The Ides of March has long been considered an ill-fated day. Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C. Historians note that it is likely that a soothsayer named Spurinna had warned Caesar that danger would occur by the ides of March. William Shakespeare included the phrase Beware the ides of March” in his play Julius Caesar.
The ides were the 15th days of four months (Martius, or March; Maius, or May; Quintilis, or July; and October) in the ancient Roman lunar calendar; they were the 13th in all other months (originally, Aprilis, or April; Iunius, or June; Sextilis, or August; September; November; and December. Ianuarius, or January, and Februarius, or February, were added later).
The word ides comes from the Latin word idus, which is possibly derived from an Etruscan word meaning “to divide.” The ides were originally meant to mark the full Moon (the “halfway point” of a lunar month), but because the Roman calendar months and actual lunar months were of different lengths, they quickly got out of step. The ancient Romans considered the day after the calends (first of the month), nones (ninth day before the ides, inclusive), or ides of any month as unfavorable. These were called dies atri.”
Daily Calendar for Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Question of the Day
What do you call a baby rabbit?
A bunny, simply a bunny.
Advice of the Day
No one wants advice—only corroboration. —John Steinbeck
Home Hint of the Day
Red maple is easy to cut and split and relatively easy to dry. It doesn’t burn particularly hot, though.
Word of the Day
Solar Cycle
A period of 28 years in the Julian calendar, at the end of which the days of the month return to the same days of the week.
Puzzle of the Day
What confections were carried on Noah’s ark?
Preserved pears (pairs)
Born
- Andrew Jackson (7th U.S. president) –
- John Snow (physician) –
- Liberty Hyde Bailey (botanist) –
- Marjorie Merriweather Post (businesswoman) –
- Harry James (trumpet player) –
- Norm Van Brocklin (football player) –
- Rita Joe (Mi’kmaq poet) –
- Judd Hirsch (actor) –
- Mike Love (singer) –
- Phil Lesh (rock bass guitarist) –
- Sly Stone (musician) –
- Ry Cooder (guitarist & composer) –
- Eva Longoria (actress) –
- Kevin Youkilis (baseball player) –
- Sean Biggerstaff (actor) –
- Caitlin Wachs (actress) –
Died
- Aristotle Onassis (shipping magnate) –
- Dr. Benjamin Spock (pediatrician) –
- Sylvester Pat" Weaver" (creator of NBC’s Today and Tonight shows) –
- Ron Silver (actor) –
- Eugene Parker (American astrophysicist; proposed the idea of solar wind in 1958 ) –
Events
- Sister St. Stanislas Hachard became the first Catholic nun ordained in America–
- Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state–
- Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was named the first American Cardinal by Pope Pius IX–
- The first escalator was patented by inventor Jesse W. Reno of New York City–
- Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference after being in office for only 11 days–
- U.S. troops entered Mexico in futile search for revolutionary bandit Pancho Villa–
- The American Legion founded by war veterans in Paris–
- The first motion picture, My Little Chickadee, featuring both Mae West and W.C. Fields, was released–
- The King Cole Trio led by Nat King Cole had the first #1 LP on the first Billboard magazine top-selling record album chart–
- Lerner and Loewe’s play My Fair Lady started what became a 2,717-performance run in New York–
- Police in Orangeburg, SC, arrested more than 350 African Americans as sit-in demonstrations and sporadic racial violence spread throughout the South–
- Basketball star Wilt Chamberlain scored his 4,000th point of the season, averaging 50.4 points per game–
- Actress Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton (for the first time) on the 8th floor of the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal–
- U.S. government eased restrictions on travel to China by U.S. citizens–
- The film The Godfather premiered in New York City–
- The family drama Eight is Enough premiered–
- Martin Buser captured his second Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in the record time of 10 days, 13 hours, 2 minutes and 39 seconds–
- Highway line painting apparatus patented–
- Due to President Barack Obama’s presidential proclamation (issued on February 28, 2011), flags were flown at half mast on this day of the internment of Army Corporal Frank W. Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, and in remembrance of the generation of American veterans of World War I–
Weather
- A tornado hit McPaul, Iowa–
- Blizzard in North Dakota and Minnesota, 71 killed–
- Dr. Wallace E. Howell was hired by N.Y.C. to make rain–
- Boston broke its record for snowiest winter on record when 2.9 inches fell on this day, bringing the winter total to 108.6 inches–