13 March - No Smoking Day

 

No Smoking Day is observed   every year on the second Wednesday of March, to encourage people over the world to quit smoking. No Smoking Day, 2019 is being celebrated on March 13, but you can quit smoking on any day of the year. The main purpose of this day is to spread awareness about the harmful health effects of tobacco consumption through cigarette and other modes. Important message is to help smokers to get rid from the bad habit of smoking.

Smoking or chewing tobacco is one of the worst habits one can adopt. The health risks are known to all but still thousands of youth, between 12 to 17 years of age, start smoking each day. Some start it out of curiosity and others might just want to look like grownups.

Effect of smoking starts with coughing and throat irritation accompanied with bad breath and bad smelling clothes. It also leads to a patchy skin and discoloration of teeth.

Over the time, more serious conditions may develop, including health problems like heart disease, bronchitis, pneumonia, stroke, and many types of cancer, out of which, oral cancer being quite common.

12 March - Taiwan celebrates Arbor Day

 

Arbor Day was founded by the forester Ling Daoyang in 1915 and has been a traditional holiday in the Republic of China since 1916. The Beiyang government's Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce first commemorated Arbor Day in 1915 at the suggestion of forester Ling Daoyang. In 1916, the government announced that all provinces of the Republic of China would celebrate the on the same day as the Qingming Festival, April 5, despite the differences in climate across China, which is on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. From 1929, by decree of the Nationalist government, Arbor Day was changed to March 12 [zh], to commemorate the death of Sun Yat-sen, who had been a major advocate of afforestation in his life.Following the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949, the celebration of Arbor Day on March 12 was retained in Taiwan.

12 March - Arbor Day China

 

Arbor Day (or Arbour Day in some countries) is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees.Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.

In mainland China, during the fourth session of the Fifth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China in 1979 adopted the Resolution on the Unfolding of a Nationwide Voluntary Tree-planting Campaign. This resolution established the Arbor Day (植树节), also March 12, and stipulated that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 should plant three to five trees per year or do the equivalent amount of work in seedling, cultivation, tree tending, or other services. Supporting documentation instructs all units to report population statistics to the local afforestation committees for workload allocation.Many couples choose to marry the day before the annual celebration, and they plant the tree to mark beginning of their life together and the new life of the tree. 

12 March - Celebration of Mauritius independence from Britain in 1968

 

12 March is celebrated as National day or Independence day from Britain in 1968.

Mauritius is a multi-ethnic and multi-language society,it is also a plural society with its population mainly composed of four ethnic groups and four major religious groups; it is often depicted as a "rainbow nation". The island of Mauritius did not have any indigenous population; historically, it was characterized by successive waves of European colonization and multiple immigrations.Under the French rule between 1715 and 1810, slaves were imported on the island from mainland Africa and Madagascar; slavery was only abolished in 1835 due to the British commitment to end slavery.Indian migrants from Pondicherry first started to arrive in Mauritius under the French rule in 1736;  The 18th century also saw one the earliest influx of Chinese migrants into Mauritius, who mostly came from Fujian.Under British rule, more Indian migrants came to Mauritius following the emancipation of the slaves in 1835.From the 1800s, Chinese migrants (mainly Cantonese, Fujianese, and Hakka) from Southern China (mainly from Fujian and Guangdong) arrived in Mauritius, first as indentured labourers and later as free merchants.Since 1860, Hakka immigration started and continued until they became the dominant group of Chinese in Mauritius at the beginning of the 20th century. The co-existence of Mauritians of Indian, African (known as Mauritian Creoles), European (mostly French), and Chinese ancestry eventually led to a sharing of values and cultures, a collective participation in festivals, and an increased understanding between people of different ethnic backgrounds.Mauritians from different cultural backgrounds are very distinct from each other, and it is also highly unpopular to encourage the dissolution of cultural boundaries in Mauritius.Presently, the Mauritian society continues to be culturally and linguistically French-dominated

11 march - World Plumbing Day

 

It is a date that has been fixed on the calendars of the World Plumbing community since its establishment by the WPC in 2010 and is now a fixture on the calendars of political and social institutions around the globe.

The international plumbing community, as represented by the Council, has a vital role in promoting the link between good quality plumbing, health, environmental sustainability and, increasingly, economic prosperity.

March 11 is marked by celebrations, competitions, seminars, and activities all around the world.  People from within and outside the plumbing fraternity come together to learn, share knowledge, build connections and find opportunities to collaborate to improve the quality of, and access to, fresh water and safe sanitation.

There are now hundreds of annual World Plumbing Day events, promoting the link between good plumbing sanitation and human and environmental health.

11 March - Alexander Fleming passed away in 1955

 

Alexander Fleming, was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of what was later named benzylpenicillin (or penicillin G) from the mould Penicillium rubens is described as the "single greatest victory ever achieved over disease." For this discovery, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain. Alexander Fleming was born on 06 August 1881 and he passed away on 11 March 1955

Fleming was knighted for his scientific achievements in 1944.In 1999, he was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century. In 2002, he was chosen in the BBC's television poll for determining the 100 Greatest Britons, and in 2009, he was also voted third "greatest Scot" in an opinion poll conducted by STV, behind only Robert Burns and William Wallace.

11 March - American B-47 accidentally dropped nuclear bomb

 

On 11 March 1958, American B-47 accidentally dropped nuclear bomb from 15,000 ft on a family home in Mars Bluff, South Carolina; created crater 75 ft across, bomb without its nuclear capsule.

11 March - Restoration of Independence of Lithuania

 

The day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania is a Lithuanian national holiday celebrated on 11 March in commemoration of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania that the Constituent Assembly signed in 1990. It is one of the three principal national holidays in Lithuania, along with the Day of the Re-Establishment of the Statehood of Lithuania on 16 February and the Statehood Day on 6 July.

Independence Restoration Day is a nationally celebrated holiday in Lithuania on March 11. The national holiday depicts the declaration of independence of Lithuania from the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990. It is often mistaken for Restoration of the State Day, on February 16. The difference between the two holidays is that Independence Restoration Day celebrates independence from the Soviet Union, while Restoration of the State Day celebrates independence from German rule. Lithuanians commemorate Independence Restoration Day celebrations with parades, concerts, and museum exhibitions.

11 March - Vijay Hazare was born in 1915

 

Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 March 1915 – 18 December 2004) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ever Test cricket win (and the only victory under his captaincy) in 1951–52 against England at Madras, winning by an innings and eight runs in a match that began on the day that King George VI died.

A Special Cover on Captain Vijay Hazare was issued during GUJPEX 2011 at Vadodara on 23 Dec 2011. Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 Mar 1915-18 Dec 2004) captained India in 14 test matches between 1951 & 1953. He has the following records to his Credit

•     He led India to its first test win vs England at Chennai (then Madras) in 1951-52.
•     He is First Indian to hit first Triple Century in First Class Cricket.
•     First Indian to score a century in each innings of a test match vs Australia at Adelaide in 1947-48 (116 & 145).
•     First Indian to score two triple centuries.
•     First Indian to score a century in three successive test matches.
•     He bagged 20 test wickets including three times Bradman’s wickets.
•     The Inter-Zonal tournament in India is named as Vijay Hazare Trophy.
•     He and Jasu Patel were the first Indian Cricketers to be honoured with Padma Shri.

10 March - USA celebrates Harriet Tubman Day

 

Harriet Tubman Day is an American holiday in honor of the anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, observed on March 10, and in the U.S. state of New York. Observances also occur locally around the U.S. state of Maryland. After Juneteenth became a federal holiday, there are growing calls for this day to also be observed at the federal level.