March 12 March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). There are 294 days remaining. Events upto 19th century 515 BC - Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem. 1664 - New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain. 1894 - For the first time Coca-Cola is sold in bottles. 20th century 1910s-1980s 1912 - The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts in the US) are founded in the US. 1913 - Canberra becomes the capital of Australia. 1928 - In California, the St. Francis Dam fails killing 400. 1930 - Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march protest march to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt. 1933 - Great Depression: Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This was also the first of his "Fireside Chats." 1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day. 1940 - Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceeding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population were immediately evacuated. 1947 - The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. 1951 - The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the USA for the first time. 1958 - In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love). 1968 - Mauritius achieves independence. 1987 - Les Misérables opens on Broadway. 1990s 1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth. 1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay, India killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more. 1993 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites. 1994 - A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as 'proof' of the Loch Ness monster, is confirmed to be a hoax. 1994 - The Church of England ordains its first female priests. 1997 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby. 1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO. 21st century 2002 - In Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison. 2003 - Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia, assassinated in Belgrade. 2004 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history. Births upto 19th century 1386 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1428) 1607 - Paul Gerhardt, hymnist, (d. 1676) 1613 - Anne Hyde, first wife of King James II of England 1626 - John Aubrey, antiquary and writer (d. 1697) 1685 - George Berkeley, theologist, (d. 1753) 1718 - Joseph Damer, Dorset landowner and MP 1806 - Jane Pierce, First Lady of the United States, (d. 1863) 1831 - Clement Studebaker, automobile pioneer 1824 - Gustav Kirchhoff, physicist, lends his name to Kirchhoff's Laws, (d. 1887) 1863 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian poet, dramatist, daredevil, war hero and politician (d. 1938) 1881 - Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic, (d. 1938) 1888 - Vaslav Nijinsky, ballet dancer, (d. 1950) 1896 - Sir John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada, (d. 1893) 20th century 1912 - Irving Layton, poet 1921 - Gianni Agnelli, manager of Fiat, (d. 2003) 1921 - Gordon MacRae, singer, actor, (d. 1986) 1922 - Jack Kerouac, writer, (d. 1969) 1923 - Wally Schirra, astronaut 1925 - Harry Harrison, science fiction author 1928 - Edward Albee, dramatist 1932 - Andrew Young, civil rights activist, politician, ambassador to the United Nations 1940 - Al Jarreau, singer 1946 - Liza Minnelli, singer and actress 1947 - Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist, (d. 1987) 1948 - James Taylor, musician 1953 - Carl Hiaasen, author 1953 - Ron Jeremy, pornographic film actor 1957 - Steve Harris, musician ("Iron Maiden") 1962 - Darryl Strawberry, baseball player 1963 - Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner 1965 - Steve Finley, Major League Baseball All-Star 1969 - Graham Coxon, musician 1993 - Samantha Minter Deaths 604 - Pope Gregory I 1507 - Cardinal Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI (b. 1475) 1889 - Emperor Johannes IV of Ethiopia 1925 - Sun Yat Sen, Chinese revolutionary, politician (b. 1866) 1935 - Michel Pupin, telephone pioneer 1937 - Charles-Marie Widor, organist and composer (b. 1844) 1943 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor 1944 - Werner Drechsler, of U-118 1944 - Artur Gavazzi - Croat geographer (b. 1861) 1945 - Anne Frank, diarist (b. 1929) 1947 - Winston Churchill, American novelist (b. 1871) 1955 - Charlie Parker, jazz saxophonist (b. 1920) 1984 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (b. 1896) 1985 - Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899) 1990 - Wallace Breem, author 1998 - Beatrice Wood, artist/ceramist (b. 1893) 1999 - Sir Yehudi Menuhin, violinist (b. 1916) 2001 - Morton Downey, Jr., television personality (b. 1933) 2001 - Robert Ludlum, author of spy novels (b. 1927) 2001 - Ann Sothern, actress 2003 - Ronnie Burk, surrealist and AIDS activist 2003 - Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952) 2003 - Howard Fast, author (b. 1914) 2003 - Lynne Thigpen, actress (b. 1948) Holidays and observances Ancient Latvia - Gregoru Diena observed Feast day of St Theophanes Mauritius - National Day Sweden - Namesday of Crown Princess Victoria, an Official Flag Day   March 11 - March 13 - February 12 - April 12 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. 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