March 26 - Purple Day

On this day in history (in 2008), Purple Day was founded by then-nine-year-old Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada, with the help of the Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia.

Cassidy chose the colour purple after the international colour for epilepsy, lavender. The lavender flower is also often associated with solitude, representing the feelings of isolation many people affected by epilepsy and seizure disorders often feel. Cassidy's goal is for people with epilepsy everywhere to know they are not alone.

For more information about Cassidy and Purple Day, go here: http://www.purpleday.org/

Today is also Legal Assistants Day, American Diabetes Association Alert Day, and Make Up Your Own Holiday Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop's Fables in 1484
- 20 000 died in an earthquake responsible for the destruction of 90% of Caracas, Venezuela in 1812
- Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury (sadly, not Spock's home planet) was first sighted in 1859
- Thomas J Martin patented the first extinguisher in 1872
- Leif Crozier, with a force of 98 NWMP, was routed by Métis under Gabriel Dumont at Duck Lake, Sask, marking the outbreak of the North-West Rebellion in 1885
- Daniel Yanofsky, one of only 3 Canadians to hold the international grandmaster title in chess, was born at Brody, Poland in 1925
- William H. Hastie became the first black federal judge in 1937
- Ojibwas artist Benjamin Chee Chee was born in Temagami, Ontario in 1944
- Martin Short (comedian/actor) was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1950
- Roch Voisine, a popular award-winning Quebec singer, was born in St. Basile, New Brunswick in 1963
- Queen Elizabeth II sent out the first royal email, from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, in 1976
- Mike Tyson was sentenced to 10 years (6 in prison, 4 on probation) for the rape of Desiree Washington in 1992. He ended up serving three years.
- Dr. Jack Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man in 1999
- Canadian filmmaker James Cameron became the first person to visit Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, in over 50 years in 2012

Stay tuned for our next "On This Day in History"!