On National Grammar Day, we honor our language and its rules, which help us communicate clearly with each other. In turn, clear communication helps us understand each other— a critical component of peaceful relations. The day is sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, a rapidly growing worldwide organization with more than 20,000 members. Annually, Mar 4th— both a date and an imperative.
Image: Pixabay.com, CC0.
William Penn
King Charles II deeded Pennsylvania to William Penn on March 4, 1681 to satisfy a debt of 16,000 pounds.
Image courtesy of WikimediaCommons
5 March 1770. A skirmish between British troops and a crowd at Boston, MA, became widely publicized and contributed to the unpopularity of the British regime in the colonies before the American Revolution. Five men were killed and six more were injured by British troops commanded by Captain Thomas Preston.
Image courtesy of Wikimediacommons
5 March 1770. Honors Crispus Attucks, possibly a runaway slave, who was the first to die in the Boston Massacre. Read more at PBS.org.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
St. Piran’s Day celebrates the birthday of St. Piran, the patron saint of Cornish tinners. Cornish worldwide celebrate this day.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
Dred Scott. Oil on canvas by Louis Schultze, 1888. Acc. # 1897.9.1. Missouri Historical Society Museum Collections.
6 March 1857. This was the most famous US Supreme Court decision during the prewar slavery controversy. Dred Scott, a slave, had successfully petitioned for his freedom based on his previous residence in a free state and territory. On this date the Supreme Court overturned Missouri’s Supreme Court decision and declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote that slaves were property, not citizens, and that Congress had no power to restrict slavery in the territories.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org,
6 March 1836. Anniversary of the fall of the Texan fort, the Alamo. The siege, led by Mexican general Santa Anna, began Feb 23 and reached its climax Mar 6, when the last of the defenders was slain. Texans, under General Sam Houston, rallied with the war cry “Remember the Alamo” and, at the Battle of San Jacinto, Apr 21, defeated and captured Santa Anna, who signed a treaty recognizing Texas’s independence.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
A part of Celebrate Your Name Week, today is Fun Facts About Your Name Day: Celebrate names today by looking up interesting tidbits about names. Get started with fun facts about names on our website. Or maybe you already know the name of Santa’s brother? Surprise, entertain, enlighten and amaze others by sharing what you find. Ask others to share the stories of their names. Discuss the exotic names some celebrities give their children.
6 Mar 1475. Anniversary of the birth, at Caprese, Italy, of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, a prolific Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect and poet who had a profound impact on Western art. Michelangelo’s fresco painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican at Rome, Italy, is often considered the pinnacle of his achievement in painting, as well as the highest achievement of the Renaissance. Also among his works were the sculptures David and The Pieta. Appointed architect of St. Peter’s in 1542, a post he held until his death on 18 February 1564, at Rome.
Mar 7, 1918. With US troops fighting in the trenches in France during WWI, President Woodrow Wilson authorized the creation of a new bronze, beribboned medal to be given to US Army personnel who performed “exceptionally meritorious service.”
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
7 March 1849. Anniversary of the birth of American naturalist and author, creator and developer of many new varieties of flowers, fruits, vegetables and trees. Burbank’s birthday is observed in California as Bird and Arbor Day. Born at Lancaster, Massachusetts, he died at Santa Rosa, California, 11 April 1926.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
National Cereal Day celebrates the invention of cereal which in the 19th century was viewed as a remedy for many ailments and an answer to a diet too high in protein. Read more at http://www.nationalcerealday.com/.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com user Ponce_Photography, CC0.
Mar 7, 1945. On this date in 1945, a small advance force of the US First Army captured the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine River at Remagen (between Bonn and Coblenz)—the only bridge across the Rhine that had not been blown up by the German defenders— thus acquiring the first bridgehead onto the east bank and the beginning of the Allied advance into Germany, a turning point in WWII.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
Bloody Sunday. On Sunday, March 7, 1965 the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama took place.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
Sunday, 8 March is International Women’s Day, a day to honor women, especially working women. Said to commemorate an 1857 march and demonstration at New York, NY, by female garment and textile workers. Believed to have been first proclaimed for this date at an international conference of women held at Helsinki, Finland, in 1910, “that henceforth Mar 8 should be declared International Women’s Day.” The 50th anniversary observance, at Peking, China, in 1960, cited Clara Zetkin (1857– 1933) as “initiator of Women’s Day on Mar 8.”
This is perhaps the most widely observed holiday of recent origin and is unusual among holidays originating in the US in having been widely adopted and observed in other nations, including socialist countries. In Russia it is a national holiday, and flowers or gifts are presented to women workers.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com, CC0.
Do typos (typographical errors) make you cringe? Strive for 100 percent accuracy in all documents and messages on National Proofreading Day. Grab a red pen or red pencil on 8 March to correct misspelled words; misused words; typos; grammatical errors; and missing, overused and misused punctuation marks.
Image: Pixabay.com, CC0.
March 9, 1822: Charles M. Graham of New York City received the first US patent for artificial teeth. Read more https://patriciahysell.wordpress.com/tag/charles-m-graham/.
Image courtesy of Pexels.com.
Mattel debuts Barbie on 9 March 1959. Since then over 800 million have been sold.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
Daguerreotype invented – The French Academy of Science announced it had developed this photo process in 1839. It remained the most popular for 20 years until less expensive methods of photography were made available. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype.
Image courtesy of wikimedia commons.
Mar 10. 5th annual. A day to celebrate the world’s bagpipes and piping traditions. There are more than 130 different kinds of bagpipes played worldwide. On this day pipers everywhere organize local events— talks, lectures, school visits, museum events, pipers’ picnics, concerts, gigs and ceilidhs. Annually, Mar 10.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com, CC0.
A part of Celebrate Your Name Week, today is Middle Name Pride Day: Today’s name celebration requires honesty and possibly some courage. Tell three people who don’t already know it what your middle name is (even if it’s Egbert).
Image courtesy of pexels.com.
Mar 10, 1876. Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first telephone message to his assistant in the next room: “Mr Watson, come here, I want you,” at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
On 10 March 1862, after the Legal Tender Act of 1862 passed Feb 25, 1862, the first paper money was issued in the US on this date. The denominations were $ 5 (Hamilton), $ 10 (Lincoln) and $ 20 (Liberty).
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com, CC0.
Mar 11, 1845. Anniversary of the death of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, believed to have been born at Leominster, Massachusetts, Sept 26, 1774. The planter of orchards and friend of wild animals was regarded by the Indians as a great medicine man. He died at Allen County, Indiana.
Image courtesy of United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing
On 11 March 1918, the first cases of the “Spanish” influenza were reported in the US when 107 soldiers became sick at Fort Riley, KS. By the end of 1920 nearly 25 percent of the US population had been infected. As many as 500,000 civilians died from the virus, exceeding the number of US troops killed abroad in WWI.
Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org
