- 67th Day of 2013 / 298 Remaining
- 12 Days Until The First Day of Spring
- Sunrise:6:30
- Sunset:6:11
- 11 Hours 41 Minutes of Daylight
- Moon Rise:4:16am
- Moon Set:3:15pm
- Moon’s Phase:11 %
- The Next Full Moon
- March 27 @ 2:30am
- Full Worm Moon
- Full Crust Moon
- Full Lenten Moon
- Full Crow Moon
- Full Sap Moon
As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
- Tides
- High:8:43am/10:10pm
- Low:2:41am/3:20pm
- Rainfall (measured July 1 – June 30)
- This Year:14.54
- Last Year:7.37
- Normal To Date:19.22
- Annual Seasonal Average:23.80
- Holidays
- Girls Write Now Day
- International Pancake Day
- Organize Your Home Office Day
- Paczki Day
- Shrove Tuesday
- Unique Names Day
- Inaugural International School Meals Day
- National Peanut Cluster Day
- International Women's Day
- UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace
- Bursting Day-Iceland
- Decoration Day-Liberia
- Mother’s Day-Bulgaria
- Revolution Day-Syria
- On This Day In …
- 1618 --- Johann Kepler discovered the third Law of Planetary Motion.
- 1669 --- Mount Etna, on the island of Sicily in modern-day Italy, begins rumbling. Multiple eruptions over the next few weeks killed more than 20,000 people and left thousands more homeless. Most of the victims could have saved themselves by fleeing, but stayed, in a vain attempt to save their city. Mount Etna dominates the island of Sicily. Rising 11,000 feet above sea level in the northeast section of Sicily, it can be seen from just about every part of the 460-square-mile island.
- 1894 --- A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York. It was the first animal control law in the U.S.
- 1910 --- The King of Spain authorized women to attend universities.
- 1911 --- In Europe, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time.
- 1917 --- In Russia, the February Revolution (known as such because of Russia's use of the Julian calendar) begins when riots and strikes over the scarcity of food erupt in Petrograd. One week later, centuries of czarist rule in Russia ended with the abdication of Nicholas II, and Russia took a dramatic step closer toward communist revolution. By 1917, most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of the czarist regime. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the Russian parliament established after the Revolution of 1905, when it opposed his will. However, the immediate cause of the February Revolution--the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917--was Russia's disastrous involvement in World War I. Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Meanwhile, the economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort, and moderates joined Russian radical elements in calling for the overthrow of the czar. On March 8, 1917, demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now known as St. Petersburg). Supported by 90,000 men and women on strike, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among all of Petrograd's workers, and irate mobs of workers destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet, or "council," of workers' committees, following the model devised during the Revolution of 1905.
- 1917 --- The U.S. Senate voted to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
- 1948 --- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public schools was unconstitutional.
- 1950 --- Volkswagen, maker of the Beetle automobile, expands its product offerings to include a microbus, which goes into production on this day in 1950. Known officially as the Volkswagen Type 2 (the Beetle was the Type 1) or the Transporter, the bus was a favorite mode of transportation for hippies in the U.S. during the 1960s and became an icon of the American counterculture movement. The VW bus was reportedly the brainchild of Dutch businessman Ben Pon, an importer of Beetles to the Netherlands, who saw a market for a small bus and in 1947 sketched out his concept. Volkswagen engineers further developed the idea and in March 1950, the vehicle, with its boxy, utilitarian shape and rear engine, went into production. The bus eventually collected a number of nicknames, including the "Combi" (for combined-use vehicle) and the "Splittie" (for its split windshield); in Germany it was known as the "Bulli." In the U.S., it was referred to by some as a hippie van or bus because it was used to transport groups of young people and their camping gear and other supplies to concerts and anti-war rallies. Some owners painted colorful murals on their buses and replaced the VW logo on the front with a peace symbol. According to "Bug" by Phil Patton, when Grateful Dead musician Jerry Garcia died in 1995, Volkswagen ran an ad featuring a drawing of the front of a bus with a tear streaming down it.
- 1968 --- In 1966, Graham opened his new concert venue, the Fillmore, here in San Francisco, which quickly became an important stop on the concert itinerary of nearly every great band of the era. Two years later, his psychedelic musical empire went bi-coastal with the opening of the Fillmore East in New York City on this day in 1968. Opening night at the Fillmore East was typical of the kind of show put together by Graham, who was a pioneer in combining roots music with contemporary rock and roll in a way that became de rigueur at 1960s rock festivals. The bill featured blues guitarist Albert King, folk singer-songwriter Tim Buckley and Janis Joplin's group Big Brother and the Holding Company, who had just begun recording their landmark Cheap Thrills album. Over the course of the next two months, the Fillmore East brought some of the biggest names in late 60s rock to Manhattan's East Village: The Doors (March 22), The Who (April 5-6), Traffic (April 19-20), Jefferson Airplane (May 3-4) and Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone (May 10) and The Byrds (May 18).
- 1969 --- Sly and the Family Stone were starting their fourth (and final) week at number one on the pop music charts (also #1 on the soul charts) with Everyday People. When presented with the coveted gold record for this achievement, Sly ripped it out of its case, threw it on the platter player and heard, People, by Barbra Streisand. He was heard to utter a few words that are not printable here (this being a family feature).
- 1971 --- Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier meet for the "Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The bout marked Ali’s return to the marquee three-and-a-half years after boxing commissions revoked his license over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. It was also Ali’s first chance to win back the heavyweight championship, which had been stripped by the WBA (World Boxing Association). The fight lived up to the hype. Ali initially landed more punches, gliding about the ring as light on his feet as he was in the prime of his career. Frazier’s punches, however, seemed to have more impact. By the eighth round, Frazier was leading six rounds to two with each judge. In the 11th round, Ali staggered but fought back, forcing the action into the 12th and 13th rounds. The fight was already decided by the 15th, when Frazier landed a left hook to Ali’s right chin, knocking down the champ for the first time in his pro career. Ali got up, but Frazier won the fight by unanimous decision, retaining his title and delivering Ali the first loss of his career.
- 1983 --- Speaking to a convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Florida on this day in 1983, President Ronald Reagan publicly refers to the Soviet Union as an evil empire for the second time in his career. He had first used the phrase in a 1982 speech at the British House of Commons. Some considered Reagan's use of the Star Wars film-inspired terminology to be brilliant democratic rhetoric. Others, including many within the international diplomatic community, denounced it as irresponsible bombast. Reagan's aggressive stance toward the Soviet Union became known as the Reagan Doctrine. Advocating a peace through strength policy, Reagan declared that the Soviets must be made to understand we will never compromise our principles and standards [nor] ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire. To do so would mean abandoning the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.
- 1999 --- The White House, under President Bill Clinton, directed the firing of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The firing was a result of alleged security violations.
- Birthdays
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
- Mickey Dolenz
- Gary Numan
- Lester Holt
- Alan Hale Jr
- Cyd Charisse
- Jim Bouton
- Lynn Redgrave
- Carol Bayer Sager
- Cheryl “Salt” James
- Christian K Nelson