鈥淥n this day, Great Lent begins in the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church; it always falls on the 7th Monday before Orthodox Easter. Also called Clean Monday or Pure Monday, this religious observance is a day of fasting and spiritual purification and reflection, similar to Ash Wednesday of the Western Church.
The first week of Great Lent is also called Pure Week. Great Lent lasts for 40 days and ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Orthodox Palm Sunday. The next week is Holy Week, and ends on Easter, the day of Christ’s resurrection.鈥
Born
Madeleine de Verch猫res(Canadian military heroine who in 1692, at age 14, defended her family’s fort, Fort Verch猫res, in New France
)鈥
George Mortimer Pullman(industrialist; designed luxury railroad cars)鈥
Hank Ballard(singer and songwriter who wrote and recorded The Twist in 1958 which later was recorded by Chubby Checker)鈥
James Ludlow Elliot(astronomer who discovered the rings of Uranus)鈥
Events
First U.S. foreign aid bill authorized $50,000 for relief of victims of an earthquake in Venezuela鈥
The Missouri Compromise was passed by U.S. Congress, with President James Monroe signing it on March 6. The legislation designated that Maine would be admitted to the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. (Maine became a state on March 15, 1820; Missouri became a state on August 10, 1821.)
鈥
Florida admitted to the Union as the 27th state鈥
Serfs were emancipated in Russia鈥
National Academy of Sciences signed into existence by Abraham Lincoln to advise the government on scientific and technical issues鈥
Carmen, by Georges Bizet, premiered in Paris鈥
First organized ice hockey match, Montreal, Canada鈥
Belva Ann Bennet Lockwood became first woman to try a case before the U.S. Supreme Court鈥
Anne Sullivan began teaching deaf/blind Helen Keller鈥
The U.S. Steel Corp. was formed鈥
Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York, began taking prisoners鈥 fingerprints鈥
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of NASA, was founded鈥
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Russia and the Central Powers鈥
First international airmail delivery was made from Vancouver, BC, to Seattle, WA鈥
The Star-Spangled Banner was officially designated U.S. national anthem鈥
First annual meeting of General Wildlife Federation (later, NWF), 1937.鈥
Puerto Rico became a U.S. commonwealth, with autonomy in internal affairs鈥
First fatal jetliner accident occured when a Canadian plane crashed in Karachi, Pakistan鈥
Pioneer 4, first U.S. spacecraft to orbit Sun, launched鈥
Apollo 9 spacecraft launched from Cape Kennedy鈥
Pierre Trudeau replaced Joe Clark as prime minister of Canada鈥
Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world solo without stopping or refueling, safely touching down in his custom-built plane 67 hours after taking off鈥
A 50-pound 6-ounce smallmouth buffalo fish was caught in Lake Fork, Texas鈥
