By Edith, still writing from her couch north of Boston. The way we Wickeds work our calendar is that each of us is responsible for wrangling one month twice a year. The wrangler sets up the Wicked Wednesday group posts, and generally make sure all the weekdays have a topic or a guest. March is my month this year. I’ve been a little out of it, and only last week noticed we had big honking gap on March 7! Gulp. Scrambling to come up with a topic, I thought I’d see what has happened in the month of March over the last dozen centuries.
If I were really clever I’d make it a mash-up quiz. But I’m not, and I haven’t done my taxes yet, so we’re sticking to the facts, ma’am. From the delightful History Place web site, I have learned the following positive facts:
- March 3, 1917 – Marshmallow Fluff is born.
- March 4, 1789 – The first meeting of the new Congress under the new U.S. Constitution took place in New York City.
- March 6, 1475 – Renaissance genius Michelangelo was born in Caprese, Italy.
- March 10, 1903 – Politician and playwright Claire Boothe Luce was born in New York
- March 12, 1888 – The Great Blizzard of ’88 struck the northeastern U.S. (an event that took place a scant month before my novel Delivering the Truth opens!).
- March 14, 1833. The first female dentist, Lucy Hobbs, was born in New York state. She received her degree in 1866 from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and was a women’s rights advocate.
- March 22, 1972 – The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Senate and then sent to the states for ratification.
- March 25, 1807 – The British Parliament abolished the slave trade following a long campaign against it by Quakers and others.
There were certainly some disastrous and violent events in March over the centuries, but let’s not dwell on them. Other notables besides Luce and Hobbs born in the month, which I found listed on a site about history in March, include Alexander Graham Bell (3rd), Einstein (14th), Grover Cleveland (18th), Wyatt Earp (19th), Johann Sebastian Bach (21st), Van Gogh (30th), and Franz Josef Hayden (31st). Funny, notice how they’re all men?
So I went searching for famous women born in the month and found Miriam Makeba (4th), Reese Witherspoon (22nd), Sarah Jessica Parker (25th), Keira Knightley (26th), Mariah Carey (27th), Lady Gaga, (28th), and Celine Dion, (30th). Women celebrities sure back loaded this month!
But of course the most famous birthday of all is month is that of none other than our own Sherry Harris! AND her fabulous cozy-mystery-loving mom, Martha.
So have a great birthday month, Sherry!
Readers and Wickeds, what happened (or will happen this year) for you in March? Did I miss any big positive historical events from March pasts?