| March 2009 |
March 1 - 31
National Women’s History Month.
Established to celebrate the accomplishments of women and their contributions to history.
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March 2
- Beginning of Lent (Clean Monday) : Eastern Orthodox Christian.
Start of the Lenten season for those following the Julian calendar.
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March 6
Independence Day : Ghana.
Celebration of independence from Britain in 1957.
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March 8
International Women’s Day.
Celebration to honor women’s lives and work.
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March 9
- Maulid an-Nabi (Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday) : Islam.
Anniversary of the birth of the prophet in 570 C.E.
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March 10
- Purim (Feast of Lots) : Jewish.
Commemorates the events in Persia in the 5th Century B.C.E. which resulted in Queen Esther’s saving the Jewish people from destruction.
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March 10 - 11
- Holi : Hindu
Two-day spring holiday; celebrated throughout India with the lighting of bonfires and throwing water and colored powder on friends.
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March 14
- New Year : Sikh.
Celebration of the Sikh new year of 541 based on the Nanakshahi calendar. The beginning of the Nanakshahi era was in 1469 C.E., the year the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born.
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March 15
National Day : Hungary.
Commemorates the bloodless Revolution of 1848 and the struggle for independence from Austrian rule, which was re-imposed in 1849.
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March 17
St. Patrick’s Day : Ireland.
Commemorates the day considered to be the day of St. Patrick’s death in 493 C.E. The day is a public holiday in Ireland and is celebrated throughout the world by people of Irish descent.
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March 20
Independence Day : Tunisia.
Commemorates independence from France in 1956.
- Vernal Equinox (Shunbun-no-hi) : Japan, Shinto.
Celebrates the beginning of spring and is a public holiday in Japan. Like on the Autumnal Equinox, prayers are offered to ancestors at altars in the home.
No Ruz (New Year) : Iran, Afghanistan.
Celebration of the Persian new year of 1388, which coincides with the beginning of spring. Celebrated two days prior to No Ruz and for thirteen days afterwards.
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March 21
- Naw Ruz (New Year) : Baha’i.
Beginning of the new year for Baha’is. Preceded by a 19-day period of fasting, prayer, and meditation.
- Naw Ruz (New Year): Zoroastrian.
Beginning of the Zoroastrian new year, which is celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox.
Human Rights Day : South Africa.
Anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. Commemorates those killed and wounded during the anti-pass demonstration at Sharpeville and others who lost their lives in the struggle against apartheid.
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March 23
Republic Day : Pakistan.
Celebration of the resolution calling for a separate Muslim homeland in 1940 and the declaration of the republic in 1956.
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March 25
Independence Day : Greece.
Commemorates the beginning of the Greek struggle for independence from Turkish rule in 1821.
- The Annunciation : Christian.
Commemorates the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus.
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March 26
National Day : Bangladesh.
Celebration of declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
- Birthday of Prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroaster): Zoroastrian.
Day set aside to for the celebration of the birth of the Persian prophet Zarathustra or Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism. Holiday also know as the Great Naw Ruz--the sixth day in the celebration of the Zoroastrian new year.
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March 27
- Hindi New Year : Hindu.
Celebration of the new year by some Hindus. Also celebrated on other dates, e.g. April 14th.
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