The grand 180-day feast hosted by King Achashverosh came to an end on this day.
Achasverosh miscalculated the start date of Jeremiah's prophecy which promised the rebuilding of the Holy Temple after 70 years of Babylonian exile. When, according to his calculations, the seventy years had passed and the Jews were not redeemed, he orchestrated this grand party to celebrate the "demise" of the Chosen Nation. During the course of the party he brazenly displayed many of the vessels looted from the Holy Temple by the Babylonian armies.
Links:
Esther 1 (For a vivid description of the feast.)
The Royal Feast
The Jewish community of York, England, consisting of 150 souls, was massacred by a bloodthirsty mob. Among the martyrs was the Talmudic scholar R. Yom Tov of Joigny.
In today's "Nasi" reading (see "Nasi of the Day" in Nissan 1), we read of the gift bought by the nasi of the tribe of Menasseh, Gamliel ben Pedahtzur, for the inauguration of the Mishkan.
G‑d doesn’t need you to report on the dirt in His world.
He sent you here to search out the jewels hidden in the mud, clean them and polish them until they shine.
And when you bring them to Him, the angels make a crown of them for Him, saying, “Look what Your children have made for You out of the mud!”