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.
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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.
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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/.
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Mattel debuts Barbie on 9 March 1959. Since then over 800 million have been sold.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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Adelaide Cup in Australia – This public holiday in South Australia is celebrated with a horse race organized by the Jockey Club. Read more at https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/australia/south_australia/adelaide_cup_day.php.
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On 12 March 1938, as a test of its own war readiness and of the response of the other major powers, Germany occupied Austria. A year later Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and, in September 1939, Poland, beginning WWII.
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Canberra Day in Australia – This is a public holiday commemorating the naming of Canberra as the national capital. Read more at https://publicholidays.com.au/canberra-day/.
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Charles Cunningham Boycott
Charles Cunningham Boycott, born at Norfolk, England, on 12 March 1832, has been immortalized by having his name become part of the English language. In County Mayo, Ireland, the Tenants’ “Land League” in 1880 asked Boycott, an estate agent, to reduce rents (because of poor harvest and dire economic conditions). Boycott responded by serving eviction notices on the tenants, who retaliated by refusing to have any dealings with him.
Charles Stewart Parnell, then president of the National Land League and agrarian agitator, retaliated against Boycott by formulating and implementing the method of economic and social ostracism that came to be called a “boycott.” Boycott died at Suffolk, England, June 19, 1897.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt held the first of a series of radio broadcasts dubbed “Fireside Chats” on 12 March 1933, shortly after being inaugurated.
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Founded by Juliette Gordon Low on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Georgia. Read more at http://www.girlscouts.org/.
One of the most devastating blizzards to hit the northeastern US began in the early hours of Monday, 12 March 1888. A snowfall of 40– 50 inches, accompanied by gale-force winds, left drifts as high as 30– 40 feet. More than 400 persons died in the storm (200 at New York City alone). Some survivors of the storm, “The Blizzard Men of 1888,” held annual meetings at New York City as late as 1941 to recount personal recollections of the event.
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Napping Day – This day celebrates scientific findings that a nap can improve one’s productivity. Many successful people who napped include Einstein, Churchill, and Napoleon. http://fortune.com/2017/03/13/national-napping-day/.
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Mar 13. Replaces Empire Day observance recognized until 1958. Observed on second Monday in March. Also observed in the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar and Newfoundland, Canada.
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13 March – 15 April 2017. Observance of three of the most important anniversaries for deaf Americans: Mar 13, 1988, the victory of the Deaf President Now movement at Gallaudet University; Apr 8, 1864, charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln authorizing the Board of Directors of the Columbia Institution (now Gallaudet University) to grant college degrees to deaf students; Apr 15, 1817, establishment of the first permanent public school for the deaf in the Western Hemisphere, later known as the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.
Ear Muffs were patented March 13, 1887 by Chester Greenwood.
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Mar 13, 1961. On this date, the popular Barbie doll, introduced by Mattel in 1959, got a boyfriend: Ken Carson.
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On 14 March 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation instituted the “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list in an effort to publicize particularly dangerous criminals who were at large. From 1950 to 2013, 498 fugitives have appeared on the list; 469 have been located or apprehended. Generally, the only way to get off the list is to die or be captured. In the summer of 2011, the two top fugitives exited the list: terrorist Osama Bin Laden was killed in a raid in May and gangster James “Whitey” Bulger was arrested in June.
Mar 14, 1879. Theoretical physicist best known for his theory of relativity. Born at Ulm, Germany, he won the Nobel Prize in 1921. Died at Princeton, NJ, Apr 18, 1955.
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