14 | March | 2015 | M'chelsMusings

Saturday, the 14th of March, 2015 is the 73th day in 2015 and in the 11st calendar week.

General Events:

Pi Day 2015
March 14, 2015 in the World

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two unofficial holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant p (pi). Pi Day is celebrated on March 14, or in the month/day date format as 3/14; since 3, 1 and 4 are the three most significant digits of pi. March 14 is also the birthday of Albert Einstein so the two events are sometimes celebrated together. Pi Approximation Day is held on July 22, or in the more common day/month date format as 22/7, which is an approximate value of pi.

Pi Day is observed on March 14, because of the Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes’ first rough approximation of pi as being 3.14. (A few years later, Archimedes was able to calculate a much better approximation of pi.) However, 22/7 is actually a closer approximation of pi than 3.14 is. Thus, a more “accurate” Pi Day could be found in the more common calendar, 22/7, or July 22.

Sometimes the so-called Pi Minute is also commemorated. This one occurs twice on March 14 at 1:59 a.m., and 1:59 p.m. If pi is truncated to seven decimal places, it becomes 3.1415926, making the Pi Second occur on March 14 at 1:59:26 a.m. (or 1:59:26 p.m.). If a 24-hour clock is used, the Pi Second occurs just once yearly, on March 14 (3/14) at 1:59:26 in the morning.

There is a large variety of ways of celebrating Pi Day and most of them include eating pie and discussing the relevance of pi. Pi Day is often celebrated with pies, given that pi and pie are homophones. The first Pi Day celebration was held at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The museum has since added pizza to its Pi Day menu. The founder of Pi Day was Larry Shaw, a now-retired physicist at the Exploratorium who still helps out with the celebrations.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

International Day of Action for Rivers
March 14, 2015 in the World

Every year, thousands of people around the world lift their voices to celebrate the world’s rivers and those who struggle to protect them. The International Day of Action for Rivers is a day to celebrate victories such as dam removal and river restoration.

It is a global event to celebrate our freshwater ecosystems and campaign for their conservation. It is a day to educate one another about the threats facing our rivers, and learn about better water and energy solutions.

Born out of the first International Meeting of People Affected by Dams in Brazil in March 1997, and organised by the International Rivers NGO, the day has become global , with public events ranging from festivals, press conferences, kayaking events, river clean-ups, protests, religious gatherings and campaign launches.

http://www.internationalrivers.org/international-day-of-action-for-rivers

Where is the event?
Worldwide

White Day 2015
March 14, 2015 in the World

White Day 2015 is on March 14. The day is celebrated in Japan one month after Valentine’s Day. It is also observed in South Korea, Taiwan and China. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is observed by females who present chocolate gifts , usually to a male, as an expression of love, courtesy or social obligation.

A handmade chocolate is usually preferred by the receiver, because it is a sign that the receiving male is the girl’s “only one”. On White Day, the converse happens: males who received a honmei-choco (“chocolate of love”) or giri-choco (“courtesy chocolate”) on Valentine’s Day are expected to return the favor by giving gifts, usually more expensive.

Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, jewelery, white chocolate, white lingerie and marshmallows. Sometimes the term sanbai gaeshi (“thrice the return”) is used to describe the generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine’s gift.

White Day was first celebrated in 1978 in Japan. It was started by the National Confectionery Industry Association as an “answer day” to Valentine’s Day on the grounds that men should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine’s Day.

Where is White Day?
Worldwide

Learn about Butterflies Day
March 14, 2015 in the World

Learn about Butterflies Day takes place on March 14, 2015. OK, let’s start and learn something about butterflies: A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect which includes the butterflies and moths. The butterfly’s life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight.

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants although in general they do not carry as much pollen load as bees.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

National Save a Spider Day
March 14, 2015 in the USA

If you suffer from arachnophobia, you’re probably not likely to join in today’s celebration of “Save a Spider Day.” In fact, arachnophobia, or fear of spiders, is believed to be the most common phobia in the United States.

But like most phobias, the fear of spiders is generally frivolous, since in America, there are only two spiders that pose any risk to humans: the brown recluse and the black widow. In fact, an average of fewer than seven people each year die from spider bites in the U.S.

Spiders do much more good than harm, including eating crop-destroying and disease-carrying insects. Their venom has also been used to minimize the brain damage of stroke victims.

You can celebrate this special day by vowing to resist your temptation to squash these helpful little creatures, and instead, transport them to a safer place where they can continue to do their good work.

Think Before You Squish: Save a Spider!

Where is the event?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 14th March:

1489 – The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice.

1647 – Thirty Years’ War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.

1757 – On board HMS Monarch (his own flagship), British Admiral John Byng is executed by firing squad for neglecting his duty “Pour encourager les autres”.

1794 – Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin machine revolutionizing cotton industry in the southern US states

1869 – Defeat of Maori leader Titokowaru in New Zealand

1889 – German Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his “Navigable Balloon”

1901 – Germany’s Chancellor von Bulow declares that the agreement Germany signed with England in October 1900, to restrain foreign aggression and maintain open trade, does not apply to Manchuria

1913 – South African Supreme Court declares that marriages not celebrated according to Christian rites and/or not registered by the Registrar of Marriages, are invalid; all Muslim and Hindu marriages are therefore declared invalid

1931 – 1st theater built for rear movie projection (NYC)

1958 – South Africa government prohibits the African National Congress

1962 – Disarmament conference opens in Geneva without France

1965 – Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with West Germany

1968 – CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn’t make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA

1990 – Mikhail S Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Congress

1991 – English Court of Appeal frees “Birmingham 6” who had been unjustly sentenced in August 1975 to life imprisonment

2005 – Cedar Revolution, where over one and a million Lebanese went into the streets of Beirut to demonstrate against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, and against the government, following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri