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, 2003
Day of Week 1st » Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
1st » The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
Day of Week 5th » In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.
Day of Week 12th » Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is Assassination of Zoran Đinđić named assassinated in Belgrade.
Day of Week 13th » Human evolution: The journal Nature (journal) e.g Nature reports that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy.
Day of Week 16th » Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American woman involved with the International Solidarity Movement, is killed trying to prevent a Palestinian home from being destroyed by a bulldozer in Rafah.
Day of Week 17th » Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the Cabinet of the United Kingdom called British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Day of Week 20th » 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
Day of Week 23rd » Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the 2003 invasion of Iraq named invasion of Iraq.
Day of Week 24th » The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.