March 17th - 23rd
On 17th March…
461CE - Saint Patrick the patron saint of Ireland died. He is celebrated the world over on this day. There is a legend that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea where they drowned, could this be why there are no native snakes in Ireland?
King Harold ‘Harefoot’ died
1040 - King Harold I (Harold Harefoot) died. Harold seized the throne when his father King Cnut (Canute) died in 1035. His dad had left the crown to Harold’s half-brother Hardicanute, but because Hardicanute was busy fighting a war in Denmark with the king of Norway, Harold claimed the throne without any protest.
Why the nickname Harefoot? Apparently he was brilliant hunter who was as quick on his feet as a hare.
1473 – King James IV of Scotland was born in Northumberland, England. He became king when he was only 15 years old. Did you know that he was married to King Henry VII’s daughter, Margaret Tudor which made him a brother-in-law to King Henry VIII?
On 18th March…
Murder of King Edward the Martyr
978 – King Edward the Martyr was murdered in Corfe Castle whilst visiting his stepmother and half-brother Ethelred. He was stabbed whilst still sitting on his horse waiting to be let into the castle grounds. With his foot held tightly in the stirrup, his dying body was dragged along the ground as his horse bolted in fright. Edward was only 15 years old. There are rumours that his stepmother had a hand in his murder so that Ethelred could become king, what do you think?
First ever space-walk
1965 - Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave a space capsule and ‘space-walk’. The Russian cosmonaut was outside of the spaceship for just over 12 minutes but had difficulty getting back inside because his spacesuit had ballooned so much from the different atmospheric pressure. Alexei said afterwards that he had perspired so much that the sweat sloshed around inside his suit. Imagine how much he must have sweated for it to slosh about! Yuk!
On 19th March…
1286 - King Alexander III of Scotland died after falling from a horse. He became king at the age of 8 years and is one of Scotland’s greatest rulers. Did you know that he defeated Norway to gain control of the Western Isles? These islands are still a part of Scotland today.
On 20th March…
Death of Henry IV
1413 - King Henry IV died leaving his son Henry to take the throne and become King Henry V.
King Henry IV was said to have a head full of lice, spotty itchy skin and sore red eyes. People said he was being punished for overthrowing the previous king and executing an Archbishop. What do you think may have been causing his bad health?
Sir Walter Raleigh was freed from the Tower
1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh was released from the Tower of London by King James I, where he had been imprisoned and sentenced to death for plotting against the King. James I wanted Raleigh to go on an expedition in search of gold so he was released from the Tower to make the king rich. On his return to England Raleigh was thrown back into the Tower of London and then executed two and a half years later.
On 21st March…
Henry V declared King
1413 - Henry V was declared King of England. He was a great warrior king and is famous for leading his troops into battle and beating the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
Did you know that when he was 17 years old an arrow struck his face and lodged itself 6 inches (15cm) into his skull, narrowly missing his brain and his spinal cord?
Special tongs were made and carefully inserted, all the way, into the wound and used to grip hold of the broken arrowhead and remove it. It took just three weeks for the wound to heal and close-up. He underwent all of this without the use of modern-day anaesthetics or antibiotics. Do you think you would be brave enough to go through that?
On 22nd March…
871 - King Aethelred, the Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex, fought Viking invaders at the Battle of Marton or Meretun. The outcome is unclear: some reports say the Vikings won; others say King Aethelred won. It was still only March and the battle was the fourth of the year against the Vikings. Aethelred died about a month later, possibly from battle wounds. Who do you think won the battle? Would you rather be a Viking invading the land or an Anglo-Saxon defending your king and country?
On 23rd March…
1929 - Roger Bannister the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes was born in Harrow, Greater London. In 1954 he completed the race in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. At the time it was thought to be impossible to run that far in less than 4 minutes, but today top athletes regularly beat the 4-minute mile. Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco is the current record holder, his time stands at 3 minutes 43.13 seconds (3:43.13) and hasn’t been beaten since 1999.
2020 - Following the worldwide pandemic outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, the first Lockdown in the UK began. The government hoped it would stop the spread of the virus and save lives. People were told to stay at home; schools, shops, offices, bars and restaurants were all closed. How did the lockdown make you feel? Were you scared or worried for relatives? Or did you enjoy being at home with your family and having on-line school lessons?
Did you know that schools closed during the outbreak of Spanish flu in 1918? People had to stay at home back then too, everyone was told to wear a handkerchief over their face to stop them from catching the flu?