the Ides

Today is the Ides of March - the name of 15 March in the Roman calendar. In Roman times, the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars (the Roman warrior god, the son of Juno and Jupiter) 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 assassinated. Caesar died on the Ides of March, 44 BC, after declaring himself dictator of Rome for life. Supposedly, a certain soothsayer warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides, and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "The Ides of March has come", to which the seer replied: "Aye Caesar, but not gone". As the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of senators who called themselves the Liberatores. They justified their tyrannicide on the grounds that they were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions.

The 15th is also known as:

Constitution Day in Belarus!
where's Belarus? This landlocked country in Eastern Europe is bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk. After the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic (1918–19), Belarus became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Byelorussian SSR. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on August 25, 1991. Since 1996, Belarus has been negotiating with Russia to unify into a single state called the Union of Russia and Belarus. Forty percent of the country is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing, but I think one of their best industries is its gymnists!

other events of note on the 15th include:

1954 "CBS Morning Show" premieres with Walter Cronkite & Jack Paar
1960 National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona dedicated
1962 Wilt Chamberlain is 1st to score 4,000 points in an NBA season
1971 Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet
1999 Pluto again becomes outermost planet

I missed a few days, so here's a brief catchup -
on the 14th:

Pi Day in the U.S.A. - what the hell is Pi Day?? check it out http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/pi-2008-announce.html

also,

1879 Albert Einstein was born in Ulm Germany, (E=mc²/Theory of Relativity, Nobel 1921)
1883 Karl Marx died at 64 - German philosopher (Communist Manifesto)
1900 US currency goes on gold standard (whatever happened to that??) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar
1920 Hank Ketcham was born to be a cartoonist (Dennis the Menace)
1971 The Rolling Stones leave England for France to escape taxes
1976 Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his 7,000th race

the 13th:

1868 Senate begins President Andrew Johnson impeachment trial for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Johnson was the 17th President of the United States (1865–69), succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was the first U.S. President to be impeached. The Radicals in the House of Representatives impeached him in 1868, charging him with violating the Tenure of Office Act, a law enacted by Congress in March 1867 over Johnson's veto, but he was acquitted by a single vote in the Senate. He is consistently ranked by historians as being among the worst U.S. presidents.
1925 Tennessee makes it unlawful to teach evolution (repealed in 1967)
1961 Pablo Picasso (79) marries his model Jacqueline Rocque (37)

the 12th:

Girl Scout Day in the U.S. and

Renovation Day in Gabon celebrating the establishment of the Gabonese Democratic Party in 1968

1789 US Post Office established
1850 1st US $20 gold piece issued
1945 Anne Frank was killed in Belsen Camp - diarist (Diary of Anne Frank)
1970 US lowers voting age from 21 to 18 1990 Los Angeles Raiders announce they were returning to Oakland
1994 Church of England ordains 1st 33 women priests

on the 11th:

Commonwealth Day in Tuvalu - where? formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbors are Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls. Its population of 11,992 makes it the third-least populated independent country in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants. It is also the second-smallest member by population of the United Nations. In terms of physical land size, at just 10 square miles, Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City; Monaco and Nauru. Tuvalu is a constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II recognised as the official Queen. The highest elevation is 15 feet) above sea level; it has very poor land and the soil is hardly usable for agriculture; and there is almost no reliable supply of drinking water. Not the normal paradise we picture in the South Pacific!

1908 Lawrence Welk was born in Strasburg ND, orchestra leader (Lawrence Welk Show)
1927 1st armored commercial car hold-up in US, Pittsburgh
1958 Starting this season, American League batters were required to wear batting helmets
1979 Randy Hold received 67 minutes in penalties in a 60 minute NHL hockey game
1983 World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Helsinki won by Scott Hamilton (USA) (who has just been wrongly fired by Donald Trump in Celebrity Apprentice)
1997 Beatle Paul McCartney knighted Sir Paul by Queen Elizabeth II

on the 10th, the only thing important to me is that it was my Mama's birthday!