BORROWING DAYS

The last three days of March have a reputation for being stormy. Scottish folklore proposes that these three days were borrowed from April so that March might extend his power. The Spanish story about the borrowing days is that a shepherd promised March a lamb if he would temper the winds to suit the shepherd’s flocks. But after his request was granted, the shepherd refused to deliver the payment. In revenge, March borrowed three days from April, in which fiercer winds than ever blew to punish the deceiver. March borrowit from April Three days, and they were ill: The first was frost, the second was snaw, The third was cauld as ever’t could blaw. — Scottish proverb

Every Year

• US: VIETNAM VETERANS DAY
• BORROWING DAYS

1790s

• BORN 1790: JOHN TYLER (10TH U.S. PRESIDENT)

1800s

• 1806: FIRST FEDERAL HIGHWAY, THE GREAT NATIONAL PIKE, AUTHORIZED
• 1806: NATIONAL ROAD, THE FIRST FEDERALLY FUNDED ROAD, WAS AUTHORIZED
• 1807: VESTA, BRIGHTEST ASTEROID, DISCOVERED

1810s

• 1812: THE FIRST WHITE HOUSE WEDDING TOOK PLACE. LUCY PAYNE WASHINGTON, SISTER-IN-LAW OF PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON, MARRIED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THOMAS TODD

1840s

• 1847: GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT FORMALLY OCCUPIED VERA CRUZ, MEXICO
• 1848: DUE TO ICE JAM, NIAGARA FALLS STOPPED FLOWING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY

1860s

• BORN 1867: CY YOUNG (BASEBALL PLAYER)

1870s

• BORN 1874: LOU HENRY HOOVER (U.S. FIRST LADY)

1880s

• 1886: THE FIRST BATCH OF COCA COLA WAS BREWED OVER A FIRE IN A BACKYARD IN ATLANTA. JOHN PEMBERTON CREATED THE CONCOCTION AS A “HANGOVER” CURE, AND IT WAS ADVERTISED AS BRAIN TONIC. COCAINE WAS AN INGREDIENT OF COKE UNTIL 1904 WHEN CONGRESS BANNED IT

1910s

• BORN 1918: SAM WALTON (BUSINESSMAN)
• BORN 1918: PEARL BAILEY (SINGER)
• 1919: FIRST PERFORMANCE OF RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS

1920s

• 1927: SUNBEAM 1000 HP FIRST CAR TO EXCEED 200 MPH

1930s

• 1932: JACK BENNY’S RADIO DEBUT
• BORN 1936: JUDITH GUEST (AUTHOR)

1940s

• 1943: WORLD WAR II FOOD RATIONING BEGAN
• BORN 1943: ERIC IDLE (ACTOR)
• BORN 1944: DENNIS MCLAIN (BASEBALL PLAYER)

1950s

• 1951: JULIUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG CONVICTED OF CONSPIRING TO CONVEY ATOM BOMB SECRETS TO SOVIET AGENTS
• BORN 1954: KAREN ANN QUINLAN (PATIENT ON LIFE-SUPPORT WHOSE PARENTS FOUGHT FOR HER RIGHT TO DIE)
• BORN 1956: KURT THOMAS (GYMNAST)

1960s

• 1961: RATIFICATION OF THE 23RD AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION GAVE RESIDENTS OF WASHINGTON, D.C., RIGHT TO VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
• BORN 1964: ELLE MACPHERSON (MODEL)
• BORN 1968: LUCY LAWLESS (ACTRESS)

1970s

• 1971: LT. WILLIAM CALLEY JR. CONVICTED FOR MASSACRE OF CIVILIANS AT MYLAI, S. VIETNAM50 Years Ago
• 1973: AFTER PROTESTING—IN SONG—THAT THEY WERE NEVER FEATURED ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, DR. HOOK AND THE MEDICINE SHOW GOT THEIR WISH. A WEEK LATER, THE BAND’S SINGLE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE WENT GOLD
• 1973: LAST U.S. PERSONNEL LEFT S. VIETNAM
• 1976: THE FILM ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST WON FIVE ACADEMY AWARDS
• BORN 1976: JENNIFER CAPRIATI (TENNIS PLAYER)

1980s

• 1988: MADONNA MADE HER STAGE DEBUT IN DAVID MAMET’S SPEED THE PLOW IN NYC
• 1989: FIRST SOVIET HOCKEY PLAYER SIGNED WITH THE NHL

1990s

• 1993: CATHERINE CALLBECK BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE ELECTED PREMIER (P.E.I.) IN CANADA

2000s

• DIED 2004: ALISTAIR COOKE (A JOURNALIST FOR ALMOST 70 YEARS, COOKE WAS WIDELY KNOWN TO TELEVISION AUDIENCES AS THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES ON THE CULTURAL PROGRAM OMNIBUS IN THE 1950S AND LATER AS THE HOST OF MASTERPIECE THEATER)
• DIED 2005: JOHNNIE L. COCHRAN JR. (LAWYER)
• 2006: TOM JONES WAS KNIGHTED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH II AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
• 2007: BONO OF U2 WAS CROWNED A KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN AN INFORMAL CEREMONY IN THE DUBLIN HOME OF BRITISH AMBASSADOR DAVID REDDAWAY
• 2007: SHIVELUCH VOLCANO ERUPTED, KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA

2010s

• DIED 2016: PATTY DUKE (ACTRESS)
• DIED 2018: ANITA SHREVE (WRITER)

COURTESY www.almanac.com