March 2026: a blood moon and five Sundays
March 2026 began with the sky doing the talking. On Tuesday 3 March, a total lunar eclipse turned the full moon blood-red. The best seats were eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific and the Americas. The grid below kept a quieter drama: 31 days from Sunday 1 March to Tuesday 31 March. Five Sundays, five Mondays and five Tuesdays stacked up at the front. Count 22 business days, 9 weekend days and ISO weeks 9 to 14. The equinox arrived on Friday 20 March, and Friday 13 March gave the year its second unlucky date.
Five of the front three
The five Sundays led off, on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. The five Mondays followed on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. The five Tuesdays finished the run on the 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st. Every weekday from Wednesday onward got four turns, and the weekend counted nine days.
The month spread across six ISO week numbers, 9 to 14, more than any month before it in 2026. A 31-day month that opens on a Sunday spends its extra days at the front of the week. Planners take note: the early-month Sundays go first.
Moon, season and superstition
The moon kept a full diary. It was full and eclipsed on Tuesday 3 March. Last quarter came on Wednesday 11 March. The new moon followed on Thursday 19 March, first quarter on Wednesday 25 March.
The equinox fell on Friday 20 March, one day after the new moon. It opened astronomical spring in the northern half of the world.
Superstition got its booking too. Friday 13 March was the second of the year, after February's, and the last before November's. Anyone with both a ladder and an appointment that week planned carefully.
Trophies on turf and screen
Cricket closed its T20 World Cup on Sunday 8 March. India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in Ahmedabad, taking a third title and a first successful defence. No team had managed either before.
Cinema took the baton on Sunday 15 March, at the ninety-eighth Academy Awards. One Battle After Another won six Oscars, including Best Picture. Sinners collected four awards from a record 16 nominations. The Winter Paralympics closed the same day in Verona, with China top of the medal table.
Clocks, fire and oil
Clocks moved in stages. Most of North America sprang forward on Sunday 8 March. The United Kingdom and most of Europe waited three weeks, until Sunday 29 March. Fire destroyed a historic building beside Glasgow Central station that same Sunday, closing one of Scotland's busiest rail hubs.
The war that began in February ran on. Brent crude climbed above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time in four years, on Sunday 8 March. Pakistani airstrikes destroyed a hospital in Kabul on Monday 16 March; independent counts documented at least 100 deaths. The month records these figures plainly.
March handed the year on at Tuesday 31 March, five Tuesdays spent. April opened on a Wednesday and pointed straight at the Moon.