Holidays on this day
- World Social Work Day
- Festival of Whispers
- Submarine Day
- Memorial Day of the Righteous Prince Daniil of Moscow
- The day the wind meets from the South Pole
- Corned Beef and Cabbage Day
Significant events in history
1816 The Eliza became the first steamship to cross the English Channel.
1861 The manifesto of Alexander II on the abolition of serfdom was published.
1861 The unification of Italy into a single state was completed.
1941 The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington.
1950 A new radioactive chemical element, Californian, has been obtained.
1989 During excavations, the mummy of a woman was found, buried around 2600 BC.
1991 An all-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR took place.
Persons
On March 17, 1856, Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel was born.
On March 17, 1908, Soviet journalist and prose writer Boris Polevoy was born.
On March 17, 1938, Soviet and British ballet dancer, dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev was born.
Folk calendar
Gerasim Grachevnik
Gerasim of Jordan, whose memory is celebrated on this day, is a Christian monk who lived in Lycia in the 5th century.
In Rus', on the day of Gerasim, rooks flew from the south. Interestingly, rooks usually fly at the same speed as the warm air front advances – about 50 km per day. It was believed that if the rooks, having arrived, immediately began to repair their nests, then spring would be quick and friendly. But if the birds, after sitting on the nests for a short time, take off again, the cold will last for several more days. Peasants used rooks as a kind of sowing calendar: if the birds sat on their nests, then after a week they could go out into the field.
Housewives baked rooks from dough for Gerasim, treating the children to them. The rook, by the way, is considered a hard-working bird, therefore those born on its day are distinguished by their hard work and thrift.
Among other things, they believed that rooks had the ability to drive out evil spirits from the house and yard. That's why they pulled a kikimora on Gerasim. The peasants did not want to put up with her, because she was constantly causing mischief: either she banged with a winder in the oven, or she tangled the yarn, or she broke pots, or rattled dishes. To calm down the evil spirits, they invited a healer into the house, who inspected all the corners of the hut, swept the stove and read spells. Kikimora could return to the house only in the fall, after the rooks had flown to warmer climes.
Some sayings are also associated with rooks: “A rook is on the mountain – so spring is in the yard”; “Gerasim leads the rook to Rus' – soon the snow will melt.” There were also signs for the weather: if the rooks were “playing”, it would be a fine day; and if they scream, wait for the rain.
Name day on this day
Alexander, Vasily, Vyacheslav, Georgy, Gerasim, Grigory, Daniil, Pavel, Ulyana, Yakov.
Source: Calend.ru.
