The Ides of March...
If you thought we got the Ides of March from the group that recorded "Vehicle" then perhaps you need a history lesson. In the Roman calendar the Ides of March fell on the 15th day of the Roman month of Martius. The date would become famous when Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles (or hitmen if you prefer) that included Brutus and Cassius...
In Roman times the Ides of March was simply the normal way of saying March 15th. Following the death of Caesar on March 15, 44 BC, we started saying "Beware the Ides of March" with a sense of doom thanks to Brutus, Cassius and the boys...
It's interesting to note that Income Tax day was March 15th for many years before being moved to April. The IRS has a great sense of humor, don't they ?
More March 15 Memories...
44BC) Refer to feature story above...
1493) Christopher Columbus returns to Spain concluding his 1st voyage to the Western Hemisphere...
1869) The Cincinnati Red Stockings become the 1st professional baseball team (with each player receiving a salary). To celebrate they play Antioch College. Final score 41-7 with uh, Cincinnati winning...
1875) New York's Archbishop John McCloskey is named the 1st American cardinal by Pope Pius IX...
1892) New York State unveils the new automatic ballot voting machine (and we still use them on election day)...
1892) Jesse W. Reno of New York City patents the Reno Inclined Elevator, our 1st escalator...
1919) The American Legion is founded in Paris (huh ? Was the French Foreign Legion founded in America ?)...
1954) The record many believe was the 1st Rock and Roll record (or at least the 1st Doo Wop tune) "Sh-boom" is recorded by the Chords (that version will reach the Pop Top 10 but the cover by the Crew-cuts went to #1)...
1954) CBS-TV debuts it's "Morning Show" (over 50 years later no one has discovered it)...
1955) Fats Domino records "Ain't That A Shame"...
1956) Lerner & Loewe's "My Fair Lady" opens at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway...
1956) Colonel Tom Parker becomes Elvis Presley's manager...
1964) Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor say "I do" (#5 for Liz)...
1965) T.G.I. Friday's 1st restaurant opens in New York City...
1966) Herb Alpert's "Taste of Honey" wins a "Record of the Year" Grammy. Frank Sinatra's LP "September of My Years" wins for "Album of the Year" and Tom Jones is "Best New Artist"...
1970) Bobby Orr of the Bruins becomes the NHL's 1st defenseman to score 100 points...
1972) "The Godfather" opens (the film will sweep the Academy Awards, winning "Best Picture", "Best Actor" (Brando) and "Best Screenplay" (Coppola and Puzo)...
1975) Aristotle Onasis, husband of former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, dies at 69...
1977) "Eight is Enough" debuts on ABC-TV (Tom & Joan Bradford & the entire Bradford clan entertain us until August 29, 1981)...
1978) "American Hot Wax" (a movie about Alan Freed) premieres...
1997) North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith passes the legendary Adolph Rupp of Kentucky as the winningest college coach in history with his 877th win (When he retired at the end of the season he would have 879 victories and along with UCLA's John Wooden is widely considered one of the top 2 coaches ever to coach a college basketball team)...
1998) Child care expert Dr. Benjamin Spock dies at 94...
1999) Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then lead a jam session on stage...
2002) Burger King adds a veggie burger to their menu...
2002) In Texas Andrea Yates receives a life sentence for drowning her 5 children on June 20, 2001...
2004) Martha Stewart resigns from the board of her own company, 10 days after being convicted in a stock scandal...
(To ensure accuracy of dates and content, muliple reference sources are used in the timeline)...
Happy Birthday To...
1935) Judd Hirsch...
1935) Jimmy Swaggart...
1941) Mike Love (Beach Boys)...
1944) Sly Stone...
1961) Fabio...
1962) Terence ("Wishing Well") Trent D'Arby...
1968) TV co-host & Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath...
1975) Eva Longoria...
Commentary...
Both Gordon Brown and Paul Power mentioned other songs that sold a million or more units before 1958 that should have or did receive gold status. Many songs received gold records prior to 1958 by their record companies or in some cases by music associations but not originally by the RIAA which was only formed in 1958. The RIAA became the offically sanctioned gold record association standard for record sales from 1958 on. Thanks for your feedback...
(Today is the 74th day of 2006 with 291 days remaining in the year, 5 days until spring and 17 and counting until opening day)...
