Observed annually on December 13, National Violin Day honors that bowed string instrument, which is also known as the fiddle.   Here’s some more violin facts:

• “Violin” comes from the Medieval Latin work “vitula” which means stringed instrument.
• The person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier.
• It is believed that Turkic and Mongolian horseman from Inner Asia were the world’s earliest fiddlers.  Their two-stringed upright fiddles were strung with horsehair strings.  They played them with horsehair bows and often featured a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck.
• It is supposed that the oldest documented four string violin, like the modern violins, was constructed by Andrea Amati in 1555.
• The record dollar amount paid for a Stradivari violin, when the “Lady Blunt” was sold on an online auction on June 20, 2011, was $15.9 million.
• Listen to some violin music today to observe National Violin Day!