April
Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly 30 A.D. The resurrection of Jesus is essentially the foundation upon which the Christian religions are built. Hence, Easter is a very significant date on the Christian calendar. Easter is also associated with the Jewish holiday of Passover, as well as the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, as described in the Old Testament. These links are clearly seen in the Last Supper, essentially a Passover feast, which occurred the night before Jesus’ arrest and the sufferings Jesus endured following his arrest.
Many people—mostly children—also participate in Easter egg “hunts,” in which decorated eggs are hidden. In some households, a character known as the Easter Bunny delivers candy and chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday morning. These candies often arrive in an Easter basket. The exact origins of the Easter Bunny tradition are unknown, although some historians believe it arrived in America with German immigrants in the 1700s. Rabbits are, in many cultures, known as enthusiastic procreators, so the arrival of baby bunnies in springtime meadows became associated with birth and renewal. Today, Easter is a commercial event as well as a religious holiday, marked by high sales for greeting cards, candies (such as Peeps, chocolate eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies) and other gifts.
Whether you celebrate Easter as a religious tradition or as a time to celebrate the coming Spring with family and friends who have stuck with you over the years, the annual long weekend has been marked by some pretty significant deaths in recent times.
This month's WeRelate Crowdsourcing Challenge looked at two actors from different eras and film genres who died on an Easter weekend. Sadly, neither of the two were to resurrect (although their lives do continue in part through their work in movies and television). Greta Garbo was a multi-talented Swedish actress who received three Oscar nominations on the way to becoming one of the pioneering stars of early cinema. She lead the movie industry into the “talkie” era and was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women of her time. She died on Easter Sunday in 1990. Benny Hill was a British comedian who cemented his legacy with silly chase sequences and comical music and is perhaps one of the most famous funnymen to have ever existed. Whether his name is recognizable to you or not, you’ve certainly heard his television show's theme (linked below). He died on the Monday following Easter in 1992.
Congratulations to the players who contributed to this month's challenge.
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