Holidays Calendar for March 2, 2018
Victory at Adwa Day is an Ethiopian public holiday that commemorates the victory of the Ethiopian Empire over the Kingdom of Italy in 1896. It is celebrated on March 2.
Peasants Day is a public holiday observed in Myanmar on March 2. It commemorates the anniversary of Ne Win's coup in 1962.
On March 2, the citizens of Anguilla celebrate a public holiday, James Ronald Webster's birthday. It honors the leader of the Anguillian Revolution and two-time Chief Minister of Anguilla.
Most Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Adar (or Adar II in leap years). However, Jews in Jerusalem celebrate this festival on Adar 15. This day is called Shushan Purim.
Holi is an ancient Hindu spring festival, also known as the festival of colors. It is celebrated on the full moon of the month of Phalgun in the Bengali calendar, which usually falls during late February or March in the Gregorian calendar. Holi is a public holiday in some countries with a significant Hindu population.
If you’ve been thinking about adopting a cat from your local shelter, March 2 is the perfect day to do it because it is International Rescue Cat Day. This amazing holiday was created to raise awareness of the plight of homeless cats and encourage people to adopt rather than shop for pets.
World Teen Mental Wellness Day is observed annually on March 2. It was launched to combat the stigma surrounding mental health issues in teens and normalize conversation about teen mental wellness.
Global Day of Unplugging, formerly known as National Day of Unplugging, begins at sundown on the first Friday in March and ends at sundown the following day. It was created to encourage people to take a break from technology.
Air Force Day in Sri Lanka is celebrated on March 2. The holiday commemorates the creation of the Royal Ceylon Air Force (now the Sri Lanka Air Force) in 1951, three years after the country's independence.
Employee Appreciation Day is a secular holiday in the USA and Canada, that is annually celebrated on the first Friday in March. This holiday was established in 1995 by Bob Nelson, a board member of the Recognition Professionals International, previously National Association for Employee Recognition.
Read Across America Day is an annual observance in the United States inaugurated by the National Education Association. It falls on the school day closest to March 2, the birthday of American author of children's books Dr. Seuss.
Baloch Culture Day is observed on March 2 to celebrate the rich culture and history of the Baloch people, an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region that comprises parts of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition to these three countries, the holiday is celebrated by the Baloch diaspora across the world.
U. S. Citizenship Day (Día de la Ciudadanía Americana) is a Puerto Rican observance held on March 2. It commemorates the anniversary of the Jones—Shafroth Act, which granted Puerto Ricans U. S. citizenship.
Texas Independence Day is celebrated on March 2 to commemorate the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. Adopted during the Texas Revolution, the document proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.
La Union Day (Araw ng Pribilehiyo ng Lalawigan ng La Union) is a special non-working holiday in the Philippine province of La Union. It is celebrated annually on March 2 to commemorate the province’s founding anniversary.
There is nothing better than banana cream pie for dessert. And what about double banana cream pie? Sounds good for National Banana Cream Pie Day that falls on March 2.
Festivals on March 2, 2018
- Salon du Chocolat in Brussels in Brussels, Belgium
- North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas, USA
- Kaziukas Fair in Vilnius, Lithuania
- Enlighten Canberra in Canberra, Australia
- Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, USA
- New Zealand Fringe Festival in Wellington, New Zealand
- Mantova Comics & Games in Mantua, Italy
- Adelaide Festival in Adelaide, Australia
- Starkbierzeit (Strong Beer Festival) in Munich, Germany
- Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi, Taiwan
- César Awards in Paris, France
- Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival in Tainan, Taiwan
- Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, USA
- Minsk International Book Fair in Minsk, Belarus
- Cartagena Film Festival in Cartagena, Colombia
This Day in History
- 2022 Russian forces captured the city of Kherson during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Liberated on November 11, 2022, Kherson was the only regional capital occupied by Russia during the war.
- 2012 Died: Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author. Anthony founded The Earth Organization and rescued the Baghdad zoo during 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- 2004 Died: Mercedes McCambridge, American actress, best known for the roles in All the King's Men and Giant. She also provided the voice of Pazuzu in The Exorcist and was called "the world's greatest living radio actress".
- 2004 The Ashora Massacre in Iraq: Al-Qaeda made a series of planned explosions that killed at least 178 and injured more that 500 Muslims. This day is known as one of the deadliest days in the Iraq occupation.
- 1998 The Earth received the data sent from the Galileo spacecraft that indicated Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
- 1995 Researchers at Fermilab (United States) announced the discovery of the top quark, a fundamental constituent of matter.
- 1992 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan joined the United Nations.
- 1991 Died: Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in French music. His songs were sung by Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, Vanessa Paradis, and other known singers.
- 1989 Born: Nathalie Emmanuel, British known for her roles as Missandei in Game of Thrones, Harriet in the Maze Runner films, and Ramsey in the Fast and Furious franchise.
- 1989 12 European Community nations banned the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (mainly used as refrigerants, solvents and propellants) by the end of the century.
- 1986 Born: Ethan Peck, American actor, the grandson of actor Gregory Peck. He is perhaps best known for portraying Spock in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- 1983 Compact disks and players were released in the USA and other world markets. They previously had been available only in Japan.
- 1982 Died: Philip K. Dick, American author in the science fiction genre. His most notable work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, served as the primary basis for the film Blade Runner.
- 1981 Born: Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress and director known for her roles in The Village, the Jurassic World trilogy, Pete's Dragon, Rocketman, and other films.
- 1980 Born: Rebel Wilson, Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She is known for her comedic roles in Bridesmaids, the Pitch Perfect film series, and other films.
- 1978 Czech Vladimír Remek became the first non-Russian or non-American astronaut to go into space.
- 1977 Born: Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Coldplay.
- 1968 Born: Daniel Craig, English actor and producer who gained international fame by playing the fictional secret agent James Bond. He is also know for his role as Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson's comedy mystery films.
- 1966 Born: Ann Leckie, American author of science and fiction and fantasy known for her Imperial Radch trilogy and its spin-offs, Provenance and Translation State.
- 1962 Born: Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi.
- 1949 The first automatic streetlight was introduced in New Milford, Connecticut.
- 1945 Died: Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia.
- 1943 Born: Peter Straub, American author, best known for his horror fiction. He received numerous literary honors (Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, International Horror Guild Award) for his novels.
- 1942 Born: John Irving, American author, best known for his novels The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and A Widow for One Year.
- 1939 Died: Howard Carter, English archaeologist, famous for discovering the intact tomb of the 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun.
- 1930 Died: D. H. Lawrence, English author, poet, and playwright. Many of his works, including Lady Chatterley's Lover, were found to be obscene and banned.
- 1914 Born: Martin Ritt, American actor, director, and playwright, best known for The Long Hot Summer, The Outrage, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Sounder, Norma Ray, and other films.
- 1902 Born: Edward Condon, American nuclear physicist, a pioneer in quantum mechanics. Condon is known as a member of Manhattan Project that developed the radar and nuclear weapons during World War II.
- 1882 Queen Victoria escaped an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.
- 1855 Died: Nicholas I of Russia, the emperor of Russia. His reign was marked by geographical expansion, repression of dissent, economic stagnation, poor administrative policies, a corrupt bureaucracy, and frequent wars.
- 1830 Died: Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, the discoverer of the macula in the retina of the human eye. His is considered one of the most important German anatomists.
- 1824 Born: Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as the father of Czech music and internationally known for his opera The Bartered Bride.
- 1820 Born: Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), Dutch author famous for his satirical novel Max Havelaar that denounced the abuses of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies.
- 1817 Born: János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet, best known as the "Shakespeare of ballads". Arany wrote more than 40 ballads which were translated in over 50 languages.
- 1797 Died: Horace Walpole, English historian, politician, and man of letters. His letters made his literary reputation; they are considered of significant social and political interest.
- 1657 The Great Fire of Meireki began in the Japanese de facto capital of Edo (now Tokyo). It lasted for three days and killed more than 100,000 people.