Top Ten Reasons to Beware the Ides of March
March 15 will live in infamy beyond the murder of Julius Caesar. Here are 10 events that occurred on that date to seal the Ides of March as a fateful day
- By T.A. Frail
- Smithsonian.com, March 04, 2010, Subscribe
1. Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.
Conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus stab dictator-for-life Julius Caesar to death before the Roman senate. Caesar was 55.
2. A Raid on Southern England, 1360
A French raiding party begins a 48-hour spree of rape, pillage and murder in southern England. King Edward III interrupts his own pillaging spree in France to launch reprisals, writes historian Barbara Tuchman, “on discovering that the French could act as viciously in his realm as the English did in France.”
3. Samoan Cyclone, 1889
A cyclone wrecks six warships—three U.S., three German—in the harbor at Apia, Samoa, leaving more than 200 sailors dead. (On the other hand, the ships represented each nation’s show of force in a competition to see who would annex the Samoan islands; the disaster averted a likely war.)
4. Czar Nicholas II Abdicates His Throne, 1917
Czar Nicholas II of Russia signs his abdication papers, ending a 304-year-old royal dynasty and ushering in Bolshevik rule. He and his family are taken captive and, in July 1918, executed before a firing squad.
5. Germany Occupies Czechoslovakia, 1939
Just six months after Czechoslovak leaders ceded the Sudetenland, Nazi troops seize the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, effectively wiping Czechoslovakia off the map.
6. A Deadly Blizzard on the Great Plains, 1941
A Saturday-night blizzard strikes the northern Great Plains, leaving at least 60 people dead in North Dakota and Minnesota and six more in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A light evening snow did not deter people from going out—“after all, Saturday night was the time for socializing,” Diane Boit of Hendrum, Minnesota, would recall—but “suddenly the wind switched, and a rumbling sound could be heard as 60 mile-an-hour winds swept down out of the north.”
7. World Record Rainfall, 1952
Rain falls on the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion—and keeps falling, hard enough to register the world’s most voluminous 24-hour rainfall: 73.62 inches.
8. CBS Cancels the “Ed Sullivan Show,” 1971
Word leaks that CBS-TV is canceling “The Ed Sullivan Show” after 23 years on the network, which also dumped Red Skelton and Jackie Gleason in the preceding month. A generation mourns.
9. Disappearing Ozone Layer, 1988
NASA reports that the ozone layer over the Northern Hemisphere has been depleted three times faster than predicted.
10. A New Global Health Scare, 2003
After accumulating reports of a mysterious respiratory disease afflicting patients and healthcare workers in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, the World Health Organization issues a heightened global health alert. The disease will soon become famous under the acronym SARS (for Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
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Comments (38)
Speaking from experience: don't get married on the Ides of March.
Posted by JR Sloan on March 15,2012 | 05:07 PM
As a former believer of global warming one has to be curious what caused the Deadly Blizzard of 1941 & the Record Rainfall of 1952 when the rate of co2 was so much lower.
Posted by Joe on March 16,2011 | 06:49 AM
Ides of March also was significant years ago as Tax Day..later extended to April 15th
Posted by jilly carmichael on March 15,2011 | 07:54 PM
my b-day 2
Posted by lizzi barns on March 15,2011 | 04:49 PM
I consider it a lucky day.
It was the birthdate of my late paternal grandmother who lived to be 99 years old. She had five sons and one daughter who gave her numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and great,great-grandchildren.
Also, the fifteen of March is my daughter's birthday.
She was born when her grandmother turned 99 years old.
Happy 14th birthday, darling.
Posted by Nancy on March 15,2011 | 02:47 PM
Some of these responses are pitiful and speak of boring lives. This is meant to be fun. Go along with it and stop being a poor sport, party pooper, killjoy, wet blanket, nonparticipant, bore, drip and just plain rude. We can deal without the sarcasm too. Have a great day!
Posted by Paul Eric on March 15,2011 | 01:23 PM
As much as the information above is appreciated, anyone can compile a list of significant tragedies that occurred on any given day of the year.
I am sure dozens of such compilations exist.
So why is March 15th regarded as being special?
Superstition? Caesar’s indestructible fame & reputation?
I don’t have an answer, but logic compels the question.
Thanks for writing the above – it’s as good a place as any to start.
Posted by Don Reed on April 21,2010 | 01:18 AM
this is crazy. i dont beleive this.
Posted by rushi on April 12,2010 | 05:48 PM
I have a personal "beware" -- suffered a heart-attack on the Ides in '92....
Posted by Gary Sullivan on March 17,2010 | 02:26 PM
Actually, the Nones fell on the 7th and the Ides on the 15th only in March, May, July, and October. In the other months they fell on the 5th and 13th respectively. The Kalends (which gave us the word calendar) were always on the 1st. The Romans dated everything by counting how many days before each datepost something would happen. Are we meeting on May 10? See you 6 days before the Ides! (Not 5, because they counted the actual date as one of the days "before" the date). So today, March 16, is 17 days before the Kalends of April (ante diem XVII Kal. Apr.). Independence Day would be a. d. IV Non. Jul., or Quintilis as July was called before it was renamed for Julius Caesar (and Sextilis was later renamed for Augustus).
Posted by Leonard Goldstein on March 16,2010 | 07:20 PM
I would also like to contribute and was amazed to see that other women born on this date, march 15th, which is also my birthday, I too have had numerous misfortunes all my life long beginning as an infant... most interesting and also comforting to know I, being born on this date, am not the only one to have such disasterous events and have thought of writing my story...
Posted by Carolyn D in Alaska on March 16,2010 | 05:22 PM
Pretty coincidences
Posted by KeiKO on March 16,2010 | 07:54 AM
ANY THING IS POSSIBLE ON ANY GIVEN DAY, JUST A COLLECTION OF EVENTS ON THAT GIVEN DAY. JUST FUN TRY MY BIRTHDAY DAY 2-19 NO YOUR NOT GOING TO GET THE YEAR
Posted by Tom Hall on March 15,2010 | 11:17 PM
I've had two major traffic accidents in my life, both of which happened on March 15. The first was in 1996 and the other was in 2005. I sure hope there's no truth to the theory that these kinds of things happen in threes!
Posted by Audrey on March 15,2010 | 09:13 PM
The Ides is a Roman term for the 15th of a month. So not only March, but every month had an Ides.
Posted by Edmund Bellinger on March 15,2010 | 07:06 PM
In a high school play, my part was that of the soothsayer who forewarned Ceasar of his impending doom. ...This day,today,is 15 years since my father passed away.There are numerous other bad events on that day,in my life also.
Posted by Wayne on March 15,2010 | 06:16 PM
Does anyone else remember the band, The Ides of March? They had a hit in the 70's with "Vehicle", later re-popularized by Bo Bice.
Posted by Ansel Todd on March 15,2010 | 05:31 PM
Tax day has been April 15th for 55 years :)
Posted by cap on March 15,2010 | 03:59 PM
Here's some great photos of things to beware of!
http://todayspictures.slate.com/20100315/
Posted by Ellen on March 15,2010 | 11:11 AM
I was born!
Posted by Iris on March 15,2010 | 10:30 AM
"They call it Stormy Monday, But Tuesday's just as Bad." How does March 14 or March 16, or any day, stack up?
Posted by Lester Knibbs on March 11,2010 | 03:22 PM
Pick a random day of the year and see how many unfortunate events have happened. How does that compare?
Posted by Miss Gael on March 11,2010 | 02:36 PM
It's incorrect to say that the abdication of Czar Nicholas II ushered in Bolshevik rule. After the abdication, a Provisional Government was established, which was eventually headed by Alexander Kerensky. At the time, Lenin was in exile in Switzerland while Leon Trotsky was in New York City. The Bolsheviks seized power on October 25 (on the Julian calendar in use in Russia at the time; November 7 on the Gregorian calendar).
By the way, the abdication occurred on March 2 on the Julian calendar. On the Gregorian calendar, the date was March 15.
Posted by Ross Kiser on March 11,2010 | 11:00 AM
My parents anniversary, # 58 and still going strong! Guess they didn't listen...
Posted by sally McRae on March 10,2010 | 08:58 PM
As I read, history or memoirs or biography and autobiography, it very often seems to me that a disproortionate number of historical events occur on the Ides of May. How cold this be checked?
Posted by Diane on March 10,2010 | 07:24 PM
After Czar Nicholas II abdicated, the monarchy was replaced by a Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. The Bolsheviks did not come to power until the following October, when they overthrew the Provisional Government. At the time of the Czar's abdication, Lenin was in exile in Switzerland while Leon Trotsky was in New York City. So, to say that the abdication ushered in Bolshevik rule is incorrect.
Posted by BeamMeUp on March 10,2010 | 07:02 PM
You forgot one. A number of years ago March 15th was the date our Income Taxes were due -- a black day indeed!
Posted by Thomas N. Farrell on March 10,2010 | 05:15 PM
my youngest daughter was born on the Ides of March - always consider it a beautiful day. But you know...ten bad things in almost two thousand years - we better watch out!!!
Posted by kristin on March 10,2010 | 05:08 PM
I have always wondered what the "Ides" are? Can anyone tell me?
Thanks
Posted by Sudeep on March 10,2010 | 02:49 PM
I believe that one could pick any one day and find an equal number of disasters....it is interesting how facts can be manipulated to support an ideaand/or belief.
Posted by Emma Guy on March 10,2010 | 01:37 PM
The "Ides of March" is a terrific date for my husband and me! This year on March 15 we will celebrate 31 years since our first date - and he's still the love of my life!
Posted by Georgia Benedict on March 10,2010 | 12:46 PM
I have been told that I should write a book about my life..unbelievable..the many diasters. My birthday is also March 15th. Sat down with pen in hand many years ago...started with an outline...got a glass of wine...read it....got another glass of wine...had to go to bed!!! #12
Posted by Barbara Boback on March 9,2010 | 10:15 PM
I forgot to mention that March 15th was final date to submit your income tax until a decade or so ago.
Posted by Joy Greive on March 9,2010 | 07:31 PM
This is a very interesting listing of data. Just think of all the Ides of March that did not succomb to disaster.
Posted by Joy Greive on March 9,2010 | 07:28 PM
My birthday is March 15. Always loved the "Beware the Ides of March"
warning. My life disasters could be #11, but never mind. It's all good.
Posted by Marcia Howe on March 9,2010 | 03:24 PM
Insignificant as it might seem from a global perspective one could also remember Gustav III, king of Sweden ( *1746) who was shot at a maskerade ball at the Stockholm opera house just before midnight on the ides of March 1792 by group of black gowned and masked conspirators After weeks of agonies the monark died of his wounds. The event became the inspiration for Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera, 1859.
Posted by Lars Fimmerstad on March 7,2010 | 10:21 AM
This is crazy, I never knew this much stuff happened all on the same day. Wow
Posted by Megan Scott on March 6,2010 | 02:10 PM