The anniversary of the death of Julius Caesar is best known as the Ides of March, which falls annually on March 15. It is a day that has a history of observance only the most popular of which is Caesar’s death.
The Ides of March are named so because the ancient Romans did not number the days of the month chronologically like we do today. Instead, they would count up or down from specific parts of the month: Nones were the 5th or 7th of the month (depending on the length of the month), the Ides were the 13th or 15th and the Kalends were the first of the following month.
Sacred to the supreme Roman god, Jupiter, the Ides of March were a time of a number of religious observances and holy festivals, but in the modern world, the Ides are observed not as a religious event, but as the anniversary of Caesar’s murder by a senate led by his best friend, Brutus. This was popularized by Shakespear in his historical play JULIUS CAESAR where Julius is warned by a soothsayer to “Beware the ides of March.”
OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS
- Columbus returned to Spain in 1493 after his historic voyage.
- In 1767, President Andrew Jackson was born.
- Tsar Nicholas II of Russia gives up his throne which makes way for the Bolshevik revolution and, later, communism in Russia.
- in 1985, the very first domain name ever is registered: symbolics.com
- Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.
- Rolls-Royce Limited is officially started.
- Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union.