An annual custom which occurs on the 1st of April, with the name of the game being practical jokes and pranks. The origins of the day have been lost to time, however, as with most things, there are many theories.
Perhaps one of the more famous pranks that took place in Britain, was a rewrite of The War of the Worlds, which was then performed live on the radio as if the events were actually happening.
This was a successful anti-French rebellion that occurred on the island of Sicily. The hostilities broke out on Easter Monday, 1282 and ran for about six weeks. In the end, roughly 13,000 French men and women were killed.
It started with the French soldiers in Palermo harassing the local Sicilian women, in particular, a sergeant called Drouet. Eventually, he harassed a young, married woman and was killed by her husband. When the other Frenchmen tried to avenge their comrade, the Sicilians attacked - first with rocks and anything else at hand, then later with weapons. Once the French were dead, messengers spread the word and the mob began. By morning, 2,000 French were dead. It only escalated from there, with attacks on convents and monasteries, where the priests were forced to pronounce the word ‘ciciri’, which French cannot. Any who failed, were killed.
The conflict ended with King Peter III of Aragon being invited to take charge of the island, and he was crowned king on the 4th of September, 1282.
His actual name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus - which is rather a mouthful, isn’t it? The nickname, Caligula, was acquired from his father’s soldiers during their campaign in Germania.
Not much is really known about Caligula’s reign, as most of the documentation has been lost. What is known, however, is that he was assassinated, ending the Julii Caesares, although his nephew (Nero) continued the Julio-Claudian dynasty until his own death in 68 AD.
It can be added to a salad, cooked up as a side of greens, or even added to a stew - the possibilities are endless!
Spinach also contains a LOT of health benefits, from eyes to stress, and can (in some instances) help prevent cancer!
Set in the middle of Lent, this Feast marks the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary. The first mentions of the Feast as during the Council of Toledo, 656 AD, along with being mentioned during the Council of Constantinople in 692, where festivals were forbidden during Lent except for the Lord’s Day and the Feast of Annunciation.
This is actually an amendment to the Mutiny Act, which required the colonial authorities to provide food, drink, quarters, fuel and transport to the British forces stationed in their town or village. Naturally, the colonists resented this and, as a result, the Third Amendment to the US Constitution forbade the practice during peacetime.
The reason for the Act was primarily in response to an increase in costs following the French and Indian War, and Pontiac’s War, and it came almost directly after the Stamp Act. After several years of resentment and tumult, the Act was allowed to expire in 1770.
Signed 1153 AD, the purpose of the treaty was to prevent the Byzantine Empire from re-establishing itself on Italian soil, and assist the pope in the Rome revolt.
It wasn’t until 1183, however, that the Peace of Constance would be granted to end the state of rebellion.
A solar equinox occurs when the Sun crosses the Earth’s equator, or, more precisely, when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric centre of the Sun’s disk. This occurs when the Earth’ rotation axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line.
When the Julian calendar was established back in 45 BC, Caesar set March 25th as the date of the Spring Equinox, which was already the starting day of both the Persian and Indian calendars. However, due to the length of the Julian calendar, it drifted, and by the 1580s the Spring Equinox had moved to March 11th!
Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day, is originally the day for honouring the ‘mother church’, i.e. the church one was baptised at. This has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent since the Middle Ages.
Mother’s Day, on the other hand, is actually an American holiday, but has become synonymous with Mothering Sunday celebrations throughout the years.
The Feast of Saint Patrick is celebrated on the 17th of March, the traditionally-accepted date of Saint Patrick’s death.
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland, who allegedly wrote the ‘Declaration’, which contains most of what is known about him. It is believed he was actually born in Roman Britain, before being kidnapped at sixteen by Irish raiders. After six years in Ireland as a shepherd, he found God, who told him to flee to the coast, where he escaped back home. Patrick later returned to Ireland to convert the pagans to Christianity. Tradition states that he died on March 17th, and is buried at Downpatrick.
Today, the Feast is celebrated with public parades, traditional Irish music, and wearing green. Interesting to note, the parades started in 18th century America, and did not spread to Ireland until the 20th century.
Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th March, 44 BC (also known as the Ides of March). This was the 74th day in the Roman calendar, and, what is interesting about the date, is that it was the deadline for settling debts!
Instead of numbering each day of the month, the Romans counted from three fixed points, the Nones, Ides and Kalends. As with most calendars, the Roman calendar follows the lunar cycle, with the Ides being determined by the full moon, and the Ides of March occurring on the first full moon of the new year.
Created in 1988 by an employee of the San Francisco science museum, Pi Day is an annual celebration. Traditionally, the day is celebrated by eating various pies, or holding a ‘pi recitation’ competition.
On the 12th of March, 2009, the US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that can or cannot progress into a law) recognising the 14th of March as National Pi Day.
Formerly known as Empire Day, today is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations. The occasion is marked by an Anglican service in Westminster Abbey, followed by a broadcast by the monarch.
The idea was that the day would ‘remind the children about the British Empire’, and came about in 1897. It wasn’t until 1904, however, that the day was introduced in Britain.
Signed on the 11th March, 1649, this treaty signaled the end of the Fronde (a period of civil war in France), with only minor bloodshed. The peace lasted until the end of the year, before the Fronde des Nobles began on 14th January,1650.
The Fronde was a series of civil wars, which ran from 1648 to 1653 during the Franco-Spanish War (which began in 1635). Divided into two campaigns, the Parlementary Fronde (1648-1649) came directly after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, while the Fronde of the Princes ran from 1650 to 1653.The Census Act 1800 (AKA Population Act 1800), enabled the first census of England, Scotland and Wales. This was carried out in 1801, and has been repeated every ten years since. Ireland wasn’t included in the census, however, until 1821.
The first recorded census of England was in 1086, which was carried out by William I and is most commonly known as the Domesday Book. The manuscript’s original name was Liber de Wintonia, or ‘Book of Winchester’, as it was kept in the royal treasury. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1085 the king sent his agents to survey every shire in England to list his holdings and dues owed to him. It not only listed every land-holder and tenant, but livestock and resources too.
The Thirteen Years’ War (aka, War of the Cities) was between the Prussian Confederation and the State of the Teutonic Order. The war was soon followed by the war of the Priests after it ended in 1466…
A dispute between the participants had been ongoing since 1308 over the Gdansk Pomerania territory. The result was a series of Polish-Teutonic Wars throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. The Prussian Confederation became involved as the Polish, Prussian and German states were slowly becoming one nation at the time.
When Nero was adopted by Claudius around 50 AD, he was given the title ‘Princeps Iuventutis’ - Head of the Youth. This title was used to designate the first of the Roman knights.
It was common practice in the Roman Empire for this title to be given to the Emperor’s heir.
King Charles I dissolved Parliament in 1629 to begin his ‘Personal Rule’.
The Personal Rule, or Eleven Years’ Tyranny, lasted until April 1640, with the King ruling Britain without Parliament. He’d already dissolved three Parliaments by his third year as King!
Charles used the Royal Prerogative to do this, and realised that, as long as he didn’t start a war, he could continue to rule without a Parliament.
Royal Prerogative is a body of customary authority, recognised by the UK. The monarch is regarded internally as the absolute authority and holds many of the executive powers of the British government. Since the 19th century, the Prime Minister or the cabinet’s agreement is required before this can be declared.
The patron saint of Wales, founded a Celtic monastic community at Glyn Rhosyn, where St. David’s Cathedral still stands. The date of his death is believed to be the 1st March 589 AD. Due to this, the 1st March became a national festival, with Saint David becoming a national patron during the 12th century - a peak time of Welsh resistance to the Normans.
Founded in 597 AD, the cathedral is part of a World Heritage Site. It has been rebuilt many times over the years, due to fires and expansion...
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