1318 April 1st. Berwick-upon-Tweed captured by Scots.

• 1318 – Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from England.
• Between 1315 and 1318, Scottish armies, sometimes with the help of Flemish and German privateers, besieged and blockaded the town, finally invading and capturing it in April 1318. England retook Berwick some time shortly after the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333. In October 1357, a treaty was signed at Berwick by which the Scottish estates undertook to pay 100,000 marks as a ransom for David II of Scotland, who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346.
  
  

March 31st. 1774 Boston port Closed.

• 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston,Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
• The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War in the United States, was the successful rebellion against Great Britain of thirteen North American colonies who confederated themselves as the United States of America. Originally limited to fighting in those colonies, after 1778 it also became a world war between Britain and France, Netherlands, Spain, and Mysore. American independence was achieved and European powers recognized the independence of the new United States, with mixed results for the other nations involved.
  The war had its origins in the resistance of many Americans to what they deemed as unlawful taxes imposed by the British parliament. Formal acts of rebellion against British authority began in late 1774 when the Patriot Suffolk Resolves effectively abolished the legal government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The tensions caused by this directly led to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. By the end of 1775 rebels had seized full control in thirteen British colonies and on July 4, 1776, their Continental Congress declared them to be free and independent states. The British were meanwhile mustering large forces to put down the revolt. They inflicted significant defeats on the American rebel army, now under the command of George Washington, capturing New York City in 1776 and later Philadelphia in 1777. But they were unable or unwilling to land a finishing blow against him. British strategy relied on mobilizing American Loyalist militia, of whom they made little effort to enlist until late in the war. Poor coordination helped doom a British advance against Albany in 1777, which resulted in the capture of a British army following the Battles of Saratoga.

285 April 1st. Maximian co-Emperor.

Diocletian (Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus)(245–311)was Roman emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and marks the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as augustus, co-emperor, in 285.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honouring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in spring. (e.g., April–May in the northern hemisphere, October in Argentina, but northern hemisphere spring, May, in Australia). It complements Father's Day, a similar celebration honoring fathers.

The celebration of Mother's Day began in the United States in the early 20th century; it is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a celebration of the mother church, not motherhood).^[1][2][3][4] Despite this, in some countries Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.^[5]

1945 Messerschmitt 262A-1

• 1945 – World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
• The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (English: "Swallow") of Nazi Germanywas the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft.  Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems and top-level interference prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with theLuftwaffe until mid-1944. Compared with Allied fighters of its day, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor, it was much faster and better armed. One of the most advanced aviation designs in operational use during World War II, the Me 262 was used in a variety of roles, including light bomber,reconnaissance and even experimental night fighter versions.
  Me 262 pilots claimed a total of 542 Allied kills (although higher claims are sometimes made). The Allies countered its potential effectiveness in the air by attacking the aircraft on the ground and while taking off or landing. Engine reliability problems — from the pioneering nature of its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines, the first ones ever placed in mass production — and attacks by Allied forces on fuel supplies during the deteriorating late-war situation also reduced the effectiveness of the aircraft as a fighting force. In the end, the Me 262 had a negligible impact on the course of the war as a result of its late introduction and the consequently small numbers that were deployed in operational service.
  

  

  
  

1979 30th.March Airey Neave Assassinated

Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC, TD (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British army officer, barrister and politician.

During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle. He later became Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Abingdon.
Airey Neave was killed on 30 March 1979, when a magnetic car bomb fitted with a ball bearing tilt switch exploded under his Vauxhall Cavalier at 2:58 pm as he drove out of thePalace of Westminster car park. Both of his legs were blown off and he died in hospital an hour after being freed from the wreckage. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), an Irish Republican organisation banned in the United Kingdom under anti-terrorism legislation, admitted responsibility for the killing.

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time (DST) or summer time (see Terminology) is the practice of advancing clocks during the lighter months so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in the autumn.^[

The modern idea of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 byGeorge Vernon Hudson, and it was first implemented byGermany and Austria-Hungary starting on 30 April 1916. Manycountries have used it at various times since then, most consistently since the energy crises of the 1970s.

The practice has been both advocated and criticized. Adding daylight to evenings benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but can cause problems for evening entertainment and other activities tied to the sun (such as farming) or to darkness (such as firework shows). Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening use of incandescent lighting (formerly a primary use of electricity), modern heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited or contradictory.

Other problems sometimes caused by DST clock shifts are: They complicate timekeeping, and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Software can often adjust computer clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST dates are changed. 

March 28th 1942 St. Nazaire Raid

The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a successful British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazairein German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos under the auspices ofCombined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as the Tirpitz, to return to home waters rather than having a safe haven available on the Atlantic coast.

The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service for the remainder of the war and up to ten years after. A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. Heavy German gunfire sank, set ablaze or immobilised all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England; the commandos had to fight their way out through the town to try to escape overland. They were forced to surrender when their ammunition was expended and they were surrounded.

After the raid 228 men of the force of 622 returned to Britain; 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casualties were over 360 dead, mostly killed after the raid when Campbeltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 decorations were awarded to members of the raiding party, including five Victoria Crosses. After the war St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the Commandos; the operation has since become known as The Greatest Raid of All within military circles.

27th. March 1916 Ypres indirection of Messines.

Second Army (Plumer)172nd Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers
V Corps (Fanshawe) 
3rd Division
Canadian Corps (Alderson) 
2nd Canadian Division

St Eloi lies on the road running south from Ypres in the direction of Messines. Here, an awkward trench salient poked into British positions with the enemy on slightly higher ground - including an artificial earth bank called “The Mound” - that gave the Germans excellent observation over British trenches and roads. This had been the scene of almost continuous mine warfare during 1915, with both sides actively engaged. In all some 33 surface mines had been exploded within a small area, of which the Germans had fired the majority. British activity had been more on the defensive, with many camouflet charges being blown in an effort to destroy the enemy’s mine works. However, in summer 1915 three much deeper (60 feet) shafts had been started by the 172nd Tunnelling Company RE, which by now extended to six mines. The central four reached under the German trenches, the two on the outside were terminated under no man’s land, the idea being to create craters that would provide useful cover. Above ground, the churning by mine explosions and shellfire had created a very difficult terrain for infantry assault – added to which it was still waterlogged from the winter.

This map dates from Spring 1917 and shows German trenches (red) at that time. The numerous mine craters south of the village are clear enough. The craters formed by mine explosions on 27 March 1916 are those in the German front line.

Second Army commander Herbert Plumer decided that he must strike a retaliatory blow following the loss of the Bluff on 14 February 1916. Even while preparations were underway for an organised counter attack to recover the Bluff positions, orders were given to prepare too for action at St Eloi.

27th.March 1513 Florida

1513 March 27th. Juan Ponce de Leon becomes the first European definitely known to sight what is now the territory of the United States (specifically Florida),mistaking it for another island, a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown; and led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. He is associated with the legend of the Fountain of Youth, reputed to be in Florida. 

26th.March.1944. The battle of Monte Cassino

The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle for Rome and theBattle for Cassino) was a costly series of four assaults by the Allies against theWinter Line in Italy held by Axis forces during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The intention was a breakthrough to Rome.

At the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans holding the Rapido, Liri, and Garigliano valleys and some of the surrounding peaks and ridges. Together, these features formed theGustav Line. Monte Cassino, a historic hilltop abbey founded in AD 529 byBenedict of Nursia, dominated the nearby town of Cassino and the entrances to the Liri and Rapido valleys, but had been left unoccupied by the German defenders. The Germans had, however, manned some positions set into the steep slopes below the abbey's walls.

Fearing that the abbey did form part of the Germans' defensive line, primarily as a lookout post, the Allies sanctioned its bombing on 15 February and American bombers proceeded to drop 1,400 tons of bombs onto it.^[6] The destruction and rubble left by the bombing raid now provided better protection from aerial and artillery attacks, so, two days later, German paratroopers took up positions in the abbey's ruins. Between 17 January and 18 May, Monte Cassino and the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops, the last involving twenty divisions attacking along a twenty-mile front. The German defenders were finally driven from their positions, but at a high cost.^[7]

26th. March 1917. 1st Battle of Gaza.

The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) to invade the south of Palestine in the Ottoman Empire during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Fighting took place in and around the town of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast when infantry and mounted infantry from the Desert Column, a component of the Eastern Force, attacked the town. Late in the afternoon, on the verge of capturing Gaza, the Desert Column was withdrawn due to concerns about the approaching darkness and large Ottoman reinforcements. This British defeat was followed a few weeks later by the even more emphatic defeat of the Eastern Force at the Second Battle of Gaza in April 1917.

24th March 1945. Operation Varsity.

Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful joint American–Britishairborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location.

Part of Operation Plunder, the effort by the British 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to cross the Rhine River and from there enterNorthern Germany, Varsity was meant to help the 21st Army Group to secure a foothold across the Rhine River in western Germany by landing two airbornedivisions on the eastern bank of the Rhine near the village of Hamminkeln and the town of Wesel.

The plans called for the dropping of two divisions from the US XVIII Airborne Corps, to capture key territory and to generally disrupt German defenses to aid the advance of Allied ground forces. The British 6th Airborne Division was ordered to capture the villages of Schnappenberg and Hamminkeln, clear part of the Diersfordter Wald (Diersfordt Forest) of German forces, and secure three bridges over the River Issel. The U.S. 17th Airborne Division was to capture the village of Diersfordt and clear the rest of the Diersfordter Wald of any remaining German forces. The two divisions would hold the territory they had captured until relieved by advancing units of 21st Army Group, and then join in the general advance into northern Germany.

The airborne forces made several mistakes, most notably when pilot error caused paratroopers from the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a regiment in the US 17th Airborne Division, to miss their drop zone and land on a British drop zone instead. However, the operation was a success, with both divisions capturing Rhine bridges and securing towns that could have been used by Germany to delay the advance of the British ground forces. The two divisions incurred more than 2,000 casualties, but captured about 3,000 German soldiers. The operation was the last large-scale Allied airborne operation of World War II.

March 25th.1944. Stalag Luft III the great escape.

Stalag Luft III (Stammlager Luft, or main camp for aircrew) was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air forceservicemen. It was in the German province of Lower Silesia near the town ofSagan (now Żagań in Poland), 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Berlin. The site was selected because it would be difficult to escape by tunneling.

The camp is best known for two famous prisoner escapes that took place there by tunneling, which were depicted in the films The Great Escape (1963) andThe Wooden Horse (1950), and the books by former prisoners Paul Brickhilland Eric Williams from which these films were adapted.

The camp was very secure. Despite being an officers-only camp, it was referred to as a Stalag camp rather than Oflag (Offizier Lager) as the Luftwaffe had their own nomenclature. Later camp expansions added compounds for non-commissioned officers. Captured Fleet Air Arm (Royal Navy) crew were considered to be Air Force by the Luftwaffe and no differentiation was made. At times non-airmen were interned.

WW2 Day 206 March 24th.1940

Day 206 March 24, 1940

Following the Finnish capitulation, the Allies lose focus on Scandinavia and their plans diverge. The British attend to shoring up their air defenses following the bombing of Scapa Flow on March 16. Paul Reynaud’s new French government considers anything that will not involve fighting on French soil, including submarine attacks on Soviet shipping in the Black Sea or bombing Soviet oilfields at Baku on the Caspian Sea to deprive USSR and Germany of oil.

A torpedo accidentally explodes as French destroyer La Railleuse is leaving port in Casablanca. La Railleuse is destroyed and 28 crewmen are killed with 24 wounded.y

March 23rd 1965 Gemini 3 launched by United States.

• Gemini 3: NASA launches the United States' first 2-person crew (Gus Grissom, John Young) into Earth orbit.
• Gemini 3 was the first manned mission in NASA's Gemini program, the second American manned space program. On March 23, 1965, the spacecraft, nicknamedMolly Brown, performed the seventh manned US spaceflight, and the 17th manned spaceflight overall (including X-15 flights over 100 kilometers). It was also the final manned flight controlled from Cape Canaveral, Florida before mission control functions were shifted to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas
  

1066 March 20th. Halley's Comet.

1066 March 20th. Halley's Comet reaches perihelion. Its appearance is subsequently recorded in the Bayeux Tapestry.

1. • 

Halley's Comet

Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is the best-known of the short-period comets and is visible from Earth every 75–76 years, Halley is the only short-period comet that is ..

Orbital period: 75 years

Orbits: Sun
Discoverer: Edmond Halley

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