Millions of people look forward to the month of March every year. In the northern hemisphere, March 20 or 21 marks the beginning of spring, a season of rejuvenation in which individuals enjoy the first consistent periods of warm weather since the previous fall. Though the official start of spring is a much-anticipated event each March, the month is more than just the end of winter. The following are some interesting facts about the month of March.
· March derives its name from “Martius,” which was the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. The Romans gave the month that name in honor of Mars, the Roman god of war, and Martius was considered the beginning of warfare season, which is a far cry from the beginning that March is now associated with.
· March is host to one of the more popular sporting events in the United States. March Madness is a single-elimination college basketball tournament featuring 68 Division I teams (there are separate tournaments for men’s and women’s basketball). Much of the ongoing popularity of the event is a byproduct of bracket pools. Those pools involve participants predicting the outcomes of each game of the tournament by filling out their own bracket. March Madness can trace its name back nearly a century to an Illinois High School Association official named H.V. Porter, though many credit broadcaster Brent Musburger with popularizing the term for the annual tournament in the 1980s.
· Though March might be a great time of year for college basketball fans, it’s decidedly less so among their employers. Estimates from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., determined that employers lost roughly $13 billion in productivity in 2019 due to March Madness.
· March also is host to one of the most popular holidays in many parts of the globe. March 17 marks St. Patrick’s Day, a day initially designed to commemorate the life and contributions of St. Patrick, who is the patron saint of Ireland. During the twentieth century, St. Patrick’s Day became a celebration of Irish culture and has become synonymous with boisterous revelry, particularly in cities such as Chicago and New York.
· Many people find Daylight Saving Time in March inspiring. That’s because regions that still participate in DST turn the clocks forward each March. That adds an extra hour of evening sunlight and ensures people who work indoors all day long get to enjoy some welcome sunlight at the end of each workday.
· The daffodil is the birth flower of March. For many people, these generally white and yellow flowers reinforce the feeling of rejuvenation that comes each March with the official beginning of spring.
· Students tend to enjoy March as well, as this is typically when Spring Break is scheduled. That’s especially common on college campuses, and annually compels millions of college students to descend upon warm locales for a sunny and much-needed respite from their studies.
· Fans of inventor Alexander Graham Bell have reason to celebrate in March as well. That’s because the man behind the first phone call ever made patented the world’s first telephone on March 7, 1876.
March is known for coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. In between that entry and exit, individuals can celebrate and enjoy a host of memorable and fun events.
