The Ides of March

"Beware the Ides of March," cautioned the soothsayer in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.  This time of the month, particularly during March, has almost become the equivalent to the ominous Friday the 13th.  If the reader has any superstitions or prone to bad luck, you may consider calling in sick to work, staying at home, and not opening the front door till midnight tonight.  The Ides of any month occurs typically around and including the fifteenth day, depending upon the phases of the moon.  So the Ides do not only occur in March.  People are simply more familiar with the Ides of March because it is forever linked with the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.  May I also suggest a few more Ides of notoriety.  First, Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14th, 1865, and died on the Ides of April.  Also, the Titanic sunk on the Ides of April in 1912.  So there are grounds for making the Ides of the month more unlucky than the traditional Friday the 13th.  However, there are those of us, like myself, who do not believe in superstition or bad luck.  For more history on this phenomenon, please check out www.history.com to satisfy any curiosity you may have.  What you may find will be fascinating for sure.  Have a great Ides of March, but be sure to grow eyes in the back of you head for any assassination attempts or bad luck.  Ha ha!

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