“On this day, Great Lent begins in the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church; it always falls on the 7th Monday before Orthodox Easter. Also called Clean Monday or Pure Monday, this religious observance is a day of fasting and spiritual purification and reflection, similar to Ash Wednesday of the Western Church.
The first week of Great Lent is also called Pure Week. Great Lent lasts for 40 days and ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Orthodox Palm Sunday. The next week is Holy Week, and ends on Easter, the day of Christ’s resurrection.”
Born
Madeleine de Verchères(Canadian military heroine who in 1692, at age 14, defended her family’s fort, Fort Verchères, in New France
)–
George Mortimer Pullman(industrialist; designed luxury railroad cars)–
Hank Ballard(singer and songwriter who wrote and recorded The Twist in 1958 which later was recorded by Chubby Checker)–
James Ludlow Elliot(astronomer who discovered the rings of Uranus)–
Events
First U.S. foreign aid bill authorized $50,000 for relief of victims of an earthquake in Venezuela –
The Missouri Compromise was passed by U.S. Congress, with President James Monroe signing it on March 6. The legislation designated that Maine would be admitted to the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. (Maine became a state on March 15, 1820; Missouri became a state on August 10, 1821.)
–
Florida admitted to the Union as the 27th state –
Serfs were emancipated in Russia –
National Academy of Sciences signed into existence by Abraham Lincoln to advise the government on scientific and technical issues –
Carmen, by Georges Bizet, premiered in Paris –
First organized ice hockey match, Montreal, Canada –
Belva Ann Bennet Lockwood became first woman to try a case before the U.S. Supreme Court –
Anne Sullivan began teaching deaf/blind Helen Keller –
The U.S. Steel Corp. was formed –
Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York, began taking prisoners’ fingerprints –
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of NASA, was founded –
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Russia and the Central Powers –
First international airmail delivery was made from Vancouver, BC, to Seattle, WA –
The Star-Spangled Banner was officially designated U.S. national anthem –
First annual meeting of General Wildlife Federation (later, NWF), 1937. –
Puerto Rico became a U.S. commonwealth, with autonomy in internal affairs –
First fatal jetliner accident occured when a Canadian plane crashed in Karachi, Pakistan –
Pioneer 4, first U.S. spacecraft to orbit Sun, launched –
Apollo 9 spacecraft launched from Cape Kennedy –
Pierre Trudeau replaced Joe Clark as prime minister of Canada –
Steve Fossett became the first person to fly around the world solo without stopping or refueling, safely touching down in his custom-built plane 67 hours after taking off –
A 50-pound 6-ounce smallmouth buffalo fish was caught in Lake Fork, Texas –
