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Get smart about March

Posted: March 13, 2013 - 12:11am



Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about the month of March. Maybe we don’t because the fall months have such popular holidays as Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. They’re, of course, closely followed by the highly anticipated celebrations of Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve.

March’s two best known occasions are March 15 (the Ides of March), on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., and March 17, on which we all become” honorary Irish” and observe the anniversary of the the death of St. Patrick back in the fifth century. More people are born in October than in March, but included on the list of interesting folks who were born in March are Lady Gaga, Mitt Romney, Shaquille O’Neal, Elton John, Osama bin Laden and Bruce Willis.

March is usually considered the the beginning of spring, which we associate with renewed love of warm weather, flowering shrubs and trees, and baby animals. But according to the National Center for Health Statistics, March only ranks as the eighth most popular month for weddings.

To remind you of some of the notable people and events associated with March, here are some trivia questions about this month:

1. An old English proverb about March weather predicts: “When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a...” ? (Lamb)

2. Texas Independence Day is March 2. From what country did Texas declare its independence on that date in 1836? (Mexico)

3. According to MSN Money, what is the best luxury item to purchase in March? (Boats. March is the end of winter boat show season, so manufacturers tend to offer good deals on last year’s models)

4. Which favorite Sesame Street character, who lives at 123 Sesame Street next to Oscar’s trash can, was born March 20? (Big Bird)

5. On March 23, 1956, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein’s musical adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet story, which he set in New York City and featured warring rival street gangs, was successfully copyrighted. What was the name of this award-winning Broadway musical ? (West Side Story)

6. After his escape from Corregidor Island and arrival in Australia on March 11, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur vowed: “I shall return.” Where did he promise to return? (The Philippines)

7. What are the zodiac signs associated with March? (From March 1-20 it is Pisces and from March 21-31 it is Aries)

8. In 1981, just outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., there was an assassination attempt made on President Ronald Reagan. Who was the perpetrator of that March 30 shooting? (John Hinckley Jr.)

9. Jack Dorsey co-founded and produced in March 2006 a social networking and microblogging service that launched four months later. What is its name? (Twitter)

10. Pi is the mathematical constant which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated around the world March 14 because pi is 3.14159. How do many of our local schools show solidarity? (By baking and serving pies)

11. The USS Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear powered submarine and served for 26 years until it was decommissioned in March 1980. Which President’s wife smashed a bottle of champagne across its bow when it was launched in Groton, Conn., in 1954? (Mamie Eisenhower, wife of Dwight Eisenhower, was the citizen chosen to be the boat’s sponsor, so she performed the christening)

12. “March Madness” is a popular term describing a season-ending basketball tournament. What does this series of games determine? (NCAA men’s Division I college basketball championship)

13. Fifty years ago, on March 22, the Beatles released their first album. What was the album’s title? (“Please, Please Me”)

14. March has been designated National Frozen Food month by the National Association of Frozen and Refrigerated Foods. It’s also the national holiday month for many other foods. Name two of these foods. (National Peanut Month, National Grilled Cheese Month, National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day, National Melba Toast Day)

15. For what Roman god was March named? (Mars, the ancient god of war and father of the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome)

16. Hoop toys have been used as exercise equipment since ancient times and in 1963 Wham-O was awarded the patent for its hoop toy. What is the popular name for the plastic hoop? (Hula hoop)

17. Billed as “The Last Great Race...1,049 miles,” the most popular sporting event in Alaska is this annual competition held the first Saturday in March. What is it? {The Iditarod sled dog race, which covers the 1,049 miles between Anchorage and Nome in an average of nine days)

18. In March 1930, Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn south of Boston, created a dessert that had chopped chocolate as its distinguishing ingredient. What did she invent? (Toll House chocolate chip cookies. Since Nestle purchased the rights to the recipe, the recipe for Toll House cookies has been printed on bags of its chocolate chips)

19. German composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685, in what town? (Eisenach, Germany)

20. John Chapman was an 18th-century New England orchardist who planted nurseries of apples in the Midwest when Ohio and Indiana were the frontier. By what name is he commonly known? (Johnny Appleseed. March 18 is the anniversary of his death in 1845)

21. From “The Language of Love,” written during the Victorian Era, each birth month came to have a flower associated with it. What is the flower of March? (Jonquil, the daffodil or narcissus)

22. The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin is March 25. What is its traditional name? (Lady Day)

23. What was the name of American Motors’ subcompact car, advertised as “the first wide small car,” which was introduced in March 1975? (The AMC Pacer)

24. Women’s History Month is an international declaration that is celebrated in the U.S. in March. On what does it focus? (Awareness of the contributions women have made in the past and to contemporary society, which improve the quality of our lives)

25. March means the beginning of annual festivals in Beaufort County. Name two local festivals. (Gullah Celebration Oyster Roast and Lowcountry Boil on March 2; Hilton Head Wine and Food Festival which ran for six days starting March 4; Palmetto Bluff Half Marathon on March 10; Hargray Wingfest on March 23}

26. What winner of season one of Fox TV’s musical reality show “American Idol” had March 2012’s No. 1 hit song “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”? (Kelly Clarkson)

27. Under his pen name Dr Seuss, this American author born March 2, 1900,4 wrote, among other books, “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Cat in the Hat.” What was the writer’s real name? (Theodor Seuss Geisel)

28. In March 1765, Joseph Niepce made the first photographic image with a camera obscura. What was his nationality? (French)

29. Of our 44 U.S. Presidents, only four have been born in March. Name two of them. (James Madison, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler and Grover Cleveland)

30. Romantics believe gifting a person with a piece of jewelry containing his birthstone will bring the recipient good luck and protection from evil. What is the birth stone for March? (Aquamarine)

31. Time, which has the world’s largest circulation for a weekly news magazine, was first published 90 years ago March 3 in what major U.S. city? (New York City. Time is still published there today)

32. The Appomattox Campaign was the final series of battles during the Civil War. The campaign began March 25, 1865, and effectively ended April 9, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of a home owned by wholesale grocer Wilmer McLean. In what town was McLean’s house located? (Appomattox Court House, Va.)

33. Disneymouselinks.com suggests visitors to Disney World will find shorter wait times for attractions if they come during the first two weeks of March than the last two weeks of March. Why? (The end of March is traditionally spring break time for schools, so crowds of families and kids then head down to vacation at Disney)

34. What season officially starts in Australia on March 1? (Autumn. Due to the Earth’s tilt toward the sun, the seasons are reversed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres)

35. While working for the Bayer Company, chemist Felix Hoffmann discovered that salicen, a compound found in willow plants, effectively relieved pain. Under what trade name was his synthesized drug launched in March 1899? (Aspirin. Also known as acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin is still one of the most widely used and effective analgesic drugs)

36. Movies released in March win far fewer Academy Awards than those released in the fall. An exception to this was the saga of a New York organized crime family headed by Vito Corleone, which was released March 15, 1972. What was the title of this film, which won Oscars for best picture, best actor and best screenplay adaptation? (The Godfather)

37. At a March 1949 meeting, the International Olympic Committee voted to drop what competition from the Summer Games? (Art. At the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympic games, medals were awarded for sports-related entries in architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. The official competition was stopped because of difficulty in determining the amateur status of artists)

38. Because his mother and wife were profoundly deaf, Scottish scientist Alexander Graham Bell spent much of his life researching speech and vocal transmission. For what invention did he receive a patent in 1876? (On March 7, Bell received a patent for the first telephone)

39. Peak bloom time in Charleston is usually late March to early April. Name three of those flowering plants. (Azaleas, camellias, quince, jessamine, dutch iris, saucer magnolias)

40. On what March day 40 years ago did the last U.S. ground combat troops leave South Vietnam? (March 29. Their departure effectively ended direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. During this, America’s longest war, more than two million Americans served in Vietnam. To you all, thank you for your service)

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