March Birthday Facts and Trivia

March Birthstone: Aquamarine

• The serene Aquamarine gemstone is the birthstone for March. The gorgeous color gives the stone its name and it is a variety of the mineral Beryl. Many people prefer the stone to have more of a blue quality than green and experts heat the crystal to achieve that effect. Brazil is the largest producer of Aquamarine stones due to the many mines in the area, which makes sense given the hot temperature necessary for the mineral to turn into that beautifully colored gemstone!

March Zodiac Signs: Pisces and Aries

• The two Zodiac signs for the month of March are Pisces (@February 18 to March 20) and Aries (@February 18 to April 19).
• Pisces means "circle of life," and true to the title it completes the Zodiac as the twelfth astrological sign. A pair of fish symbolize this water sign and those born under it are said to be sensitive, resourceful, empathetic, and adaptable.
• Aries is depicted by a ram and starts the Zodiac circle as the first astrological sign. Those born under this fire sign have been described as adventurous, resilient, courageous, and sometimes moody. The ruling planet for Aries is Mars, appropriate for a March baby!
• One's personality and path in life can hardly be summed up with "What's your sign?" Zodiac sign character traits can be amusing, uplifting, or dooming, depending on how you look at them.

March Fun Facts:

• The vernal equinox is on or around March 20th or 21st each year. What's an equinox you muse and then look up various scientific answers online that make little or no sense? Very simplistically, the vernal equinox is when the sun shines directly over a point on the Earth's equator. Although this event is marked by a date, it is actually a moment in time. For example, the March 20, 2010 equinox will occur at 17:32 (or 5:32pm) at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This happens twice a year with the autumnal equinox being September 22nd or 23rd. Science lesson done.
• March 21st is the first day of spring.
• March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, favorite holiday of this article's author, Jeanne Benedict.
• The Finnish call March, "maaliskuu," which comes from "maallinen kuu," and means "earthy month." The name comes from the hope that earth or dirt will actually be visible under the snow during this time of year.
• March is National Craft Month, American Red Cross Month, and Irish-American Heritage Month, among others!
• Not only is the phrase, "March Comes in Like a Lion," a go-to weather predictor, it's a Japanese TV show about, Rei, a 17-year-old pro shogi player in Tokyo. He is an orphan and has a friend with many cats.

Feel free to leave a March fact as a comment on this article!