March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is one of seven months that are 31 days long. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20th or 21st marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where September is the seasonal equivalent of the Northern Hemisphere for March.
March symbols: The birthstones of March are aquamarine and bloodstone. These stones symbolize courage. Its birth flower is the daffodil. The zodiac signs for the month of March are Pisces (until March 20) and Aries (March 21 onwards).
Historical Events for March, 1988
Day of Week 6th » Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are killed by Special Air Service on the territory of Gibraltar in the conclusion of Operation Flavius.
Day of Week 13th » The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori, Aomori known as Aomori and Hakodate, Hokkaidō named Hakodate, Japan.
Day of Week 14th » Johnson South Reef Skirmish: Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in Johnson South Reef, disputed Spratly Islands.
Day of Week 16th » Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy (crime) known as conspiracy to defraud the United States.
16th » Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.
16th » The Troubles: Ulster loyalism Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone (loyalist) Michael Stone Milltown Cemetery attack attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three people are killed and more than 60 wounded. The attack was
Day of Week 17th » A Colombian Boeing 727 jet airliner named jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
Day of Week 25th » The Candle demonstration in Bratislava known as Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.