Beware the Ides of March

As March is my birth month I thought I’d share some March facts with you. If you were born in March, this will be more interesting to you than to others. However, I have a lot of friends who were born in March along with me, so I know they will enjoy it. Try looking up facts for your own month if you weren’t born with us special people born in March.

Let’s start with the sayings associated with March.

“Beware the Ides of March”

The explanation for this saying comes best from Wikipedia, which I quote:

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martii or Idus Martiae) is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar.

The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month. It is a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other months. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held.

Julius Caesar

In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch.

According to Plutarch, a seer had foreseen that Caesar would be harmed not later than the Ides of March and on his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated), Caesar met that seer and joked, "The ides of March have come", meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Ay, Caesar; but not gone.” This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March."

Another saying we associate with March is “In Like a Lion out like a Lamb.”

The Farmers Almanac site explains what this saying is all about. In the old days when people were more superstitious than they are now, people believed that bad spirits could affect the weather adversely. They believed that life and the weather has certain balances. So if March started out cold and stormy, then the end of March should be mild and sunny. Some believe this saying is more a rhyme though than a true weather predictor.

Other sayings associated with March are:

A dry March and a wet May? Fill barns and bays with corn and hay.

As it rains in March so it rains in June.

March winds and April showers? Bring forth May flowers.

Do you believe in weather predictions, especially those purported in the Farmers Almanac?

Of course, March has St. Patrick’s Day. Look for a separate log with a recipe for Irish Stew.

Some other fun facts about March:

Flower: Daffodil

Zodiac Signs: Pisces, the Fish, Feb. 19-Mar. 20; Aries, the Ram, Mar. 21-Apr. 19

Birthstone: Aquamarine, Bloodstone-meaning courage

Famous Birthdays On the 5^th: Rex Harrison, Dean Stockwell, Andy Gibb of the Beegees, and Jake Lloyd, an actor in “Star Wars.”

March in History

Yellowstone becomes the U.S.’s first national park. (1872)

Texas declared its independence from Mexico (1836)

Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 100 points in a basketball game (1962)

The Star Spangled Banner becomes the national anthem (1931)

The Constitution of the United States of America goes into effect (1789)

The Boston Massacre occurred (1770)

Silly putty is invented (1950)

Walter Cronkite signs off as anchorman of the CBS Evening News (1981)

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone (1876)

Monopoly board game is invented (1933)

Joe DiMaggio dies (1999)

Battleships the Monitor and the Merrimack do battle in the Civil war.

Alexander Graham Bell places the world’s first telephone call to his assistant in the next room (1876)

Girl Scouts is founded

Eli Whitney patents the Cotton Gin (1794)

The Mai Lai Massacre takes place in Vietnam (1968)

The rubber band is invented.

Elvis joins the U.S. army.

There are many more, but these are just some of the important dates in history.

Here are some special designations for March:

• Irish American Month
• Music in Our Schools Month
• National Craft Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995.
• National Nutrition Month
• National Peanut Month
• National Women's History Month
• Poetry Month
• Red Cross Month
• Social Workers Month

The most bizarre fact I found out about March is that it is Multiple Personality Day on the 5^th which gives me cause to wonder.

Thanks for listening.