Holidays Calendar for March 31, 2018
March 31 is Freedom Day in Malta. This national holiday celebrates the anniversary of withdrawal of British troops and the Royal Navy from Malta in 1979.
The US Virgin Islands annually celebrate Transfer Day on March 31. This holiday marks the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the USA in 1917.
Micronesian Culture and Traditions Day is annually observed in Micronesia on March 31. This special holiday was established to honor cultural and traditional heritage of the islands.
Religious Holidays →
Australia,
Belize,
Chile,
Fiji,
El Salvador,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Hong Kong,
Macau,
Malawi,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Papua New Guinea,
Seychelles,
Samoa,
Philippines,
Solomon Islands,
Sudan,
South Sudan,
Tuvalu,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe
Holy Saturday in Western Christianity
Holy Saturday, also known as Holy and Great Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Joyous Saturday, Black Saturday, or Easter Even, is the day after Good Friday and before Easter. It commemorates the day when Jesus Christ’s body lay in the tomb and when Christ’s soul triumphantly descended into the underworld.
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual observance that occurs on March 31. It was created to celebrate transgender people around the world and raise awareness of discrimination they have to face.
Chemical Industry Workers’ Day is an official professional holiday in Turkmenistan. It was established by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow in 2017. The holiday is celebrated annually on March 31.
Anesthesia Tech Day, sometimes also referred to as National Anesthesia Technician Day, is observed annually on March 31. It was created to celebrate anesthesia technicians and technologists and recognize their contribution to healthcare.
March 31 is Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis. This memorial date was established by Presidential Decree in 1998 to commemorate the events of 1918.
Many kings of Thailand played important role in development of country, that is why the Thai celebrate several memorial days, commemorating their birth dates. King Nangklao Memorial Day is annually observed on March 31 to honor the third monarch of Siam.
March 31 is Cesar Chavez Day, an American commemorative day that celebrates the birth and enduring legacy of Cesar Chavez, labor movement leader and civil rights activist.
Thomas Mundy Peterson Day is an annual observance celebrated in New Jersey on March 31. It was established to honor the first African-American who voted in an election after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
First Mass Day (Araw ng Unang Misa) is a special working holiday in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte celebrated annually on March 31. It commemorates the first documented Catholic Mass that was held in the Philippines upon the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet.
World Backup Day is an unofficial holiday, that is annually observed on March 31. This holidays aims to raise public awareness of information security and backing up.
National Clams on the Half Shell Day is a great day for all seafood lovers. Celebrate this annual holiday on March 31 by indulging in delicious clams at your favorite seafood restaurant or at home, and don’t forget that everything tastes better when shared with your loved ones.
If you love delicious cakes or cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, don’t forget to celebrate National Cream Cheese Frosting Day! Interestingly, different sources state different dates for this amazing holiday: most agree that it is celebrated on December 13, but some claim it falls on March 31. Well, we guess you’ll just have to celebrate it twice a year.
For many American teenagers, prom is a source of cherished memories that will last a lifetime. It is common to start preparing for prom night well in advance, sometimes even months before the big event. March 31 is an excellent day to start preparations since it is National Prom Day.
If you love potatoes, you absolutely should observe National Tater Day on March 31. This amazing holiday celebrates all kinds of potatoes and hundreds or even possibly thousands of dishes you can cook with potatoes.
Festivals on March 31, 2018
- Rouketopolemos (Rocket War) in Vrontados, Greece
- Edinburgh International Science Festival in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- St. Thomas Carnival in Charlotte Amalie, American Virgin Islands
- Bacchanal Jamaica in Kingston, Jamaica
- Armageddon Expo in Wellington, New Zealand
- International Festival of Clowns and Mimes “Comediada” in Odesa, Ukraine
- New York International Auto Show in New York, USA
- Budapest Spring Festival in Budapest, Hungary
- Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn, South Africa
- Splashy Fen in Underberg, South Africa
- National Folk Festival (Australia) in Canberra, Australia
- Wairarapa Balloon Festival in Masterton, New Zealand
- Fuego Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Melbourne, Australia
- Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand
This Day in History
- 2023 A widespread, deadly, and historic tornado outbreak affected large portions of the Midwestern, Southern and Eastern United States. It ranks third worldwide for producing the most tornadoes in a 24-hour period.
- 2018 The 2018 Armenian Revolution caused by the re-election of Serzh Sargsyan as the Prime Minister began in Armenia. It resulted in Sargsyan's resignation.
- 2009 Died: Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, the 46th President of Argentina. Alfonsín was the first president democratically elected in Argentina following a military dictatorship government.
- 2001 Died: Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate with Bertham Brockhouse for the development of the neutron scattering technique.
- 1994 The Nature magazine reported that the first complete Australopithecus afarensis (an extinct species of australopithecine) skull was found in Ethiopia.
- 1993 Died: Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist, the son of film actor Bruce Lee. He died in a firearm accident while filming his fifth film The Crow.
- 1990 The newly introduced poll tax in England caused a massive protest. About 200,000 people took to the streets of London to protest against it.
- 1985 Born: Jessica Szohr, American actress who gained recognition in 2007 with her breakthrough role as Vanessa Abrams on The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl.
- 1985 The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the World Wrestling Entertainment, took place in Madison Square Garden in New York.
- 1984 Born: Jack Antonoff, American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and was the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun.
- 1980 Born: Kate Micucci, American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates alongside Riki Lindhome.
- 1978 Died: Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian medical scientist, best remembered for co-discovery of insulin together with Dr. Frederick Banting.
- 1972 Born: Evan Williams, American businessman, best known as the co-founder of X (former Twitter) and Pyra Labs (acquired by Google in 2003).
- 1971 Born: Ewan McGregor, Scottish-American actor. His notable film credits include Trainspotting, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Moulin Rouge!, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and many other films.
- 1966 The Soviet Union launched a robotic spacecraft Luna 10, which later became the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
- 1955 Born: Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the hard rock band AC/DC.
- 1951 The first UNIVAC I computer was delivered by Remington Rand to the United States Census Bureau.
- 1948 Born: Al Gore, American politician, advocate and philanthropist, the 45th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his work in climate change activism.
- 1945 Died: Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry laureate for the synthesis of bilirubin (a principal component of red blood cells) and haemin (a component of hemoglobin).
- 1943 Born: Christopher Walken, American actor of stage and screen whose accolades (as of March 2024) include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
- 1934 Born: Richard Chamberlain, American actor and singer who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare. He is also known for his role as Father Ralph de Bricassart in The Thorn Birds.
- 1931 2,000 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that destroyed the capital of Nicaragua, Managua.
- 1931 TWA Flight 599 crashed near Bazaar, Kansas. 8 people were killed, including the University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
- 1926 Born: John Fowles, English author, best known for his works Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Ebony Tower, Daniel Martin, Mantissa, and A Maggot.
- 1918 Nearly 18,000 Azerbaijani Muslims were killed in a massacre committed by allied armed groups of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks.
- 1917 Died: Emil von Behring, German physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate for the discovery of diphtheria antitoxin.
- 1914 Born: Octavio Paz, Mexican author, poet, and diplomat, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate for his poetry. One of his best known poems, Piedra de sol ("Sunstone"), was praised as a magnificent example of surrealist poetry.
- 1913 Skandalkonzert in Vienna: the Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern. Due to violence the concert ended prematurely.
- 1906 Born: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate for his influential work in the development of quantum electrodynamics.
- 1889 The Eiffel Tower was officially opened after two years of construction.
- 1880 Died: Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer, best remembered for teaching a kind of rigid bowing technique that allowed to play a "devil's stacatto" with ease.
- 1855 Died: Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet, one of the three Brontë sisters. Charlotte Brontë is best remembered for her novel Jane Eyre that was originally written under the pan name Currer Bell.
- 1837 Died: John Constable, English painter, best known for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale. His most famous works include Wivenhoe Park, The Hay Wain, and Dedham Vale.
- 1732 Born: Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was an instrumental figure in the development of chamber music and earned the epithet "Father of the Symphony" for contributions to musical form.
- 1685 Born: Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer of the Baroque period. He is best known for his organ works - preludes, toccatas and fantasias.
- 1631 Died: John Donne, English lawyer and poet. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires.
- 1596 Born: René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry. The Cartesian coordinate system was named after him.