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March Forth and Do Something Day is a made-up holiday celebrated each year on March 4.
The holiday encourages people to do something new that enriches their own lives or the lives of people in their community.
March Fourth
The name of this unofficial holiday plays on the words, march fourth, which when spoken out loud sounds like march forth - an expression used to convey action and moving forward.
How to Celebrate?
March forth and do something.
Volunteer in your community.
Start something that you have always wanted to do but have never had the chance to.
You can read more here.
March 4, 2020 is ...
64th day of the year. There are then 302 days left in 2020.
10th Wednesday of 2020.
on the 10th week of 2020 (using US standard week number calculation).
74th day of Winter. There are 16 days left till Spring.
Birthstone for this day: Aquamarine, Bloodstone & Jade
This information came from here.
This Day in Music
1967 - The Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday hits #1
1972 -Badfinger's Day After Day is certified gold
1976 - Hall & Oates, Rich Girl is recorded
1978 - In the Top 5 songs on this day, Dan Hill's, Sometimes When We Touch at #3 is the only song not written by the Bee Gees
This Day in Sports
1913 - New York Yankees are the 1st team to train outside the US in Bermuda
1967 - Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champion in Vienna won by Peggy Fleming of the US
1968 - Joe Frazier TKOs Buster Mathis in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
1976 - San Francisco Giants are bought for $8 million by Bob Lurie & Bud Herseth
All the above came from here.
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Superman didn't always fly. The original comic book Superman could leap tall buildings in a single bound. But then he had to come right back down to Earth—because he didn't fly. It wasn't until the 1940s, when animators for a new animated series decided it would be too difficult to routinely draw him bending his knees, that it was decided that Superman could take off into the air. Readers got to see smooth animation, and a superhero gained a new power.
Bees sometimes sting other bees. Bees are notorious for their stings, but humans aren't the only ones who experience this pain in the neck (or the arm, or the leg…). In protecting their hives from outsiders, some "guard bees" will stay by the entrance and sniff the bees that come in, says Marianne Peso from the biology department of Macquarie University. If there's a rogue bee from another hive trying to steal some nectar, the guard bee will bite and even sting the intruder.
Water makes different pouring sounds depending on its temperature. If you listen very closely, hot water and cold water sound slightly different when being poured. The heat changes the thickness, or viscosity, of the water, which changes the pitch of the sound it makes when it's poured. What we feel as heat comes from the molecules of the water moving faster. Cold water is thicker and therefore makes a slightly higher-pitched sound.
All of the above came from here.
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Daylight Saving Time will begin at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8
Don't forget to change your clock before going to sleep tonight! But what does it mean and why do we do it?
The terms “spring forward” and “fall back” are used to describe a practice of changing standard time with the intention of “saving” (as in, making better use of) natural light. During daylight savings time (DST), clocks are turned ahead one hour, so that the sun rises later in the morning and sets later in the evening. The change is reversed in autumn.
Originally enacted in the United States as a wartime conservation effort, observance of DST became federal law in 1918. (To dispel a common myth: It was not enacted for farmers—in fact, most farmers fought for its repeal.) While it was quickly repealed after the war ended, DST was observed nationally again during World War II. By 1966, some 100 million Americans were practicing some type of DST through their own local laws. In 1966, Congress acted to end the confusion and establish one consistent nationwide pattern. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 stated that DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. (Any area that wanted to be exempt from DST could do so by passing a local ordinance. Hawaii and most of Arizona, for example, are exempt from DST.) By 2005, the Energy Policy Act established that DST begins each year on the second Sunday in March at 2:00am and that the changeover back to standard time (ST) occurs on the first Sunday in November at 2:00am.
You can read more here.
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Interesting facts about soft drinks
• Soft drinks are called “soft” because they don’t have any alcohol in them.
• First flavored soda drinks appeared in Europe in second half of 17th century. They were most popular in France.
• The most popular types of soft drinks are flavored water, carbonated water, sweet iced tea, fruit drinks, carbonated soft drinks, diet soft drinks, fruit punch, seltzers and cordials.
• Soft drinks can be called by many names. The most popular ones are soda, pop, coke, soda pop, fizzy drink and carbonated beverage.
• Over 34 billion gallons of soft drinks are sold in over 200 countries each year.
In United States there are over 1,500 patents related to soda drinks during first few years of its popularity.
• Process of carbonating water (infusing water with carbon dioxide) was invented by Englishman Joseph Priestley in 1767.
• Soda fountains (devices that can serve pre-made soda) were first introduced in early 1800s and patented in 1816.
• Automated production of soda drink bottles arrived in 1899. Its inventor Michael Owens managed in few years to create device that can create 58 thousand bottles per day.
You can read more here.
Fun Facts about Soda
• Without the added food coloring, Coca-Cola would be green.
• Coca-Cola contains high fructose corn syrup, but every year they produce a kosher version of Coca-Cola, so Jewish people can drink it at all times of the year.
• A study conducted at Northern Kentucky University showed that when making cocktails or other mixed alcoholic drinks, diet soda gets you 10% drunker.
• Soft drinks make up the number one source of calorie intake in America. The average American drinks just less than two sodas a day, and over 45 gallons a year.
• Coke is so popular, that even its less popular counterpart, Diet Coke, sells more than Pepsi.
• Soda can be used to get rusty stains off of car bumpers.
• In 1995, Mountain Dew became the official sponsor of the first-ever X Games.
• Originally, Mountain Dew was made with whiskey, though this was obviously eventually changed.
• Pepsi once ran an advertisement with the slogan, “Come alive with Pepsi!” However, in China, that translated to “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”
• The original glass Fresca bottles used to contain a groove right under the label to catch condensation from dripping down to your hand.
• The name Fanta came from the German word “fantasie,” which means imagination.
All of the above came from here.
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Are you superstitious? Do you avoid going under ladders? Do you throw salt over your shoulder? Do you believe that if you break a mirror you will have 7 years of bad luck? What about Friday 13?
Very little is known about the origins of the day's notoriety. Some historians believe that the superstitions surrounding it arose in the late 19th century. The first documented mention of the day can be found in a biography of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th. A 1907 book, Friday the Thirteenth, by American businessman Thomas Lawson, may have further perpetuated the superstition. Others believe that the myth has Biblical origins. Jesus was crucified on a Friday, and there were 13 guests at the Last Supper the night before his crucifixion. Another account suggests that the day has been associated with misfortune since 1307 when on a Friday the 13th, the French king gave the orders to arrest hundreds of Knights Templar.
• Yet, the Fear is Very Real... The fear of Friday the 13th is also called friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia. Experts say that friggatriskaidekaphobia affects millions of people and estimate that businesses, especially airlines, suffer from severe losses on Friday the 13th.
• Triskaidekaphobia, or the fear of the number 13, is even more widespread. So much so that many high-rise buildings, hotels, and hospitals skip the 13th floor and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. In many parts of the world, having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.
• Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th. The master of suspense was born on August 13, 1899 – so Friday, August 13, 1999 would have been his 100th birthday. He made his directorial debut in 1922 with a movie called Number 13. Unfortunately, the film was doomed from the start and never got off the ground due to financial troubles. Other celebrities and well-known personalities born on a Friday the 13th include actors Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; novelist and playwright, Samuel Beckett; and former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro. The Day Inspired One of the Highest Grossing Film Series
• The commercially successful Friday the 13th enterprise includes 12 horror movies, a television series, and several books that focus on curses and superstitions. Even though the films and the television series consistently received negative reviews from critics, they have a huge following. The mask worn by the key character in the films, Jason Voorhees, is one of the most known images in popular culture.
You can read more info here.
• Taylor Swift thinks of 13 as her lucky number and has some connections with Friday the 13th: "I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro," she told MTV in 2009.
• Stephen King’s triskaidekaphobia – The number 13 and Friday the 13th in particular, scares even the horror master himself. He wrote an article about it for the New York Times in 1984 and you can read it here.
• Mark Twain was allegedly once invited to be the 13th guest at a dinner party. As the story goes, he went to the dinner despite a superstitious friend's warning. Twain reportedly said, "It was bad luck. They only had food for 12."
• In his No. 1 hit song "Superstition," Stevie Wonder sings: "Thirteen-month-old baby, broke the lookin' glass. Seven years of bad luck, good things in your past. When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way."
• In some Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday (Martes) the 13th is considered bad luck. Tuesday is feared because it is the day of the week associated with the Roman god of war, Mars. There is a cautionary saying: "On Tuesdays, don't get married, don't take a trip and don't leave your home."
• Founded in 1882 by Capt. William Fowler, The Thirteen Club of New York was a group of skeptics who defied superstitions by hosting dinner parties on Friday the 13th. At the first dinner, the 13 members performed such unlucky feats as passing under a ladder. They dined on 13 courses, the first by the light of 13 candles. The devil-may-care group tipped over salt containers on the table but were forbidden from tossing any of the spilled granules over their shoulders. The small club evolved into a national organization that boasted such members Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt, according to the New York Historical Society.
You can read more here.
• In some countries, Tuesday the 13th is the unlucky day, not Friday the 13th. In Spain and Spanish speaking countries, it's Tuesday the 13th that gets people wound up. Martes, Tuesday in Spanish, comes from the Roman god of war, Mars, forever tying the day to violence, death and bloodshed. In conjunction, Constantinople supposedly fell on a Tuesday during the Fourth Crusade. And then Ottoman Turks supposedly claimed the city on a Tuesday more than 200 years later.
Please follow this link to read more about superstitions: 13 Superstitions From Around the World
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Gardening Facts and Tips
• The ladybug is a beneficial insect. They consume large numbers of aphids and scale bugs thus keeping them from chewing on your precious plants.
• The best time to water your plants is in the morning or at dusk. This not only protects your plants from burning but watering in the heat of the day also causes an increase in evaporation and thus your plants don’t get as much water as you think. It also saves water!
• When watering your plants try not to water the leaves. Water remaining on the leaves is a great way get and spread disease. To avoid this try placing the hose at the base of the plant.
• Variegated (different colored pieces of leaves, etc) plants are due to a mutation in the plant.
• Picking off flowers and vegetables actually increases the productivity of the plant.
• Thinner leaved plants tend to need more water than plants with thicker leaves.
• Mixing cinnamon in with your soil is a simple and easy fungicide.
• Control mildew buildup by diluting milk with water and spraying it on your plants.
• Less than 2 percent of insects are harmful.
You can read this here.
• A sunflower is not just one flower. Both the fuzzy brown center and the classic yellow petals are actually 1,000 – 2,000 individual flowers, held together on a single stalk.
• There are more microorganisms in one teaspoon of soil than there are people on earth. It's aliiiiive! OK, in all seriousness, that fact might make you itchy, but microbes are important for keeping your soil full of nutrients.
• Plants really do respond to sound. Talking to plants to help them grow is a well-known old wives' tale, but studies have shown vibration (like music, or perhaps even the sweet sound of your voice) can affect plant growth. Plus, the Myth Busters (in an admittedly not-so-scientific study), compared a silent greenhouse to one where they piped in a voice soundtrack, and found that plants in the latter grew more.
• Butterflies might be more attracted to your weeds than your flowers. Colorful blooms aren't the chief reason these insects love your garden – it's more about the fragrance and nectar. According to the Smithsonian Institute, new cultivars of popular flowers have been bred for enhanced color and size but have often lost their fragrance in the process. So everyday weeds, like dandelions and clovers, might actually be the most appealing things in your yard to butterflies (they hate pesticides, too). Taking care to choose heirloom flower seeds can get them to also fly your way.
• A little baking soda can help you grow sweeter tomatoes. A regular sprinkling of this kitchen staple into your plant's soil can help reduce acidity, which sweetens up your crop.
• Some of your favorite fruits are actually in the rose family. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and more are rosaceae, making them cousins to the long-stemmed Valentine's Day variety.
• The right orchid combination can smell like your favorite dessert. Did you know that the vanilla bean comes from a orchid varietal? And it's not the only sweet-smelling kind: "An oncidum hyrbrid called Sharry Baby smells like chocolate," says George Hatfield, president of the Santa Barbara Orchid Show. "It's 'baking cookie' aroma has made it a winner." And that's not all: The cymbidium Golden Elf smells lemony, and the phalaenopsis violacea has a cinnamon scent. "Just like you'd combine Jelly Belly beans to create new flavors, you can combine orchids to create a garden that smells like a dessert buffet," says Hatfield.
• You can change a hydrangea's color by altering the pH level of the soil. A more alkaline soil will result in pinker blooms, while more acidity will produce blue blooms. To coax your plant to the blue side, add more organic matter to your soil, like eggshells and coffee grounds (though the acidity in used coffee grounds can vary greatly, so you might try a high-acid fertilizer, too). The change won't happen overnight, but eventually you should succeed in manipulating your soil's pH level.
• Deer can jump eight feet high. They might require a running start to reach such heights, but a tiny fence often isn't enough to keep these garden nibblers away. Try a taller one, plant thorny or pungent plants as a natural barrier, or scare them off with lights or wind chimes.
• You don't need to be a dedicated composter to reap similar benefits. Call it cheating but applying used coffee grounds, eggshells, chopped-up banana peels, and other organic matter directly to your soil (no composting required) can offer plants nutrients as they decompose. For already-growing beds, scatter and bury the items within the first few inches of soil.
The above info came from here.
If you would like to read ‘What Your Favorite Flower Says About You’ you can read it here.
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Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159. Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the infinite digits of Pi, talk to their friends about math, and to eat Pie.
Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.
You can read more here.
Pi facts
• It is thought the concept of pi was first discovered around 4,000 years ago.
• We can never find the true meaning of pi because it is what is known as an "irrational number".
• Welsh mathematician William Jones was the first person to use the symbol we now use for pi more than 250 years ago.
• The Guinness World Record for most decimal places memorised is held by Rajveer Meena, who took 10 hours to recall 70,000 places blindfolded in March 2015.
• British mathematician William Shanks became famous for manually calculating pi to 607 places in the 19th century. However, it later emerged the 527th number was wrong, making the rest of his calculations wrong by default.
• Google employee Emma Haruka Iwao has calculated the number pi to a world record 31 trillion digits today!
The above info came from here.
