awareness Month Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month What Will Be Your Legacy Month
August	United States month-long	United States month-long National Black Business Month National Children's Vision and Learning Month National Immunization Awareness Month National Princess Peach Month National Water Quality Month National Win with Civility Month
August	Food months in the United States	Food months in the United States National Catfish Month National Dippin' Dots Month Family Meals Month National Goat Cheese Month.Bober, Mike. Celebrate National Goat Cheese Month with Local Favorites, dcfoodies.com National Panini Month Peach Month Sandwich Month
August	Moveable Gregorian	Moveable Gregorian National Science Week (Australia) See also Movable Western Christian observances See also Movable Eastern Christian observances
August	Second to last Sunday in July and the following two weeks	Second to last Sunday in July and the following two weeks Construction Holiday (Quebec)
August	1st Saturday	1st Saturday Food Day (Canada) Mead Day (United States) National Mustard Day (United States)
August	1st Sunday	1st Sunday Air Force Day (Ukraine) American Family Day (Arizona, United States) Children's Day (Uruguay) Friendship Day (United States) International Forgiveness Day Railway Workers' Day (Russia)
August	First full week of August	First full week of August National Farmer's Market Week (United States)
August	1st Monday	1st Monday August Public Holiday (Ireland) Children's Day (Tuvalu) Civic Holiday (Canada) British Columbia Day (British Columbia, Canada) Natal Day (Nova Scotia, Canada) New Brunswick Day (New Brunswick, Canada) Saskatchewan Day (Saskatchewan, Canada Terry Fox Day (Manitoba, Canada) Commerce Day (Iceland) Emancipation Day (Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis) Farmer's Day (Zambia) Kadooment Day (Barbados) Labor Day (Samoa) National Day (Jamaica) Picnic Day (Northern Territory, Australia) Somers' Day (Bermuda) Youth Day (Kiribati)
August	1st Tuesday	1st Tuesday National Night Out (United States)