But to a select few in the Northern Hemisphere, the ancient cultures of Persia and Egypt, and in modern days plenty of hippies(known to science as naturoliacs) March 20th marks the first day of spring. The day is usually the occasion of the vernal equinox, from the latin for summer, equal, and night. In other words, the point at which day and night occupy the same amount of time in the 24-hour day, and from which the long nights of winter give way to the longer days of summer.
But perhaps, like the full moon, the turning of winter into spring has the power to make a much larger impression on us than the mere increase in sunscreen application. A short study of modern history reveals the true power of...
SPRING: CATALYST FOR REVOLUTION!
Yes, the history of modern civilization is riddled with the bullets of revolution, nearly all caused somehow by the mere presence of a symmetrical 24-hour day.
Before the age of rapid inter-continental expansion revolution was almost entirely a matter of feudal rivalry, so we will skip over that and begin with the Cornish Rebellion of 1497. Dates aren't quite exact but it seems that in May a group of some 15,000 marched into Devon against King Henry's Tax Levy. Less than 20 years later a spring initiative by over 300,000 German and Swiss peasants, known as the Peasants' War, left a death toll of 100,000. That death toll would not be surpassed for almost 300 years.
And of course no discussion of revolt would be complete without a discussion of those masters of the coup: The Russians.
- In 1682 the Moscow Uprising was triggered by the death of Feodor III on April 27.
- The Streltsy Uprising of 1698 caused the eventual execution of 1239 rebel soldiers until the year 1707.
- In April 1899 V.I. Lenin published "The Development of Capitalism in Russia," the beginning of the intellectual revolution known as communism.
- The February Revolution actually occurred in March on the Gregorian calendar
So it should come as no surprise to American Citizens, who know every major date in our nation's history, that even our revolution began with the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. And our more recent forefathers finally declared they had had enough of Japanese oppression in March of 1945 by firebombing Japan.
I caution you thusly, dear readers: be wary of the ides of March, not because of the "bad luck" associated with March 15th, but because every year the ides are simply the start to a five-day count down to the next major revolution. And as you bask in the coming spring, with all its verdure and romance, beware, for you, or a person you might know, may become enraged at any moment, and become the next victim of...
SPRING: CATALYST FOR REVOLUTION!!
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