50+ Lifestyles

March – A Promise of Spring, A Farewell to Winter

By Eloise Graham

The weather in March can go to extremes, promising us warm balmy days, followed by a blizzard. Here is a chart showing the
average temperatures: the high starting at 40 degrees and rising to 56 degrees by months end; the low starting at 24 degrees and going up to 36 degrees. But that is average. Here are some extremes. Last year, on March 1st, the high was 28 degrees and the low, 2 degrees. The record for March 1st was 72 degrees in 1992 and a negative 13 degrees in 1962. March 10, 2015 saw an above average high of 61 degrees  and a low of 34 degrees. Records for the 10th are 74 degrees in 1955 and -2 in 1934. On March 20 of last year the high was 60 degrees with a low of 33 degrees. The extremes were 82 in 2012 and 9 degrees in 1965. Rounding out the month, March 31, 2015 had a high of 70 and a low of 37. The record high was 83 degrees in1986 and low of10 degrees in 1969.

This information was from websites wonderground.com and weather-warehouse.com

Some March dates:
1st        1872  Yellowstone became the united States’ first national park
2nd        1962  Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a game
3rd        1931  The Star Spangled Banner became the National Anthem
7th        1876   Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone
8th        1983   President Ronald Reagan called the USSR an “Evil Empire”
10th        1876   Alexander Graham Bell placed the world’s first telephone call to his assistant in the next room
17th        1845  The rubber band was invented. Can you imagine life without them?
19th        1918  Congress approves Daylight Time
23rd        1775  Patrick Henry declares, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
24th        1958  Elvis Presley joined the U.S. Army
25th        1955 Dr. Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine to fight polio
28th        1797  Nathaniel Briggs patented the washboard washing device. It was called a “washing machine” but there was nothing mechanical about it.
29th        1886  Coca-cola was invented
30th        1964  A new game show debuted on television. What is “Jeopardy”?
31st        1889  The Eiffel Tower opened in Paris