March 31 is known as Cesar Chavez Day, an important day in history that not many people know about. History teachers usually don't recognize this day when it comes to the time of the year. Here is some insight on the famous day that is slowly becoming national to every state.

Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, and died on April 23, 1993. He was born in Yuma, Arizona, into a Mexican-American family. He spent most of his life as a manual laborer before he eventually went into the U.S. Navy for two years. After he was in the U.S. he moved to California and married his wife Helen Fabela.

In 1965, Chavez started leading and organizing strikes to demand laborers the right to vote and to give labor workers equal rights in general. Chavez was able to group together an organization called the United Farm Workers (UFW). One of the strikes he led was called the Delano Grape Strike that lasted from 1965-1970. In these strikes, Chavez was inspired by the Indian independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi, to lead nonviolent strikes and boycotts. With Chavez doing these acts and tactics, he was able to gain support from other laborers and leftist groups. The Delano grape strike also led to the Delano growers (company that grows, packages, and ships grapes) signing contracts to increase the wages of pickers. These contracts also agreed to a health plan for the grape pickers and a new safety plan due to the pesticides that are on the crops.

Chavez led another strike that was very similar to the Delano grape strike, but it was called the Salinas Lettuce strike which targeted lettuce growing companies. During this strike Chavez was unhappy with some of the contracts of the Teamsters, which is a labor union. The Salinas Lettuce company had put in a restraining order which did not allow Chavez´s strikes to continue but was able to go on strike for one of the largest lettuce growing companies called Interharvest. With this strike, the cutters started picketing the lettuce fields making the lettuce production decrease by three quarters. Restraining orders were eventually put in order but most of the picketers broke the restraining orders and were fined. Since these strikes did not seem very peaceful to Chavez, he decided it was best to boycott. One of the first targets for his boycott was Bud Antle.

Bud Antle secured an injunction which would prevent Chavez from boycotting. Chavez did not follow the injunction and was sentenced to ten days in prison. During Chavez´s imprisonment many people gathered outside of the prison holding rallies to demand Chavez to be released. Among the crowd of people was Martin Luther King´s widowed wife Coretta Scott King and Robert Kennedy´s widowed wife Ethel Kennedy. Soon after these rallies took place, the California Supreme Court had released Chavez from imprisonment.

From the result of all of these strikes and boycotts Chavez was able to gain improved pay and working conditions for laborers in the 1960s and 1970s, which led to an approval of the equal rights in 1975.

In Chavez´s final years he was in a court battle with Bruce Church, who had sued and claimed that the UFW was threatening supermarkets from continuing to sell red coach lettuce. In 1993, Chavez had a court case hearing in Yuma, but during the case Chavez had stayed at the home of a San Luis supporter. He had sadly passed away in bed on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66.

During and even after Chavez's lifetime, he had received numerous awards. He was awarded the Jefferson Award for his public service that would help the laborers, the Pacem in Terris Award which was a Catholic award that meant to recognize his “achievements in peace and justice¨. After his death he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Bill Clinton gave to Chavez´s widowed wife at the White House. Later, in 2006, the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, inducted Chavez into the California Hall of Fame.

In 2014, former president Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as a U.S. federal commemorative holiday. The only states that celebrate this holiday are Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Washington, and Minnesota. In Arizona, Michigan, Utah, and Wisconsin. In these states, all state offices and schools are closed on March 31 in remembrance of Cesar Chavez. In California, state offices and schools are closed on March 31 and on April 1. So every state does celebrate this very special day, but only few actually recognize the day with the celebration it deserves. Now maybe when this day comes around you will remember that this was the day a hero to many was brought into the world and fought for safer lives for hard working people.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17, but do you know why? Do you know the history behind this holiday? Well, here is a brief overview of the tale of St. Patrick’s Day.

It all started when a man named Saint Patrick, who lived in Britain at the time, had been kidnapped and taken away to Ireland to become a slave at the age of 16. This was believed to have happened during the fifth century. While he was being held captive, he worked as a shepherd, but he was also able to develop a strong relationship with his God, an experience which converted him to Christianity. Saint Patrick was kidnapped for six years before he was eventually able to escape and return to his family.

After he returned to Britain, he continued to study Christianity. A few years after he returned home, Patrick recounted that he had a vision. His vision was that a man, with the name of Victoricus, had come from Ireland and had a letter for Patrick. The title of the letter read “The Voice of the Irish” in which the people of Ireland had cried out: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”

So, acting upon his vision, Patrick returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He began his work by baptizing many people or “converting them to Christianity.” The people were so pleased that he had converted them to Christianity that they began to celebrate Patrick. The first St. Patrick’s Day was on March 17, 1737, but the Irish holiday was actually first celebrated in Boston. A group of Irish men in Boston had gotten together to celebrate “the Irish saint.” The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in New York in 1766.

And now, St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in the Christianity religion and is known all around the world. Let’s hope this year it will still be able to be celebrated the same way it always has- with cheer and good luck!

The Day the Music Died

Richard Steven Valenzuela, also known as Ritchie Valens, was born on May 13, 1941 in Los Angeles, California. He was a signer, songwriter, and guitarist in the early rock-n-roll age. He also accompanied Buddy Holly’s band for the performance in Iowa. Valens and Tommy Allsup had a coin flip to see who would get a seat on the plane, and Valens had won. So, Tommy lived that day and Valens sadly died. The plane killed all of the passengers upon impact. Valens was only 17-years old, which makes him the youngest to die in the crash.

Ken Paquette, a fan of Wisconsin back in 1950, made a stainless steel monument of a guitar along with records with the names of the three musicians on it. Paxton Park in Pacoima was renamed after Valens to “remember his humble background and emulate his accomplishments.” Tommy Allsup, one of the band members Valens performed with, had opened up a saloon called “Tommy’s Heads Up Saloon.” He named the saloon after the coin toss between him and Valens. Thirty-one years after his death, he was finally honored into the Hollywood walk of fame.

Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., also recognized as J.P. Richardson and “The Big Bopper,” was born on October 24, 1930 in Sabine Pass, Texas. Richardson was known for songwriting, singer, musician, and disc jockey. He had attended Lamar College where he studied pre-law and was a member of band and chorus. Richardson had worked part time at a radio station but eventually started to work full time and dropped out of college.

Richardson was suffering from the flu when he was performing one night. He was on tour at the time and was complaining that the bus would be too cold and uncomfortable for him, so Waylon Jennings gave up his seat on the plane. When the plane crashed, Richardson was whipped 100 feet away from the crash site and had died upon contact.

Not long after the crash, Tommy Dee, a singer/songwriter, wrote a song called “Three Stars” recognizing all three of the musicians. Richardson has also been recognized in some other songs and TV shows such as “The Simpsons.” In 2010, Richardson was recognized into the Iowa Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.