13 Incredible Facts About March

In old Roman calendars, one year used to be ten months long, starting in March and ending in December.

Whoa! Surprised? Bet you are!

Here in Nigeria, while you can guess events that are lined up for the month of March such as Easter, Prime Business Africa authoritatively reports that this month comes with a very rich history and happenings which you are yet to know.  Just hang on a minute.

Check out these other 15 unbelievable facts about March and tell us in the comment section the one that left your mouth agape. It’s number 9 for us!

1. The “Ides of March” was a day in the Roman calendar equivalent to March 15th. It was considered a deadline for settling debts. It was also the day Julius Caesar was assassinated.
2. If you were born in March, your birth flower is a daffodil!
3. There are two zodiac signs in March. Pisces, which is until March 20, and Aries which is from the 21st.
4. March is the equivalent of September in the Southern Hemisphere.
5. Every year, March and June finish on the same day of the week.
6. March is the time of year when animals start waking up from hibernation.
7. The name for March comes from Mars, the Roman god of war. It was named as such in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
8. The Anglo-Saxons called March “Hlyd monath” meaning “Stormy month” or “Hraed monath” meaning “Rugged month.”
9. The popular social media outlet Twitter was launched on March 21, 2006, with the first tweet going out the same day. It was posted by the founder, Jack Dorsey, which read “just setting up my twttr.”
10. Statistically, March is the most unproductive month of the year in the U.S. This is the result of “March Madness” which is the season of the NBA. Some companies lose up to $1.9 billion in wages paid to workers who were not productive and instead spent company time on betting on NBA games.
11. On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first-ever phone call. It was to his assistant and he said “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.”
12. The Eiffel Tower was ascended for the first time. Eiffel himself led a group of government officials and members of the press to the top. The elevators were not in operation yet, so the journey was made on foot and took over an hour.
13. President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. It is a successful volunteer organization that has since sent at least 235,000 Americans abroad to developing countries to help with health care, education, and other human needs.