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Daily Calendar for Friday, March 14, 2025

Ember Days

Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. 

Ember Days for 2023
September: 20, 22, 23 
December: 20, 22, 23

Ember Days for 2024
February 21, 23, 24
May 22, 24, 25
September 18, 20, 21
December 18, 20, 21

These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”

Which means:

“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”

In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”). Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months. 

As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“

Full Worm Moon

March’s full Moon goes by the name Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. This invites robins and other birds to feed—a true sign of spring! An alternative explanation for this name comes from Captain Jonathan Carver, an 18th-century explorer, who wrote that this Moon name refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.

Born

  • Johann Strauss, the Elder (composer) –
  • Lucy Hobbs Taylor (first U.S. woman dentist) –
  • John Luther "Casey" Jones (railroad engineer) –
  • Albert Einstein (physicist) –
  • Lester Brown (bandleader) –
  • Max Shulman (novelist) –
  • Hank Ketcham (cartoonist, creator of Dennis the Menace) –
  • Frank Borman (astronaut) –
  • Michael Caine (actor) –
  • Quincy Jones ( musician and producer) –
  • Billy Crystal (actor) –
  • Kirby Puckett (baseball player) –
  • Steph Curry (basketball player) –
  • Simone Biles (Olympic gymnast) –

Died

  • Emile Erckmann (novelist) –
  • Henry Woods (federal judge) –
  • Thomas Winship (editor of the Boston Globe from 1965-1984, Pulitzer Prize winner) –
  • Peter Graves (actor) –
  • Stephen Hawking (physicist) –

Events

  • Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin –
  • U.S. Congress adopted the gold standard –
  • Pelican Island (Fla.) became first National Wildlife Refuge in the United States –
  • Women granted the right to vote in Saskatchewan –
  • Germany began retreat to Hindenburg Line (WWI) –
  • First U.S. concrete seagoing ship, S.S. Faith, launched, Redwood City, California –
  • U.S. President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax report –
  • Shirley Temple left her footprints and handprints in the wet cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood –
  • The U.S. Army Air Corp began bombing Osaka, Japan (WWII) –
  • Possible UFO sighted in Healdsburg, California –
  • Gordie Howe second player in NHL history to score 500 career goals –
  • Jack Ruby was found guilty in Dallas of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy –
  • Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, aired its last episode –
  • OPEC agreed to lower the benchmark price for crude oil by 15%. It marked the first price cut since the group’s formation in 1960 –
  • Marc Garneau chosen as first Canadian astronaut to go into space –
  • Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge founded in Manteo, North Carolina –
  • Lebanese hijacker, Fawaz Younis, brought to U.S. to stand trial, found guilty of air piracy in 1985 hijacking –
  • The Soviet Congress elected Mikhail Gorbachev to the country’s presidency, one day after clearing the post –
  • Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love, Tom Waits, Jac Holzman, Art Rupe, and Leon Russell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –

Weather

  • Red snow and hail fell in parts of Italy and present-day Slovenia –
  • A tornado swept through Nashville, Tennessee –
  • At the end of a four-day storm, a record for the state of Iowa was set in Iowa City, 27.2 inches of snowfall –