26 March: Robert Frost

Robert Frost, the American poet, was born on this date in 1874. Here are 10 facts about him.

1. He was born in San Francisco; both his parents were teachers. He was named after Confederate General Robert E Lee, a hero of his father’s.

2. Frost’s father died of tuberculosis when he was 11 years old, leaving them with just eight dollars. Hence the family moved to Massachusetts to live with his grandparents.

3. Frost had two unsuccessful attempts at getting a college degree. He went to Dartmouth College but only lasted two months before dropping out, saying, "I wasn't suited for that place." He tried again at Harvard, but by this time he had a wife and child and dropped out to support them. Harvard bestowed an honorary degree on him in 1937.

4. His wife’s name was Elinor Miriam White and they were childhood sweethearts, having met at school. In fact, they shared the title of class valedictorian when they graduated in 1892. He proposed to her after he sold his first poem (My Butterfly, to the New York Independent newspaper in 1894, for which he got paid $15 which at the time was a substantial sum, about twice the weekly salary he earned as a teacher) but she insisted on waiting until she finished college. His poem, The Subverted Flower, was inspired by her.

5. His most famous poem, The Road Not Taken, was actually written as a bit of a joke. Frost used to go hiking with a friend, Edward Thomas. Thomas was often indecisive about which way to go, would spend a lot of time deliberating and then regretting that he’d not chosen the other route.

6. Another of his poems is called Fire and Ice, and this one was an inspiration to JRR Martin who admits the poem was an influence and that he lifted the title for his book A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin said, "Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardour and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is … you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.” Indeed.

7. John F Kennedy was also a fan, which led to Frost becoming the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration. The poem he used at the event was not the one he’d intended to read. He’d written one called Dedication and had it typed out, but the sun was so bright he couldn’t read the words because of the glare, so ended up reciting The Gift Outright because he knew it by heart.

8. He is the only poet to win the Pulitzer Prize four times. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times.

9. As well as poetry, he wrote a few plays including A Way Out, and The Cow's in the Corn: A One Act Irish Play in Rhyme.

10. He died in 1963 at the age of 88. The inscription on his tombstone is “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world,” which is the last line of his poem The Lesson for Today.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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25 March: Béla Bartók

This date in 1881 was the birthdate of Béla Bartók, a Hungarian composer known for composing Hungarian dances. 10 facts about him.

1. Béla Bartók was born in Nagyszentmiklós, which was in Hungary at the time but is now part of Romania. His father was descended from a noble family and worked as Director of an Agricultural School. His mother was from Slovakia. He had a sister whose name was Erzsébet.

2. His parents were both amateur musicians and Bartók’s mother began teaching him to play the Piano when he was five. At nine, he started composing.

3. His first public performance was when he was 11. One of the pieces he played at it was his one of his own compositions called The Course of the Danube. His performance attracted the attention of László Erkel, who took him on as a student.

4. He earned a place at the prestigious Vienna Conservatoire when he was 17, but being a Hungarian nationalist he chose to study piano and composition at the Budapest Academy of Music instead. He graduated in 1903, and began teaching piano there himself.

5. He was married twice. His first wife was Márta Ziegler with whom he had a son, Béla Bartók III. They divorced in 1923 and the following year Bartók he married Ditta Pásztory, a piano student, and had another son, Péter.

6. While he is famous for folk music inspired compositions, he also wrote one opera, Bluebeard's Castle in 1911.

7. He was strongly against the Nazis and Hungary's alliance with Germany. He refused to perform in Germany after 1933, and eventually left Europe altogether to escape the Nazis. He went to America, settled in New York and taught at Columbia University.

8. His passion was ethnomusicological research. He collected folk tunes from Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Turkey and North Africa. When he retired from teaching he devoted much of his time to this pursuit.

9. Bartók died in New York in 1945, at the age of 64, from complications of leukaemia. Only ten people attended his funeral, including his wife and two sons. He was buried in New York although in 1988 his sons had his remains moved and reburied in Hungary in 1988.

10. At the time of his death, Bartók left some unfinished works which were completed by one of his students, Tibor Serly.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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24 March: William Morris Quotes

Born on this date in 1834 was William Morris, architect, poet, artist, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. 10 things he said:

1. Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

2. The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

3. I am going your way, so let us go hand in hand. You help me and I'll help you. We shall not be here very long ... so let us help one another while we may.

4. There is no excuse for doing anything which is not strikingly beautiful.

5. No pattern should be without some sort of meaning.

6. The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make.

7. I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.

8. History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.

9. No man is good enough to be another's master.

10. If a chap can't compose an epic poem while he's weaving tapestry, he had better shut up, he'll never do any good at all.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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23 March: 82

Today is day 82 of 2026. Here are some fun facts about the number 82.

1. In Roman numerals, 82 is LXXXII

2. +82 is the international calling code for South Korea.

3. 82 Alkmene is a main-belt asteroid discovered by R. Luther in 1864 and named after Alcmene, the mother of Herakles in Greek mythology.

4. 82 is the second studio album by the Kenyan house/funk trio Just a Band, released in 2009.

5. It’s the atomic number of Lead.

6. The first verse of Psalm 82 is "God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision."

7. The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William.

8. The Tatra 82 was a heavy-duty car model made by Czech manufacturer Tatra between 1935 and 1938. It was mainly used for military cargo and personnel.

9. In binary, 82 is 1010010.

10. In numerology 82 is an independent and pragmatic energy which gets things done. It may prefer to pursue its own goals without being hindered by others, but if needed it will assemble a team to implement the project. 82 is an effective leader but can lack empathy towards team members.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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22 March: Anthony Van Dyck

This date in 1599 was the birthdate of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish artist. Here are 10 things you might not know:

1. Born in Antwerp, he was the seventh of twelve children. His father was a silk merchant and his mother was a skilled embroiderer.

2. His talent as an artist emerged when he was very young. He was an apprentice to Hendrik van Balen at ten. He had his own studio when he was a teenager and by 19 he was a master painter in the esteemed Antwerp Guild of St Luke.

3. He gave up his studio when he met Peter Paul Rubens, in order to become his assistant and learn from him. Rubens referred to Van Dyck as the best of his students.

4. He was a success throughout Europe, spending time in Italy and eventually settling in England. In his time spelling wasn’t standardised, so there were multiple variations of his name. Anthony van Dijk, Antonio Wandik, Anttonio Vandique, Bandeique, and Anthonius van Dyck were among the variations that existed.

5. In terms of his love life, he apparently put himself about a bit. He had many lovers and at least one long term mistress called Margaret Lemon. She was said to be jealous and possessive, but neither of them was faithful to the other. He probably had many illegitimate children, and it’s speculated that he left Antwerp to escape the consequences of getting some of his lovers pregnant. He only ever acknowledged one illegitimate child, a daughter, Maria-Theresia, shortly before he died.

6. He eventually married at the age of 41. His wife’s name was Mary Ruthven. By this time his health was declining. He died at the age of 42, just a week after the birth of his only legitimate child, Justiniana.

7. His portraits were famous for his depiction of hands, Eyes and suits of armour. He developed a style of full length portraits.

8. In case you’re wondering why he’s Sir Anthony Van Dyck, that came about after he became the principal court painter for King Charles I. Charles liked his work so much that he knighted him and also provided him with a house and a pension of £200 which would be five figures in today’s money.

9. Van Dyck was buried in St Paul's Cathedral despite being a Catholic. Unfortunately, his grave was destroyed in the Great fire of London although there is a memorial in the new cathedral to him and others whose graves met the same fate, which was installed in 1913.

10. Van Dyck was an influence to several famous painters who came after him, including Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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21 March: Modest P Mussorgsky

This date in 1839 was the birthdate of the Russian composer Modest P Mussorgsky. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Karevo, 250 miles south of St Petersburg, to an aristocratic family which was descended from Rurik, a legendary founder of the Russian state.

2. The family name was derived from another ancestor who had had the nickname "Musorga," which meant, appropriately enough, 'Music maker.' However, the name was also quite similar to the Russian word for rubbish, so from 1863 they altered the name so it sounded less like that.

3. He started learning Piano at six and by the age of nine could play complicated pieces.

4. A career in music wasn’t his family’s first choice for him, though. They wanted him to join the military so at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the Cadet School of the Guards. He was, however, allowed to continue playing the piano. In due course he graduated and got a commission with the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the top regiment of the Imperial Guard.

5. Here, he met the composer Aleksandr Borodin, and also became friends with César Cui, Mily Balakirev, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. They became known as “The Five”, a group of influential Russian composers. Modest eventually resigned his commission in order to concentrate on music.

6. His mission in music was to create music which sounded Russian, rather than following the usual Western styles. Some of his most famous works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral piece Night on Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

7. He was 29 when he wrote Boris Godunov, using as reference Pushkin's play and Karamzin's history. However, the opera was rejected by the theatre at first because it had no principle female role. Mussorgsky revised it, making the changes the theatre had asked for and more. The new version was accepted.

8. His family lost much of their land because of the emancipation of the serfs. Mussorgsky had to spend time trying to help his family, which made it hard to find time to compose. He had a day job as a civil servant to support himself but it wasn’t a very secure job and at times, he didn’t get paid.

9. He was an alcoholic and went into decline when he and his composer friends began to go their separate ways. He suffered from seizures and delirium tremens and was admitted to a hospital. He seemed to improve at first and had a portrait painted by Ilya Repin, which depicted him with a drink induced red nose. However, Mussorgsky died a week after his 42nd birthday.

10. The progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed and recorded an arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in 1971, featuring lyrics by Greg Lake, and released it as a live album.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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20 March: Big Bird

20 March is the birthday of the Sesame Street character, Big Bird. Here are 10 facts about him:

1. He’s 8 feet 2 inches tall (249cm), is bright Yellow and lives in a nest behind 123 Sesame Street, next to Oscar the Grouch's trash can.

2. It’s up for debate what species of bird he is. His colour suggests that he’s a Canary, and he’s said himself that this is the case and that his scientific name is Bigus canarius. That said, he’s also described himself as a lark, and when asked if he was a Cassowary said that he was a golden condor. Others have suggested he might be an ibis, or a crane (or a unique species evolved from a crane). Oscar the Grouch calls him a Turkey but that is probably more of an insult than fact. Big Bird’s grandfather, however, is said to be an Emu.

3. While Big Bird may not be a turkey, his suit is made from turkey feathers which have been died yellow and glued on About 6,000 are in use at any given time.

4. The Big Bird suit weighs ten pounds, and his head alone weighs four pounds. Operating the suit is not for the faint hearted. The person inside gets very hot and can’t see where they are going, so they use a monitor strapped to the chest in order to navigate. The operator’s right arm is raised to operate the head, using the right hand to operate the mouth while the little finger operates the eyes.

5. Big Bird’s operator from 1969 to 2018 was Caroll Spinney. When he retired at the age of 84, the role went to his long time understudy Matt Vogel. Here is a classic case of nominative determination as Vogel is German for “bird”.

6. As for family, Big Bird was raised by his grandmother and an aunt called Nani Bird. He has a sister called Esmerelda, an Uncle Slim (a cowbird from Wyoming) and numerous cousins including Cousin Bubba from the North Pole, Floyd, a surfer bird from Los Angeles. He also has a Teddy bear called Radar.

7. Big Bird’s suit was designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love. It was based on a seven foot tall dragon character than Henson designed for another project.

8. While Big Bird has been around for well over 50 years, he is portrayed as a perpetual six year old.

9. Big Bird can Roller skate, Ice skate, Dance, Swim, Sing, write poetry, draw, and ride a unicycle.

10. He almost went into space. In the 1980s when NASA was considering sending an ordinary citizen into space on the Space Shuttle, Carroll Spinney was invited to be that person, going into orbit in Big Bird persona. Spinney was hesitant at first, but eventually decided he was up for it, only to find that the Big Bird costume wouldn’t fit in the confined space. Which turned out to be a lucky escape, as the mission in question was the January 1986 Challenger one that exploded soon after launch, killing everyone on board. Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was ultimately chosen as the ordinary citizen instead.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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19 March: Avon Representative Day

Today is Avon Representative Day, so here are 10 facts about Avon.

1. There are 6.4 million Avon representatives throughout the world, so a lot of people are celebrating today!

2. Avon was founded by David H. McConnell, originally a door to door salesman selling books, based in New York. He hit on the idea of selling perfumes that way instead. He set up an office for his new company at 126 Chambers Street, Manhattan, New York in 1886.

3. It was originally known as the "California Perfume Company," because McConnell had a business partner who lived there and suggested it because many Flowers grow there.

4. The name Avon was not adopted until 1939.

5. With sales of $9.1 billion worldwide, Avon is the fourteenth-largest beauty company.

6. McConnell employed women as salespeople, believing that women should have some financial independence. While we’ve all heard the term “Avon Lady”, there are Avon gentlemen, too nowadays.

7. In 1989, Avon announced that it would no longer test its products on animals. However, some of its products are required to be tested in other countries where animals are still used. Hence People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has not included Avon on their cruelty-free list.

8. As well as selling cosmetics and personal care products, Avon is involved in charity work, raising money for good causes like breast cancer research.

9. They were the first mass-market company to stabilise Vitamin C.

10. At time of writing the company is based in London and the CEO is Kristof Neirynck, appointed in 2023.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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18 March: Grover Cleveland Quotes

Former US president Grover Cleveland was born on this date in 1837. 10 quotes from the days when what presidents said made sense and weren’t just ramblings about dead people walking around with no legs.

1. In calm water every ship has a good captain.

2. A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.

3. Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.

4. A cause worth fighting for is worth fighting for to the end.

5. Men and times change-but principles-never.

6. Above all, tell the truth.

7. What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?

8. Honour lies in honest toil.

9. What do you imagine the American people would think of me if I wasted my time going to the ball game?

10. Good ball players make good citizens.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

17 March: 76

 Today is the 76^th day of the year. 10 fun facts about the number 76:

1. “Seventy six trombones led the big parade, With a hundred & ten cornets close at hand.” so goes the song from the musical The Music Man. It’s basically a sales pitch to encourage parents in a small Iowa town to buy musical instruments for their kids.

2. Seventy-Six is a historical fiction novel by John Neal. Published in Baltimore in 1823, it is about the American Revolutionary War.

3. There are (or have been) at least four towns or communities in the US called Seventy-Six. Two in Iowa, one in Kentucky and one in Missouri.

4. 76 Freia is a large main-belt asteroid discovered by the astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest in 1862, in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was his first and only asteroid discovery. It is named after the goddess Freyja in Norse mythology.

5. '76, formerly Lions of '76, is a 2016 Nigerian historical fiction drama film directed by Izu Ojukwu about a young soldier mistakenly accused of taking part in a coup.

6. 76 is a chain of gas (petrol) stations in the US.

7. '76 is an eight-issue comic book series published by Image Comics, and written by B. Clay Moore and Seth Peck, and illustrated by Ed Tadem and Tigh Walker. It is set in the year 1976 and features storylines based in New York City and Los Angeles.

8. Fallout 76 is a multiplayer video game set in the post-nuclear wasteland of America.

9. 76 is the debut album of Dutch trance producer and DJ Armin van Buuren.

10. In numerology, a person influenced by this number is realistic, pragmatic, and family oriented. They are loyal and conscientious and able to focus on details. They build and plan for the future.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

16 March: James Madison Quotes

Another former US president, James Madison, was born on this date in 1751. 10 quotes from him:

1. If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

2. Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

3. The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

4. If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

5. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

6. Conscience is the most sacred of all property.

7. Philosophy is common sense with big words.

8. If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

9. Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

10. Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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15 March: Andrew Jackson Quotes

10 quotes from Andrew Jackson, former US President, born this date in 1767.

1. It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.

2. I was born for a storm and a calm does not suit me.

3. When the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.

4. Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms.

5. Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.

6. The great can protect themselves, but the poor and humble require the arm and shield of the law.

7. You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessings.

8. There are only two things I can't give up; one is coffee and the other is tobacco.

9. Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.

10. People are my religion/Because I believe in them.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

14 March: Emeralds

On National Jewel Day: 10 facts about emeralds.

1. Emeralds are always Green (unlike Diamonds, Sapphires and Rubies which can be colours other than the one usually associated with them) although they might not be the exact shade of green known as emerald green. The shade of green varies according to the exact amount of the elements Chromium and Vanadium present in the stone.

2. Emeralds belong to the beryl family of stones.

3. They are actually rarer, and therefore more expensive per carat, than diamonds. An emerald is lower in density than a diamond and so would be larger than a diamond of the same carat value. Emerald measures between 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness.

4. Colombia is the world’s biggest emerald producer, accounting for around 90% of the world’s emeralds. Zambia is the second largest producer. Emerald miners in Colombia get an occupational perk called “picando” in which for one day each month they can keep any emeralds they find for themselves.

5. Emeralds are the birth stone for people born in May, or under the astrological sign of Taurus. 55 years is an emerald anniversary.

6. The largest flawless emerald in the world was known as the Rockefeller Emerald until it was sold in an auction to a man called Harry Winston for $5.5 million. Since then it has been known as the Rockefeller-Winston emerald.

7. The word emerald comes to us via Old French, Vulgar Latin and Ancient Greek, and possibly even further back to Sanskrit or Persian. The Ancient Greek word simply meant “green gem”.

8. In Ancient Egypt, emeralds symbolised eternal youth and were often buried with people. Cleopatra loved emeralds so much that she took ownership of all the emerald mines in Egypt. Elizabeth Taylor was another fan. One of her emerald necklaces sold for $6.1 million in 2011. They are also a feature of the British Crown Jewels.

9. There is folklore associated with emeralds. They were once said to counteract poison to the extent that if a venomous creature so much as looked at one it would go blind. It was also said that placing an emerald under the tongue would reveal truth, and grant a person the ability to foresee the future. They protected against evil spells, cured leprosy, improved memory and eyesight and was potentially even a contraceptive as ancient alchemists believed that if a person wearing an emerald ring had sex, the emerald would break.

10. The Emerald City is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L Frank Baum's Oz books.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

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13 March: Pope Francis

On this date in 2013 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina was elected as the new pope, taking the papal name Pope Francis. 10 facts about him:

1. His birth name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio and he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (though his parents had emigrated there from Italy) on 17 December 1936. He was one of seven children. His father was a railway worker, his mother a housewife.

2. There were several firsts with his papacy. He was the first pope in centuries to replace another pope who was still alive, as his predecessor resigned. He was the first pope from the Western Hemisphere, the first from South America, the first from the Jesuit order and the first to take the name Francis (in honour of St Francis of Assisi).

3. Like his namesake, he was committed to helping the poor and living as simply as possible. He refused to wear the ermine-trimmed Red velvet mozzetta, the gold pectoral cross and the pair of red Shoes prepared for his inauguration. He stuck with a simple Silver cross and his own shoes. Then he chose not to live in the Vatican Palace but in an apartment, and would eat in the Vatican canteen. He would often remind his followers not to forget the poor, especially during the covid pandemic. A source in the Vatican once told the press that he’d go out at night dressed as a regular priest to help the poor of Rome in person.

4. He was first called to the priesthood on St Matthew’s day in 1953. He decided, on the spur of the moment, to attend confession and felt the call while he was there.

5. He got an education and worked at several jobs before taking up his vocation. He earned a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires and a liberal arts degree in philosophy. His jobs included scrubbing the floors of the company where his father worked, taught in schools and was, for a time, a bouncer at a nightclub.

6. He lost part of his lung during his youth due to a respiratory infection.

7. In his youth he was a great fan of Argentine Tango and once said, “Tango comes from deep within me.” He was also a fan of classical music as evidenced by the fact he snuck out during the pandemic to buy records of Bach and Mozart.

8. His favourite film was La Strada by Federico Fellini, winner of the Oscar for best foreign film in 1957. His favourite food was Bagna Cauda, a dish prepared with anchovies, oil, and Garlic, used as a sauce for vegetables.

9. He would say a prayer from St. Thomas More every day. The prayer goes: “Lord, give me a sense of humour. Grant me the grace to understand a joke, to discover in life a bit of joy, and be able to share it with others.”

10. Francis surpassed the record of Pope John Paul II in canonising the most new saints in a pontificate. These included: Mother Teresa, Óscar Romero, Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (the first married couple to be named as saints together), and three of his predecessors: John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI.

See also:

Pope John Paul I 
Pope John Paul II

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/