Spring: Facts, Folklore, and More
WHEN IS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING? The spring equinox always occurs on either March 20 or 21. WHAT DOES THE MARCH EQUINOX MEAN? The word equinox comes from Latin words which literally means “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. With the equinox, enjoy the increasing sunlight hours, with earlier dawns and later sunsets. Q: ACCORDING TO FOLKLORE, YOU CAN STAND A RAW EGG ON END ON THE EQUINOX. IS THIS TRUE? A: Folklore or not, this egg trick sounded like fun to us. One spring, a few minutes before the vernal equinox, several Almanac editors tried this trick. For a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood standing. Three days later, we tried this trick again and found similar results. Perhaps 3 days after the equinox was still too near. Perhaps the equinox has nothing to do with it. Perhaps we just don’t like to take ourselves too seriously! Try this yourself a...