A Brief History of March

I Martius am! Once first, and now third!
To lead the Year was my appointed place;
A mortal dispossessed me by a word,
And set there Janus with the double face.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807–82)

March was the first month of the year in the Roman calendar, a lunar calendar consisting of 10 months. The name March comes from Martius, which was named after Mars, the Roman god of war. March was considered a sacred month because it marked the beginning of the military campaign season, which had been interrupted by winter during Roman times.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used today in most parts of the world. The Gregorian calendar was a solar calendar that consisted of 12 months, with each month having either 30 or 31 days, except for February. With those changes, March was then designated as the third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days.

The 40 days of Lent begin on March 5 (Ash Wednesday) and conclude on Holy Thursday, April 17. Catholics dedicate the month of March to St. Joseph. Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus’ foster/legal father. Holy Scripture proclaims him as a “just man,” and the Catholic Church has turned to Joseph for his patronage and protection.

In addition to religious celebrations, we celebrate other cultural/historical holidays in the third month. A few are:

• International Women’s Day – March 8

• Daylight Saving Time begins – March 9 (2:00 am)

• St. Patrick’s Day – March 17

• Holi – A Hindu festival of love & sharing, also known as the Festival of Colors, begins at sundown on March 13 and ends at sundown on March 14.

Time for Trivia

At Blue Mound Graphics, we have some real trivia buffs in our mix. I’ll end this March blog post with a few March-related facts that could come in handy at your upcoming trivia night. I found all these fun facts at The History Place™ (2025), a website full of fun trivia:

• March 1, 1781
  The Formal ratification of the Articles of Confederation was announced by Congress. The Articles remained in effect through the Revolutionary War until 1789, when the current U.S. Constitution was adopted.

• March 1, 1961
  President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps, an organization that sends young American volunteers to developing countries to assist with health care, education, and other basic human needs.

• March 14
  The first female dentist, Lucy Hobbs (1833–1910), was born in New York state. She received her degree in 1866 from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and was a women’s rights advocate.

• March 15 (The Ides of March)
  Famously known as the date of Julius Caesar’s assassination. He was stabbed in the Senate chamber in Rome by Brutus and fellow conspirators. After first trying to defend himself, Caesar saw Brutus with a knife and asked, “Et tu, Brute?” (You too, Brutus?).

• March 19
  William Bradford (1589–1657) was born in Yorkshire, England. In 1620, he sailed aboard the Mayflower during its 66-day voyage from Plymouth, England, to Massachusetts. The small ship carried over 100 passengers and a crew of 30. It was originally bound for Virginia but landed far north on Cape Cod. The Mayflower Compact was then drawn up as a form of government. Bradford became the first governor of the new Plymouth Colony, serving for a total of 30 years, and was largely responsible for its success.

• March 30
  Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) was born in Groot Zundert, Holland. He was a Post-impressionist painter and is generally considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt.

Source List

• Flags.com. (2025, March). The Origin of the Month of March

• Friedenstein Palace – Thüringer Schlösser und Gärten. (2025, March). Thüringer Schlösser und Gärten

• The History Place™. (2025, March). March 

• Trinity Communications. (2021, March). March 2021 – Overview for the Month 

• Yankee Publishing Inc. (2025, March). The Month of March 2025: Holidays, Astronomy, Fun Facts, Folklor