The Ides of March-a rather cutting day for Julius Caesar. The Ides of March was not considered a dark day in the Roman calendar-until Julius had the unfortunate luck to lose his life on that particular day in 44 BC. The Ides of March was the common Roman acknowledgement of March 15th.
The Roman calendar, supposedly created by Romulus was very complex (but if you were adopted and raised by a she-wolf and went on to found Rome-as Romulus did-you might be somewhat complex yourself).
The Roman calendar actually had four Ides: March, May, July and October 15th. The Ides was on the 13th for the other months.
Getting into more detail, the Romans gave every three days in the month a name: Kalends for the 1st, Nones on the 5 or 7th and the Ides on the 13th or 15th. The Romans would count backward from these fixed days. Apparently, a Roman would not say, "Happy April Fool's Day." The correct greeting to a fellow Roman would be, "Happy April Kalend." Just does not have the same zing, does it?
So, has the Ides of March always been a fateful day in world history? Not at all. Some of the less fateful events include the birthday of Jimmy Swaggart, the fallen evangelist. Columbus returned from his first voyage on March 15th. TGIF Restaurant was founded. Maine became a state. Finland gave women the right to vote on this day in 1907.