44 B.C. Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius. Caesar should have heeded the apochryphal prophetic "Beware the Ides of March" dictum. Caesar had had an affair with Brutus' mother and the political cabal used that fact to manipulate Brutus, who was impulsive and easily influenced.

1493 Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, concluding his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere. And thereby hangs a whole mythology and tragedy.

1767 Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was born in Waxhaw, S.C. Isn't that wonderful?

1820 Maine became the 23rd state. And now you know.