Today at CelebreateWhat?com

Ides of March:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March)

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martias) is the name of March 15 in the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 709 AUC or 44 B.C.

According to Plutarch, Caesar was warned by a seer to be on his guard against a great peril on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated) Caesar saw the seer with a joked “Well, the Ides of March have come,” to which the seer replied “Ay, they have come, but they are not gone.” This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned to “beware the Ides of March.”

World Consumer Rights Day:

(excerpted from http://allafrica.com/stories/201003010749.html)

World Consumer Rights Day, on 15 March 2010, is to be supported by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) as an opportunity for consumers to raise the challenges they experience within the communications sector about telecommunications services (fixed-line and mobile phone services), postal and broadcasting services.

True Confessions Day:

(excerpted from http://www.wellcat.com/march/true_confessions_day.htm)

Confession is good for the soul.  Go into work today and tell all.  If you plan to stay home, make an appointment with your mirror.

Napping Day:

(excerpted from http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news/releases/display.php?id=1278)

More than half of Americans report being sleep deprived, according to a recent survey by The New York Times. And the day where Americans receive the least amount of sleep, the day after daylight saving time begins, is just around the corner. How will you prepare for that night of even less sleep?

International Day Against Police Brutality:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_Against_Police_Brutality)

The International Day Against Police Brutality occurs on March 15. It first began in 1997 as an initiative of the Montreal Collective Opposed to Police Brutality and the Black Flag group in Switzerland. The date was initially chosen for convenience (March 15 1997 fell on a Saturday), although since the year 2000, it has often been linked to an alleged incident in which two children, aged 11 and 12, were beaten to death by the Swiss police.[citation needed]

Acceptance of March 15 as a focal day of solidarity against police brutality varies from one place to another. In the United States, the October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation, a group mounted by the RCP, has succeeded in building support for October 22 (also known as O22) as National Anti Police Brutality Day since 1995.

Everything You Think is Wrong Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/everythingwrongday.htm)

Everything You Think is Wrong Day is a day when nothing goes right. Have you ever had a day like that…… a day when nothing was going right? Yeah, me too!

Well, today is a special day in recognition that everyone has a bad day once in a while. It can even happen to you. We just hope that it doesn’t happen too often.

Dumbstruck Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/dumbstruckday.htm)

Dumbstruck Day is a day to be totally dumbstruck over the things you see, hear and read. You may easily be dumbstruck to read that someone created this special day. Some people are dumbstruck on a regular basis, day in and day out. The events in their lives and the world around them are overwhelming. Fortunately, that’s not you (we hope).

Brutus Day:

(excerpted from http://www.answers.com/topic/brutus-day)

Mar 15. No matter where you work, you must admit there’s as much intrigue, plotting and backstabbing as was found in ancient Rome or is found today inside the Washington Beltway.

Absolutely Incredible Kids Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/incrediblekidday.htm)

Sure, your kid is pretty good. But, my kid is absolutely incredible! As a matter of fact, all of my kids are absolutely incredible. As a parent, I am going to take full advantage of being the author of this page to exercise my bragging rights, and to let you know that my kids are absolutely incredible. (Wow! That felt pretty good.)

If the paragraph above doesn’t give you a good impression of the meaning and purpose of this day, then you probably don’t have kids…yet. When those offspring do arrive, you will most certainly use this special  day to profess how incredible your kids are. Amazingly, tomorrow they go back to being brats.

(1820) Maine became the 23rd state:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine)

The State of Maine (en-us-Maine.ogg /ˈmeɪn/ (help·info)) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of New England and is the easternmost state in the contiguous United States. It is known for its scenery — its jagged, mostly rocky coastline, its low, rolling mountains, and its heavily forested interior — as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.

The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking peoples. The first European settlement in Maine was in 1604 by a French party. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations, and conflict with the local peoples wiped out many of them over the years. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements still survived. Patriot and British forces contended for Maine’s territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was an exclave of Massachusetts until 1820, when as a result of the growing population and a political agreement regarding slavery, it became the 23rd state on March 15 under the Missouri Compromise.

Celebrity Birthdays:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson)

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. A polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s, his political ambition combined with widening political participation, shaping the modern Democratic Party.

His legacy is now seen as mixed, as a protector of popular democracy and individual liberty for white men, checkered by his support for Indian removal and slavery. Renowned for his toughness, he was nicknamed “Old Hickory.” As he based his career in developing Tennessee, Jackson was the first president primarily associated with the American frontier.

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Longoria_Parker)

Eva Jacqueline Longoria Parker (born Eva Jacqueline Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress and fashion model. She currently plays Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She became a nationally recognized model in the 2000’s after appearing in several high-profile advertising campaigns and numerous men’s magazines, reaching #14 in the FHM “Sexiest Women 2008″ poll, and having appeared on the cover of various international women’s magazines including Vogue, Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar. Longoria married NBA guard Tony Parker in 2007.

Daylight Saving Time Begins:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time)

Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English—see Terminology) is the practice of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist.[2] Many countries have used it since then; details vary by location and change occasionally.

The practice is controversial. Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, evening entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun. Traffic fatalities are reduced when there is extra afternoon daylight; its effect on health and crime is less clear. Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited and often contradictory.

National Pi Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/piday.htm)

National Pi Day celebrates Pi, a mathematical concept  and a number that never ends….at least no one has found the end yet. Often, we round it off to 3.14. If you are a mathematician, this is your day. For National Pi Day is a celebration of mathematics. And, more specifically…. it celebrates “Pi”.

Today is the birthday physicist Albert Einstein. Einstein was born on March 14, 1879. The date is also represented as 3.14. We strongly suspect some combination of these two facts is why someone created the day on March 14th. However, “Pi” was around long before Albert Einstein was born.

Mothering Sunday (England):

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday)

Mothering Sunday is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe.  Secularly it became a celebration of motherhood. It is increasingly being called Mother’s Day, although that other holiday has a completely different origin. In the UK it is considered synonymous with Mother’s Day as celebrated in other countries.

A religious festival celebrating motherhood has been existent in Europe since neolithic times. In the Roman religion the Hilaria festival was held in honour of the mother goddess Cybele and it took place during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, this celebration became part of the liturgical calendar as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the “mother church”.

Learn About Butterflies Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/butterfliesday.htm)

Today is Learn About Butterflies Day. It is fun day, because everyone likes butterflies.

When we first heard about this special day, we thought…Oh, how cool! Butterflies are neat and fun to watch, flittering about the yard during the summer months.

But, then we thought: Why hold Learn About Butterflies Day in March? There’s logic to this. As we approach summer, we get outdoors and become busy with all of the activities of summer. It’s far better to do a little learning in the winter, so we are prepared to better appreciate these colorful, winged creatures, as they re-appear in our backyards.

National Potato Chip Day:

(excerpted from http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/potatochipday.htm)

National Potato Chip Day celebrates the ever popular potato chip. Potato Chips are America’s #1 snack food. But, its not just a snack food. Its the potato of choice for many lunchtime and dinner meals. Regular (or plain) potato chips are by far the most popular. Other popular flavors are barbecue, sour cream & onion, oil & vinegar, and ranch.

Did you Know? Potato chips were first made by Chef George Crum in Saratoga Springs, NY on August 24, 1853. Americans have been in love with them ever since.

(1794) Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin:

(excerpted from http://massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=80)

…in 1794, Westborough native Eli Whitney applied for a patent on the cotton gin. Raised on a farm in Massachusetts, he invented a machine that made growing cotton so profitable that the South became a “cotton kingdom” where millions of Africans toiled in slavery. After nearly a decade in the South, Whitney returned to New England and developed what became known as the “American System” of manufacture. He designed machines that turned out standardized, interchangeable parts. These machines made mass production possible and were critical to the coming Industrial Revolution. Eli Whitney’s innovations transformed the economy first of the American South and later of the North.

(1900) Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act:

(excerpted from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0314.html#article)

At fourteen minutes before 1 o’clock this afternoon the President affixed his signature to the Financial bill, thus making it a law of the land. Mr. Overstreet of Indiana, who had the bill in charge, arrived at the White House about five minutes before that time, and was shown into the Cabinet room, where he was joined by the President, who after inquiring if the bill had been compared with care affixed his signature to it.

At the same time he recalled to those who stood by the fact that many of the important financial bills which had been passed by Congress had been approved on the 14th of the month. He spoke of the Sherman act, the Resumption act, and now the bill which was before him. In signing the bill the President used a new gold pen and holder, which Mr. Overstreet had brought with him for the purpose.

Celebrity Birthdays:

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)

Albert Einstein (pronounced /ˈælbərt ˈaɪnstaɪn/; German: [ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n]  ( listen); 14 March 1879–18 April 1955) was a German-born Swiss-American theoretical physicist, philosopher and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential and best known scientists and intellectuals of all time. He is often regarded as the father of modern physics. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

His many contributions to physics include the special and general theories of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the first post-Newtonian expansion, explaining the perihelion advance of Mercury, prediction of the deflection of light by gravity and gravitational lensing, the first fluctuation dissipation theorem which explained the Brownian movement of molecules, the photon theory and wave-particle duality, the quantum theory of atomic motion in solids, the zero-point energy concept, the semiclassical version of the Schrödinger equation, and the quantum theory of a monatomic gas which predicted Bose–Einstein condensation.

(excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Caine)

Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born 14 March 1933) is an English film actor. Caine has appeared in more than 100 films and is one of only two actors to have been nominated for an Academy Award for acting (leading or supporting) in every decade since the 1960s (Jack Nicholson being the other).

He became known for several notable critically acclaimed performances, particularly in films such as Zulu (1964); The Ipcress File (1965) and others as Harry Palmer; the womanising title character in Alfie (1966); The Italian Job (1969); The Battle Of Britain (1969); Get Carter (1971); The Man Who Would Be King (1975); Educating Rita (1983); an Academy Award–winning performance for supporting actor in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and The Cider House Rules (1999); as Nigel Powers in the parody Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002); and more recently as Alfred Pennyworth, the butler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.