Eirinn go Brach!

March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

ROYAL BIRTHDAY

Prince Abdul Muntaqim of Brunei   {2007} (son of Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei)

HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

45 BC   In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus & Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
180   Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
1337   Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.

1805   The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
1861   The Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) is proclaimed.
1959   Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.

HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1231   Emperor Shijo of Japan (d.1242)
1473   King James IV of Scotland (d.1513)
1886   Princess Patricia of Connaught, British princess (d.1974)

DEATHS

180   Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

1040   Harold Harefoot, King of England
1058   King Lulach I of Scotland
1272   Emperor Go-Saga of Japan
1516   Guiliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence
1849   King Willem II of the Netherlands

March 16

March 16

ROYAL WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran & Princess Fawzia of Egypt & Sudan   {1939} (divorced 1945/1948)

HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

37   Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great-uncle, Tiberius.

1792   King Gustaf III of Sweden is shot, dying on March 29.

1815   Prince Willem of the House of Oranje-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1473   Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d.1541)
1687   Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia (d.1757)
1800   Emperor Ninko of Japan (d.1846)

1856   Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France (d.1879)
1877   Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iranian Shah (d.1944)

DEATHS

37   Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor

455   Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor
1485   Anne Neville, queen consort of King Richard III of England

1747   Christian Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Empress Catherine II of Russia
1890   Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia

1923   Queen Consort Milena of Montenegro

beware the Ides of March

March 15

Ides of March, formerly a festive day in the Roman calendar to celebrate the god Mars, now known as the day in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was killed.

ROYAL BIRTHDAY

Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein   {1972}

HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

221   Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord & member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han & claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty.
351   Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
933   After a 10-year truce, German King Heinrich I defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut River.
1311   Battle of Halmyros:  The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
1564   Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes jizya (per capita tax).
1672   King Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.
1917   Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne and his brother the Grand Duke becomes Tsar.
1922   After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

938   Romanos II, Byzantine emperor (d.963)
1275   Margaret of England, English princess (d.1333)
1638   Shunzhi, Emperor of China (d.1661)


DEATHS

44 BC   Julius Caesar
220   Cao Cao, King of Wei
493   Odoacer, King of Italy
1145   Pope Lucius II
1311   Walter V of Brienne, Duke of Athens
1416   Jean, Duke of Berry, son of King Jean II of France
1644   Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia
1961   Queen Musbah (bint Nasser) of Jordan, first queen consort of Jordan

March 14

March 14

Commonwealth Day in the Commonwealth of Nations

White Day in Japan & South Korea

Pi Day

ROYAL BIRTHDAYS

Prince Albert II of Monaco   {1958}

Simeon Munoz   {2007} (son of Princess Kalina of Bulgaria)

ROYAL EVENTS

313   Emperor Jin Huidi is executed by Liu Cong, ruler of the Xiongnu state (Han Zhao).
1489   The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice.
1590   Battle of Ivry:  Henri of Navarre & the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the French Wars of Religion.


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1807   Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen consort of Sweden & Norway (d.1876)

1822   Theresa of the Two Sicilies, Empress of Brazil (d.1889)

1844   King Umberto I of Italy (d.1900)

1880   Princess Thyra, daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark (d.1945)

DEATHS

313   Jin Huidi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty
968   Mathilde of Ringelheim, German Queen
1457   Jingtai, Emperor of China
1647   Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange

Spring Forward!

March 13

...beginning of Daylight Savings Time

1st Lenten Sunday

ROYAL BIRTHDAY

Grand Duke George of Russia   {1981}

ROYAL WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

The Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught & Strathearn, Prince of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, Duke of Saxony and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia   {1879}


HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENTS

1809   King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in a coup d'etat.
1881   Tsar Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him (It was March 1 on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia).


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1372   Louis of Valois, Duke of Orleans, brother of King Charles VI of France (d.1407)
1615   Pope Innocent XII (d.1700)
1741   Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d.1790)


DEATHS

1516   King Ladislaus II of Bohemia & Hungary
1569   Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Conde
1767   Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France, mother of King Louis XVI of France
1808   King Christian VII of Denmark
1881   Tsar Alexander II of Russia

1955   King Tribhuvan of Nepal

March 12

March 12

...is the name day of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden!

ROYAL BIRTHDAYS

Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi of Iran   {1963}

Prince Gabriel of Nassau   {2006} (son of Prince Louis of Luxembourg; grandson of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg)

Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden   {2007} (UK, son of the Earl & Countess of Ulster; grandson of the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester)

Benjamin van Vollenhoven   {2008} (son of Prince Bernhard of Oranje-Nassau; grandson of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands)

HISTORICAL ROYAL EVENT

1868   Henry O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1270   Charles of Valois, son of King Philippe III of France (d.1325)
1478   Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d.1516)
1637   Anne Hyde, Duchess of York & Duchess of Albany (d.1671) (wife of King James II of England & Ireland, VII of Scotland)
1781   Frederica of Baden, Queen consort of Sweden (d.1826)
1889   King Idris I of Libya (d.1983)


DEATHS

604   Pope Gregory I
1289   King Demetre II of Georgia
1374   Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan
1447   Shah Rukh, ruler of Persia & Transoxonia
1507   Cesare Borgia, Italian general & statesman

March 11

March 11

ROYAL EVENTS

1708   Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.


HISTORICAL ROYAL BIRTHS

1899   King Frederick IX of Denmark (d.1972)

DEATHS

1425 BC   Thutmose III, Egyptian pharaoh
222   Elagabalus, Roman emperor
222   Julia Soaemias, mother of Elagabalus
1198   Marie de Champagne, daughter of Louis VII of France
1486   Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg
1801   Paul I of Russia, Russian tsar
1870   King Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho
1953   Joanna Marie Valentina "Zizi" Lambrino, first wife of King Carol II of Romania

(pictured holding their son, Mircea "Carol")