15 | March | 2015 | M'chelsMusings

Sunday, the 15th of March, 2015 is the 74th day in 2015 and in the 11th calendar week.

General Events:

Ides of March 2015
March 15, 2015 in the World

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martii or Idus Martiae) is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances, and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

Although March (Martius) was the third month of the Julian calendar, in the oldest Roman calendar it was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new year celebrations.

The Ides of March was also the occasion of the Feast of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year (Latin annus) whose festival originally concluded the ceremonies of the new year. The day was enthusiastically celebrated among the common people with picnics, drinking, and revelry.

In Canada, the day is celebrated with the drinking of Bloody Caesars.

Where is Ides of March?
Worldwide

Honen Matsuri 2015
March 15, 2015 in Japan

Honen Matsuri is observed on March 15, 2015. Honen Matsuri is a fertility festival celebrated every year in Japan. Honen means prosperous year in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a matsuri is a festival. The Honen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.

Where is Honen Matsuri?
Nationwide Japan

World Consumer Rights Day
March 15, 2015 in the World

World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is an awareness day, which is observed on March 15, 2015. The WCRD was first celebrated in 1983 and became an important annual occasion for mobilizing citizen action and solidarity within the international consumer movement. The day is an opportunity for promoting the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected and protesting about the market abuses and social injustices which undermine them.

The day takes place on 15 March to mark the definition of consumer rights, outlined by US President John F. Kennedy. He was the first world leader to set out a vision of consumer rights and he also recognized the importance of consumers as a group. Kennedy gave the American consumer four basic rights: the right to safety, to choose, to information and to be heard. The aim of WRCD is to celebrate solidarity within the international consumer rights movement.

The day is organized by Consumers International (CI), which is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers and was founded in 1960. Currently it has over 220 member organizations in 115 countries around the world.

Each year, the CI Council selects a theme for the following World Consumer Rights Day activities, for example: “Our money, our rights” in 2010, “Consumers and water” in 2004 or “Unethical Drug Promotion” in 2007. Around the world the day will be marked with local initiatives, including campaigns, press conferences, workshops and street events.

Where is World Consumer Rights Day?
Worldwide

International Day Against Police Brutality
March 15, 2015 in the World

The International Day Against Police Brutality occurs on March 15. It first began in 1997 as an initiative of the Montreal based Collective Opposed to Police Brutality and the Black Flag group in Switzerland. In Montreal, a march is usually held which defies law P6 by not declaring its itinerary to police. In 18 years the march has only avoided arrests and hassling twice. The protest is immediately declared illegal and crackdown begins shortly after the protesters have gathered. Hundreds of people are arrested most years. The police use kettling, batons and are dressed in riot gear.

Acceptance of March 15 as a focal day of solidarity against police brutality varies from one place to another. In the United States, the October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation, a group mounted by the RCP, has succeeded in building support for October 22 (also known as O22) as National Anti Police Brutality Day since 1995.

Where is International Day Against Police Brutality?
Worldwide

National Pears Hélène Day
March 15, 2015 in the USA

Today is National Pears Hélène Day, a day to enjoy this wonderfully smooth French dessert. Recipes for the dish vary throughout the world, featuring toppings ranging from crystalized violets and sliced almonds, to cinnamon and whipped cream, but the main ingredients almost always include pears, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup. Created in the 1860’s the delicious dessert borrows it’s name from the operetta La belle Hélène by Jacques Offenbach.

Where is this event?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 15th March:

44 BC – Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March

221 – Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han and claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty.

1545 – First meeting of the Council of Trent

1778 – Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island discovered by Captain Cook

1812 – 1st Russian settlement in California, Russian River

1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party

1892 – 1st escalator patented by inventor Jesse W Reno (NYC)

1903 – After years of fighting between the British and the rebellious Africans, the British claim supremacy over 500,000 square miles, thus controlling all northern Nigeria

1906 – Britons Rolls, Royce & Johnson form Rolls Royce Ltd

1907 – Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote

1928 – Benito Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose)

1950 – NYC hires Dr Wallace E Howell as its official “rainmaker”

1952 – Greatest 24-hr rainfall begins: 187 cm at La Reunion, Indian Ocean

1962 – 5 research groups announce simultaneously discovery of anti-matter

1984 – Tanzania adopts constitution

1985 – The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com)

1988 – NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by CFK

1999 – Pluto again becomes outermost planet

2004 – Announcement of the discovery of 90377 Sedna, the farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed