Beware the Ides of March

Today is March 15th.  Growing up I remember my Mom saying ‘Beware the Ides of March”. 

According to Dictionary.com, the “ides of March” is the middle of the month.  The “ides” were the times when the full moon fell on the 15th.  That does not happen every month but the full moon does happen to fall on the 15th of March, May, July and October. 

This is not why my Mom would say this phrase on March 15th.  

The expression “Beware the Ides of March” comes from William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar.” In the play, a soothsayer warns Julius Caesar to be cautious on March 15.  Caesar ignores the warning and is assassinated on that day.

In the Roman calendar the Ides of March was a day that corresponds to March 15.  It was a day for making political appointments and settling debts.  It was also considered to be an unlucky day.

Today, the expression “Beware the Ides of March’ is often used to warn someone to be wary of a particular situation or to warn them of some upcoming danger.  

An article in the Smithsonian Magazine lists ten things in history that happened on March 15th. 

1. Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.

2. A Raid on Southern England, 1360

3. Samoan Cyclone, 1889

4. Czar Nicholas II Abdicates His Throne, 1917

5. Germany Occupies Czechoslovakia, 1939

6. A Deadly Blizzard on the Great Plains, 1941

7. World Record Rainfall, 1952

8. CBS Cancels the “Ed Sullivan Show,” 1971

9. Disappearing Ozone Layer, 1988

10.  A New Global Health Scare, 2003 

Four of these events happened in my lifetime.  I don’t remember number 7 because I was too young.  But in 1952, 73.62 inches of rain fell on the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion during a 24-hour rainfall. 

I do remember watching the Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights.  By 1971 I had started my first teaching job and usually on Sunday nights I was driving back to Lunenburg from Dartmouth, NS and thinking about my lesson plans for the coming week rather than watching the Ed Sullivan Show.

On March 15, 1988, NASA reported that the ozone layer over the Northern Hemisphere has been depleted three times faster than predicted and on March 15, 2003 the World Health Organization WHO issued a global health alert - SARS.  I remember travelling and having my temperature taken when I landed in an airport.  

Do you remember any of these events?  What things have happened to you on March 15th? 

Have a great day everyone and think of all the positive things that happened on March 15.

# living life abundantly  # published author  # travelling tuesdays