Born On This Day:

• St. Catherine of Siena, 1347
• Anne Bronte, 1820
• Arturo Toscanini, 1867
• Bela Bartok, 1881
• Ed Begley, 1901
• David Lean, 1908
• Howard Cosell, 1918
• Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, 1921
• Simone Signoret, 1921
• Eileen Ford, 1922
• James Lovell, 1928
• Penelope Gilliatt, 1932
• Gloria Steinem, 1933
• Hoyt Axton, 1938
• Anita Bryant, 1940
• Aretha Franklin, 1942
• Paul Michael Glaser, 1942
• Elton John, 1947
• Bonnie Bedelia, 1948
• Sarah Jessica Parker, 1965

Died On This Day:

• Maurice Barrymore, 1905
• Claude Debussy, 1918
• Edward Steichen, 1973
• King Faisal Saudi Arabia assassinated, 1975
• Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, 1976
• Josef Albers, 1976
• Goodman Ace, 1982
• Robert Joffrey AIDS, 1988
• Nancy Walker, 1992
• Daniel Massey, 1998
• Buck Owens, 2006

Today's Events:

• AD 421 - Legend of the foundation of the city of Venice as a trading-post on the Rialto opens for business.
• 1306 - Robert the Bruce crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace.
• 1581 - Last New Year's Day in European Catholic countries; Gregorian calendar moves it to Jan first, 1582.
• 1616 - William Shakespeare signs his will giving wife Anne 'my second best bed with the furniture.'
• 1634 - First colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement's Island on western shore to found St. Mary's.
• 1655 - Dutch astronomer and inventor of the pendulum clock, Christiaan Huygens, discovers Titan, the largest moon of Saturn
• 1751 - Last New Year's Day in England; British finally accept Gregorian calendar; New Year starts Jan 1.
• 1807 - British Parliament abolishes the slave trade.
• 1821 - Greece proclaims independence from Turks starting the eight-year war of independence.
• 1833 - Edmund Kean's last performance; collapses onstage at Covent Garden playing 'Othello.'
• 1857 - Frederick Langenheim of Philadelphia takes world's first photograph of a solar eclipse.
• 1900 - Socialist Party formed in Indianapolis, IN.
• 1902 - Marie Curie proves existence of radium and notes its atomic weight.
• 1911 - Infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Company sweatshop fire starts at 4:30 pm.; 146 immigrant women die.
• 1924 - Greece proclaimed a Republic upon the second anniversary of Greek Independence.
• 1931 - Scottsboro Boys, nine innocent black teenagers, are accused of rape in Alabama, leading to miscarriage of justice.
• 1936 - Britain signs naval treaty with U.S. and France.
• 1941 - British ship Britannia sinks in Atlantic Ocean; giant squid eats survivor in ocean.
• 1948 - Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes first British film to win Academy Award for best picture.
• 1954 - RCA begins making color television sets.
• 1955 - Rong Guotuan becomes the first Chinese person to win a world championship in any sport; wins singles table tennis final at Eindhoven, Germany
• 1957 - EEC, established (W. Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) by Treaty of Rome.
• 1957 - Poetry under attack: Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' declared obscene by U.S. Customs officials.
• 1965 - Rev. Martin Luther King and 25,000 demonstrators converge on Alabama State Capitol at Montgomery.
• 1999 - 13 year-old singer Charlotte Church becomes youngest artist to enter American top 30 album chart.

Holiday:

• Greek Independence Day (1821)
• Resurrection of Osiris, Mithra, Bacchus, Adonis, Dionysus, and Hilaria - Ancient Rome Holiday
• Annunciation Day
• Rejoicing of Isis
• Lady Day

Non-Specific Holiday:

• SHROVE TUESDAY. Day before Ash Wednesday. Also called Fastnacht (eve of the fast) in Germany, Carnival (farewell to meat) in Italy, Mardi Gras in Brazil and U.S. & Pancake Tuesday in Britain.
• ASH WEDNESDAY, moveable feast day celebrated 40 days (ex-Sundays) before Easter.
• PURIM or Feast of Lots (Jewish), celebrated on 14th or 15th of lunar month Adar.
• HOLI (Hindu festival of Spring), celebrated early March
• LENT, called Careme in France, Quaresima in Italy and the Great Fast in Eastern Orthodoxy. (between Feb and April)
• SUNDAY OF THE GREAT FIRES, first Sunday in Lent.
• CARLING SUNDAY, fifth Sunday in Lent celebrated in Britain
• TENG CHIEH, Feast of lanterns in China (Fifteenth day of the First Moon)
• PESACH or Passover (Jewish), begins 15th day of lunar month Nisan thru 22nd
• PALM SUNDAY, Sunday before Easter and first day of Holy Week.
• MAUNDY THURSDAY, Thursday before Easter
• GOOD FRIDAY, Friday before Easter
• LAILAT AL-QADR, I'D AL-FITR & IDU'L FITAR, Muslim Festivals
• EASTER (SUNDAY) (March to May) the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (March 22-April 25) in Western churches
• CHING MING FESTIVAL & QING MING (Singapore), All Souls Day in Far East
• NOTE; EASTER is also called Ostern in Germany and Switzerland, Pasqua in Italy, Pascua Florida or Domingo de Gloria in Spain, Pâques in France, Velykos in Lithuania, Wielkanoc in Polish, Pasha in Greece, Påske in Norway, Påskdagen in Sweden, Zadig in Armenia, Paschen in The Netherlands, Paschoa in Portugal,
• EASTER MONDAY, Monday after Easter.
• RAMA-NAVAMI, Hindu Festival of Rama, celebrated at the end of March
• CH'ING MING, Festival of Pure Brightness in China (Beginning of second moon (about March 21)
• NAEFELSERFAHRT, Swiss pilgrimage the first Thursday in April to Näfels
• COMMONWEALTH DAY in Britain Second Monday in March
• MOTHERING SUNDAY - fourth Sunday of Lent celebrated in England