Top 10 facts about March

1. March was the first month of the year in the ancient Roman calendar. January and February were thought too bleak to have names at all.

2. March is National Bed Month and Veggie Month in the UK.

March is National Bed Month

3. It is also the month of The Great Daffodil Appeal, raising money for Marie Curie nurses.

4. March was named Martius by the Romans after Mars, their God of War, as March was the start of the military campaigning season.

March was named by the Romans after Mars, their God of war

5. March 1 is not only St David’s Day but is also the Independence Day of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

6. According to an old Devon superstition, it was unlucky to plant seeds on the first three days of March which were known as “blind days”.

7. The saying “mad as a March hare” refers to the behaviour of hares in their March mating season.

8. The town of March in Cambridgeshire took its name from the marshes surrounding it before the fens were drained from the 17th century onwards.

9. March is the only month with three consecutive consonants in its name in English.

10. “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold.” (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations).