Daily Calendar for Sunday, March 15, 2026

Ides of March

The Ides of March has long been considered an ill-fated day. Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C. Historians note that it is likely that a soothsayer named Spurinna had warned Caesar that danger would occur by the ides of March. William Shakespeare included the phrase Beware the ides of March” in his play Julius Caesar.

The ides were the 15th days of four months (Martius, or March; Maius, or May; Quintilis, or July; and October) in the ancient Roman lunar calendar; they were the 13th in all other months (originally, Aprilis, or April; Iunius, or June; Sextilis, or August; September; November; and December. Ianuarius, or January, and Februarius, or February, were added later).

The word ides comes from the Latin word idus, which is possibly derived from an Etruscan word meaning “to divide.” The ides were originally meant to mark the full Moon (the “halfway point” of a lunar month), but because the Roman calendar months and actual lunar months were of different lengths, they quickly got out of step. The ancient Romans considered the day after the calends (first of the month), nones (ninth day before the ides, inclusive), or ides of any month as unfavorable. These were called dies atri.”

Mothering Sunday

The fourth Sunday of Lent was traditionally a break from the austere rigors of the season, and on that day boys living away from home, such as apprentices or students, were allowed to return home to visit their mothers. It was customary for them to bring a simnel—a highly spiced fruitcake—as a present. The visit was termed “going a-mothering,” and on this occasion the mother bestowed a blessing upon her child.

Born

Andrew Jackson (7th U.S. president) – 1767
John Snow (physician) – 1813
Liberty Hyde Bailey (botanist) – 1858
Marjorie Merriweather Post (businesswoman) – 1887
Harry James (trumpet player) – 1916
Norm Van Brocklin (football player) – 1926
Rita Joe (Mi’kmaq poet) – 1932
Judd Hirsch (actor) – 1935
Mike Love (singer) – 1941
Phil Lesh (rock bass guitarist) – 1941
Sly Stone (musician) – 1944
Ry Cooder (guitarist & composer) – 1947
Eva Longoria (actress) – 1975
Kevin Youkilis (baseball player) – 1979
Sean Biggerstaff (actor) – 1983
Caitlin Wachs (actress) – 1989

Died

Aristotle Onassis (shipping magnate) – 1975
Dr. Benjamin Spock (pediatrician) – 1998
Sylvester "Pat" Weaver (creator of NBC’s Today and Tonight shows) – 2002
Ron Silver (actor) – 2009
Eugene Parker (American astrophysicist; proposed the idea of solar wind in 1958 ) – 2022

Events

Sister St. Stanislas Hachard became the first Catholic nun ordained in America – 1729
Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state – 1820
Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was named the first American Cardinal by Pope Pius IX – 1875
The first escalator was patented by inventor Jesse W. Reno of New York City – 1892
Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference after being in office for only 11 days – 1913
U.S. troops entered Mexico in futile search for revolutionary bandit Pancho Villa – 1916
The American Legion founded by war veterans in Paris – 1919
The first motion picture, My Little Chickadee, featuring both Mae West and W.C. Fields, was released – 1940
The King Cole Trio led by Nat King Cole had the first #1 LP on the first Billboard magazine top-selling record album chart – 1945
Lerner and Loewe’s play My Fair Lady started what became a 2,717-performance run in New York – 1956
Police in Orangeburg, SC, arrested more than 350 African Americans as sit-in demonstrations and sporadic racial violence spread throughout the South – 1960
Basketball star Wilt Chamberlain scored his 4,000th point of the season, averaging 50.4 points per game – 1962
Actress Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton (for the first time) on the 8th floor of the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal – 1964
U.S. government eased restrictions on travel to China by U.S. citizens – 1971
The film The Godfather premiered in New York City – 1972
The family drama Eight is Enough premiered – 1977
Martin Buser captured his second Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in the record time of 10 days, 13 hours, 2 minutes and 39 seconds – 1994
Highway line painting apparatus patented – 1994
Due to President Barack Obama’s presidential proclamation (issued on February 28, 2011), flags were flown at half staff on this day of the internment of Army Corporal Frank W. Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, and in remembrance of the generation of American veterans of World War I – 2011

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A tornado hit McPaul, Iowa – 1938
Blizzard in North Dakota and Minnesota, 71 killed – 1941
Dr. Wallace E. Howell was hired by N.Y.C. to make rain – 1950
Boston broke its record for snowiest winter on record when 2.9 inches fell on this day, bringing the winter total to 108.6 inches – 2015

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