- 61st Day of 2012 / 305 Remaining
- 19 Days Until Spring Begins
To the Romans, March was Martius, named for Mars, the god of war. On the ancient calendar, March was the first month of the year until 46 B.C. In England it was the first month until 1752.
- March's birthstone: bloodstone or aquamarine.
- March's flower is the daffodil or jonquil
- Sunrise:6:40
- Sunset:6:04
- 11 Hr 24 Min
- Moon Rise:11:34am
- Moon Set:1:40am
- Moon’s Phase: 58 %
- The Next Full Moon
- March 8 @ 1:41 am
- Full Worm Moon
- Full Sap Moon
- Full Crust Moon
- Lenten 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:4:02am/7:07pm
- Low:11:41am/11:26pm
- Rainfall
- This Year:7.40
- Last Year:17.61
- Normal To Date:16.96
- Annual Average: 22.28
- Holidays
- National Horse Protection Day
- National Pig Day
- Peace Corps Day
- Plan a Solo Vacation Day
- Refired, Not Retired Day
- Admission Day-Nebraska
- Admission Day-Ohio
- Town Meeting Day-Vermont
- National Peanut Butter Lover's Day
- National Fruit Compote Day
- Be Positive, Do Something Positive Day
- Plan a Solo Vacation Day
- World Compliment Day
- Beer Day-Iceland
- Independence Day-Bosnia/Herzegovina
- Omizutori-Japan - Water-Drawing Festival
- St. David's Day-Wales
- Baba Marta-Bulgaria
- Independence Movement Day-South Korea
- International Women of Color Day
- International Day of the Seal
- Heroes' Day-Paraguay
- Yap Day (Yap)- Micronesia
- On This Day In …
- 1498 --- Vasco de Gama landed at what is now Mozambique on his way to India.
- 1692 --- In Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados, are charged with the illegal practice of witchcraft. Later that day, Tituba, possibly under coercion, confessed to the crime, encouraging the authorities to seek out more Salem witches. Trouble in the small Puritan community began the month before, when nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams, the daughter and niece, respectively, of the Reverend Samuel Parris, began experiencing fits and other mysterious maladies. A doctor concluded that the children were suffering from the effects of witchcraft, and the young girls corroborated the doctor's diagnosis. With encouragement from a number of adults in the community, the girls, who were soon joined by other "afflicted" Salem residents, accused a widening circle of local residents of witchcraft, mostly middle-aged women but also several men and even one four-year-old child. During the next few months, the afflicted area residents incriminated more than 150 women and men from Salem Village and the surrounding areas of Satanic practices. In June 1692, the special Court of Oyer, "to hear," and Terminer, "to decide," convened in Salem under Chief Justice William Stoughton to judge the accused. The first to be tried was Bridget Bishop of Salem, who was found guilty and executed by hanging on June 10. Thirteen more women and four men from all stations of life followed her to the gallows, and one man, Giles Corey, was executed by crushing. Most of those tried were condemned on the basis of the witnesses' behavior during the actual proceedings, characterized by fits and hallucinations that were argued to be caused by the defendants on trial. In October 1692, Governor William Phipps of Massachusetts ordered the Court of Oyer and Terminer dissolved and replaced with the Superior Court of Judicature, which forbade the type of sensational testimony allowed in the earlier trials. Executions ceased, and the Superior Court eventually released all those awaiting trial and pardoned those sentenced to death. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in the executions of 19 innocent women and men, had effectively ended.
- 1780 --- Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery.
- 1781 --- The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
- 1790 --- Congress authorized the first U.S. census.
- 1803 --- Ohio (17th state) entered the United States of America. The Buckeye State (nicknamed because of the many buckeye trees, the state tree) with Columbus as its capital city seems to have a penchant for the color red. Its state bird is the cardinal; the scarlet carnation is its flower; the state insect is the ladybug; and the state drink is tomato juice. The state song is Beautiful Ohio, the word, Ohio, is derived from the Iroquois Indian word meaning ‘great river’. The Ohio River is not as great as the Mississippi, but it is pretty big! Ohio’s state motto: With God, all things are possible. So, maybe it is great!
- 1864 --- Rebecca Lee became the first black woman to receive an American medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.
- 1867 --- The Cornhusker State, aka the Beef State, aka the Tree Planter State, aka Nebraska (37th state), entered the United States of America. Nebraska means ‘flat water’ in Oto Indian speak. Lincoln is the official seat of Nebraska government. Nebraska’s motto: Equality before the law. The western meadowlark holds the honor of being the state bird; while the goldenrod takes its place as the state flower. Other state symbols include the cottonwood tree (state tree); the honeybee (state insect); blue agate (state gemstone); whitetail deer (state mammal); mammoth (state fossil); prairie agate (state rock); Beautiful Nebraska (state song) ... that’s original ... and, the state soil: typic arguistolls, Holrege Series. State soil?
- 1872 --- Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park
- 1873 --- E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, NY began the manufacturing of the first practical typewriter. The strong as steel, heavy black clunkers became instant fixtures in offices across the country. It would be another half-century before electric typewriters made their appearance.
- 1928 --- Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded Ol’ Man River for Victor Records. The featured vocalist on the track was 29-year-old Paul Robeson. The song became an American classic.
- 1941 --- Commercial FM broadcasting began in the U.S. when station W47NV in Nashville, TN started operations. W47NV was the first commercial FM radio station to receive a license, some 20 years after its AM radio counterpart, KDKA in Pittsburgh. For those of you who don’t remember, FM stands for ‘frequency modulation’ as opposed to ‘amplitude modulation’. W47NV operated with 20,000 watts on a frequency of 44,700 kilocycles. FM stations don’t do that anymore. They operate in a different segment of the radio spectrum (88-108 MHz) and at power outputs not exceeding 100,000 watts, except in rare instances. (There are a few FM stations in the U.S. with power output up to 300,000 watts and antennas more than a thousand feet high.) In the beginning, FM radio was pretty much a graveyard for beautiful music that numbed us in doctor’s offices and in elevators. It became a primary source for educational programming; featuring classical music, opera and jazz. Today, more than 80 percent of radio listening in the United States is done by way of FM and one can hear just about everything, from oldies, rock and pop, country and blues to National Public Radio.
- 1961 --- Newly elected President John F. Kennedy issues an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. It proved to be one of the most innovative and highly publicized Cold War programs set up by the United States. During the course of his campaign for the presidency in 1960, Kennedy floated the idea that a new "army" should be created by the United States. This force would be made up of civilians who would volunteer their time and skills to travel to underdeveloped nations to assist them in any way they could.
- 1968 --- Country music stars Johnny Cash and June Carter got married on this day. Johnny walked down the aisle knowing that his 1956 hit, Folsom Prison Blues, was about to be redone for a June release. Cash has a daughter, Rosanne, (previous marriage) who became a country star in her own right in the 1980s.
- 1969 --- Jim Morrison, of the Doors, was arrested and officially charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent behavior, open profanity and public drunkenness in Miami. Morrison was later sentenced. Morrison died while the sentence was under appeal.
- 1973 --- The New York Joffrey Ballet performed its "Deuce Coupe Ballet" for the first time. The music was 100% Beach Boys.
- 1974 --- Former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John Mitchell were indicted on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate break-in.
- 1981 --- Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. (He died 65 days later.)
- 2000 --- By a rare unanimous vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to allow most Social Security recipients to earn as much money as they want without losing any benefits.
- 2002 --- McDonald's announced in a press release that it has agreed to pay 10 million dollars to Hindu and vegetarian groups to settle lawsuits over its use of beef flavoring in its French Fries.
- 2005 --- A divided U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals.
- Birthdays
- Frederic Chopin
- Harry Belafonte
- Glenn Miller
- Ron Howard
- Alan Thicke
- Roger Daltry
- Yitzhak Rabin
- David Niven
- Justin Bieber
- Robert H. Bork
- Robert Clary
- Robert Conrad
- Catherine Bach
- Robert Lowell
- Donald "Deke" Slayton
- Pete Rozelle
- William Gaines
- Michael Flanders
- March is …
- Women's History Month
- American Red Cross Month
- Caffeine Awareness Month
- Eye Donor Month, Craft Month
- Ethics Awareness Month
- National Peanut Month
- National Noodle Month
- Employee Spirit Month
- National Eye Donor Month
- Honor Society Awareness Month
- Social Work Month
- Ideas Month
- Irish-American Heritage Month
- Listening Awareness Month
- International Mirth Month
- Music in Our Schools Month
- Optimism Month
- Humorists Are Artists Month (HAAM)
- Mirth Month
- National "On Hold" Month
- Sing with Your Child Month
- Spiritual Wellness Month
- National Youth Art Month