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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MARCH 2015 9 Did You Know? By Bobbie Eckel March has a number of wonderful and wacky days! March is Irish American Month, National Craft Month, National Nutrition Month, National Women's History Month, Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month. DiD you know that March 1 is national Pig Day? This day was created by a Texas art teacher, Ellen Stanley, in 1972 who wanted everyone to recognize the fact that pigs are intelligent domestic animals. They can even be taught to do tricks. Although the character used for this day's symbol is usually a pot-bellied pig, all pigs are included. However, do not confuse this day with Yellow Pig Day which is July 17. Yellow Pig Day is the creation of two students of mathematics at Princeton University in the early 1960s. They were celebrating the properties of the number 17. (I think they were also heavily celebrating the end of the college semester!) DiD you know March 3 is national antheM Day? A friend of Francis Scott Key, Dr. William Beanes, was being held as a prisoner of war on a British ship near the harbor of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key and a negotiator successfully convinced the British to release Dr. Beanes but the release would only take effect after the attack on Fort McHenry that night. The next morning, the American flag was still flying over Fort McHenry. This inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner. It became the official national anthem on March 3, 1931, although he wrote it on Sept. 14, 1814. The government does not do things quickly. DiD you know that March 12 is girl scout Day? Girl Scouts were originally known as Girl Guides — and were created by Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the wife of Lord Baden-Powell who created the Boy Scouts. Apparently the first Girl Scout group meeting in the United States was started by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, l912. There were only 18 girls involved. The idea grew rapidly, however. There are now millions of Girl Scouts. The organization was chartered by the U. S. Congress on March 16, 1950. While we do not see too many Girl Scouts in our Four Seasons community, we welcome their annual Girl Scout cookie sales which normally begin in February of each year. The cookies are delicious. DiD you know that March 15 is the iDes of March? In the Roman calendar, it was also the first day of spring. It wasn't such a good day for Julius Caesar, though. Although he had been warned by a soothsayer that harm would come to him by the Ides of March, he disregarded the seer's advice. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Caesar taunts the soothsayer as he walks by on his way to the Senate, saying "It's the Ides of March." Probably in a sotto voice, the seer responded, "But it's not over, Sire." And it wasn't for another hour or so… In the Senate that day in 44 BC, he was stabbed to death by Marcus Brutus. e.t.? is that you? You might want to be a little careful on March 20, however. That day is Extraterrestrial Abductions Day. Don't be like Julius Caesar. Heed the warning… Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they abducted you — and then brought you back?

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