What happened on March 12? There are more than 292 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

Interesting Facts & Myths About March 12

March 12 In HistoryMarch 12 is the 72nd day of the year 2024. There are 294 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 11th week of the year 2024.

On this day in Burney, California 96013 sunrise occured at 07:20 AM and sunset occured at 07:12 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Pisces. The modern birthstone for this month is Aquamarine while the mystical birthstone is Jade.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 323 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

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Historical Events For March 12

  • 538
    Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.
  • 1622
    Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Jesuits, are canonized as saints by the Catholic Church.
  • 1664
    New Jersey becomes a colony of England.
  • 1689
    The Williamite War in Ireland begins.
  • 1811
    Peninsular War: A day after a successful rear guard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delayed the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.
  • 1868
    Henry O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
  • 1881
    Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world’s first black international football player and captain.
  • 1912
    The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.
  • 1913
    Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital is still under construction.)
  • 1918
    Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for 215 years.
  • 1921
    İstiklal Marşı was adopted in TBMM(Turkish grand national assembly).
  • 1922
    Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan formed The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
  • 1928
    In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill over 600 people.
  • 1930
    Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march, known as the Salt March, to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.
  • 1933
    Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his “fireside chats”.
  • 1934
    Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia, and ban all political parties.
  • 1938
    Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria.
  • 1940
    Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and the remaining population are immediately evacuated.
  • 1947
    The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
  • 1950
    The Llandow air disaster occurs near Sigingstone, Wales, in which 80 people die when their aircraft crashed, making it the world’s deadliest air disaster at the time.
  • 1964
    New Hampshire Lottery: New Hampshire becomes the first U.S. state to legally sell lottery tickets in the 20th century.
  • 1966
    Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.
  • 1968
    Mauritius achieves independence.
  • 1971
    The March 12 Memorandum is sent to the Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns.
  • 1992
    Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
  • 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 its nuclear sites.
  • 1993
    Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.
  • 1993
    The Blizzard of 1993 – Snow begins to fall across the eastern portion of the US with tornadoes, thunder snow storms, high winds and record low temperatures. The storm lasts for 30 hours.
  • 1994
    The Church of England ordains its first female priests.
  • 1999
    Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
  • 2003
    Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
  • 2004
    The President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its national assembly: the first such impeachment in the nation’s history.
  • 2009
    Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history.
  • 2011
    A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melts and explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan’s earthquake.

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Who Were Born On March 12?

  • 1270
    Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (d. 1325)
  • 1478
    Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1516)
  • 1607
    Paul Gerhardt, German hymnist (d. 1676)
  • 1613
    André Le Nôtre, French landscape architect (d. 1700)
  • 1620
    Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667)
  • 1626
    John Aubrey, English antiquary and writer (d. 1697)
  • 1637
    Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (d. 1671)
  • 1647
    Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)
  • 1672
    Richard Steele, Irish writer and politician (d. 1729)
  • 1685
    George Berkeley, Irish theologian (d. 1753)
  • 1710
    Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)
  • 1718
    Joseph Damer, English politician (d. 1798)
  • 1781
    Frederica of Baden, Queen of Sweden (d. 1826)
  • 1806
    Jane Pierce, First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
  • 1821
    Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott, Canadian statesman (d. 1893)
  • 1824
    Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (d. 1887)
  • 1831
    Clement Studebaker, American automobile executive (d. 1901)
  • 1832
    Charles Boycott, British land agent (d. 1897)
  • 1835
    Simon Newcomb, Canadian-born American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909)
  • 1837
    Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911)
  • 1838
    William Henry Perkin, English chemist (d. 1907)
  • 1859
    Abraham H. Cannon, American religious figure (d. 1896)
  • 1863
    Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer (d. 1938)
  • 1863
    Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (d. 1945)
  • 1864
    Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer and organist (d. 1943)
  • 1864
    William Halse Rivers Rivers, British psychiatrist (d. 1922)
  • 1874
    Charles Weeghman, American restaurateur and owner of Chicago Cubs (d. 1938)
  • 1878
    Gemma Galgani, Catholic saint and mystic (d. 1903)
  • 1880
    Henry Drysdale Dakin, British-born American biochemist (d. 1952)
  • 1880
    Nikolaos Georgantas, Greek discus thrower (d. 1958)
  • 1881
    Gunnar Nordström, Finnish physicist (d. 1923)
  • 1881
    Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first President of Turkey (d. 1938)
  • 1883
    Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian Nazi official (d. 1959)
  • 1889
    Þórbergur Þórðarson, Icelandic author (d. 1974)
  • 1889
    King Idris I of Libya (d. 1983)
  • 1890
    Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (d. 1976)
  • 1890
    Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish ballet dancer (d. 1950)
  • 1890
    William Dudley Pelley, American spiritualist and politician (d. 1965)
  • 1891
    George W. Mason, American industrialist (d. 1954)
  • 1895
    William C. Lee, American Army general (d. 1948)
  • 1907
    Arthur Hewlett, British actor (d. 1997)
  • 1907
    Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer (d. 2007)
  • 1908
    David Saul Marshall Singaporean statesman (d. 1995)
  • 1908
    Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)
  • 1910
    Masayoshi Ohira, Japanese statesman (d. 1980)
  • 1911
    Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican statesman (d. 1979)
  • 1912
    Irving Layton, Canadian poet (d. 2006)
  • 1912
    Paul Weston, American pianist, arranger and conductor (d. 1996)
  • 1913
    Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician (d. 1984)
  • 1914
    Julia Lennon, mother of John Lennon (d. 1958)
  • 1915
    Willibald C. Bianchi, American Army officer and Medal of Honor winner (d. 1945)
  • 1917
    Googie Withers, British actress
  • 1917
    Millard Kaufman, American screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1918
    Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
  • 1919
    Mike Stepovich, American attorney and last territorial governor of Alaska
  • 1921
    Ülo Jõgi, Estonian historian and anti-Soviet activist (d. 2007)
  • 1921
    Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (d. 2003)
  • 1921
    Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (d. 1986)
  • 1922
    Jack Kerouac, American writer (d. 1969)
  • 1922
    Lane Kirkland, American labor leader (d. 1999)
  • 1923
    Clara Fraser, American feminist and activist (d. 1998)
  • 1923
    Hanne Hiob, German actress (d. 2009)
  • 1923
    Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater
  • 1923
    Mae Young, American professional wrestler
  • 1923
    Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005)
  • 1923
    Wally Schirra, American astronaut (d. 2007)
  • 1925
    Georges Delerue, French film composer (d. 1992)
  • 1925
    Harry Harrison, American author
  • 1925
    Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate
  • 1925
    Louison Bobet, French cyclist (d. 1983)
  • 1926
    DeLois Barrett Campbell, American gospel singer (d. 2011)
  • 1926
    George Ariyoshi, American politician
  • 1927
    Raúl Alfonsín, Argentine politician (d. 2009)
  • 1928
    Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan musician (d. 2007)
  • 1928
    Edward Albee, American dramatist
  • 1928
    Thérèse Lavoie-Roux, Canadian politician and senator
  • 1929
    Win Tin, Burmese journalist
  • 1930
    Vernon Law, American baseball player
  • 1931
    Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas, American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1931
    Herbert Kelleher, American airline executive
  • 1932
    Andrew Young, American civil rights activist and politician
  • 1933
    Barbara Feldon, American actress and model
  • 1935
    John Doherty, English footballer (d. 2007)
  • 1936
    Eddie Sutton, American college basketball coach
  • 1936
    Patrick Procktor, English artist (d. 2003)
  • 1938
    Dimitri Terzakis, Greek composer
  • 1938
    Johnny Rutherford, American automobile racer
  • 1940
    Al Jarreau, American singer
  • 1940
    Joe Unger, American actor
  • 1940
    M.A. Numminen, Finnish singer and writer
  • 1942
    Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player
  • 1942
    Ratko Mladić, Serbian military commander
  • 1945
    Sammy Gravano, American organized crime figure
  • 1946
    Frank Welker, American voice actor
  • 1946
    Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
  • 1946
    Peter Whalley, British television writer and author
  • 1946
    Serge Turgeon, Canadian actor and union leader (d. 2004)
  • 1947
    Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (d. 1987)
  • 1947
    Mitt Romney, American politician
  • 1947
    Peter Harry Carstensen, German politician
  • 1948
    James Taylor, American musician
  • 1948
    Kent Conrad, American politician
  • 1948
    Virginia Bottomley, British politician
  • 1949
    David Mellor, British QC, politician and broadcaster
  • 1949
    Moctesuma Esparza, Mexican producer and filmmaker
  • 1949
    Natalia Kuchinskaya, Soviet gymnast
  • 1949
    Rob Cohen, American film director, producer and writer
  • 1950
    Javier Clemente, Spanish football manager
  • 1950
    Jon Provost, American actor
  • 1950
    Wheeler Winston Dixon, American filmmaker, critic and author
  • 1952
    Naomi Shihab Nye, American poet, songwriter, and novelist
  • 1953
    Carl Hiaasen, American journalist and author
  • 1953
    Ron Jeremy, American pornographic actor
  • 1956
    Dale Murphy, American baseball player
  • 1956
    Steve Harris, English musician
  • 1957
    Marlon Jackson, American singer and musician (The Jackson 5)
  • 1957
    Patrick Battiston, French footballer
  • 1958
    Matt Millen, American football player
  • 1960
    Courtney B. Vance, American actor
  • 1960
    Kipp Lennon, American singer
  • 1960
    Maki Nomiya, Japanese singer (Pizzicato Five)
  • 1960
    Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer
  • 1961
    Joseph Facal, Canadian politician
  • 1962
    Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player
  • 1962
    Julia Campbell, American actress
  • 1963
    Ian Holloway, English football manager
  • 1963
    Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner
  • 1963
    Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi of Iran
  • 1965
    Coleen Nolan, British singer
  • 1965
    Liza Umarova, Chechen torch singer
  • 1965
    Shawn Gilbert, American baseball player
  • 1965
    Steve Finley, American baseball player
  • 1965
    Steve Levy, American sports journalist
  • 1966
    Grant Long, American basketball player
  • 1966
    John Thompson III, American basketball coach
  • 1967
    Julio Dely Valdes, Panamanian footballer
  • 1968
    Aaron Eckhart, American actor
  • 1968
    Tammy Duckworth, American politician, military aviator
  • 1969
    Graham Coxon, English musician (Blur)
  • 1969
    Jake Tapper, American journalist
  • 1970
    Dave Eggers, American writer, editor, and publisher
  • 1970
    John Nemechek, American NASCAR driver (d. 1997)
  • 1970
    Ray Prewitt, American actor
  • 1970
    Rex Walters, American basketball player
  • 1970
    Roy Khan, Norwegian singer (Kamelot)
  • 1971
    Isaiah Rider, American basketball player
  • 1971
    Tony Eveready, American adult film actor
  • 1972
    Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian actor
  • 1972
    James Maritato, American wrestler
  • 1974
    Chris Parr, American basketball player
  • 1974
    Steve Price, Australia rugby league player
  • 1975
    Annabel Port, English radio presenter
  • 1975
    Kelle Bryan, English singer
  • 1975
    Todd Rock, American state legislator
  • 1976
    Panagiotis Bahramis, Greek footballer
  • 1976
    Zhao Wei, Chinese actress
  • 1977
    Ramiro Corrales, American footballer
  • 1978
    Arina Tanemura, Japanese manga artist
  • 1978
    Casey Mears, American auto racer
  • 1978
    Christianne Klein, American journalist and television personality
  • 1978
    Claudio Sanchez, American musician (Coheed and Cambria)
  • 1978
    Masuimi Max, American model
  • 1979
    Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1979
    Jamie Dwyer, Australian hockey player
  • 1979
    Nidia Guenard, American wrestler
  • 1979
    Pete Doherty, English musician
  • 1979
    Rhys Coiro, American actor
  • 1979
    Shaun Rogers, American football player
  • 1980
    Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1980
    John-Paul Lavoisier, American actor
  • 1981
    Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler
  • 1981
    Maurizio Lauro, Italian footballer
  • 1982
    Samm Levine, American actor
  • 1982
    Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer
  • 1982
    Zach Miner, American baseball player
  • 1983
    Atif Aslam, Pakistani singer
  • 1984
    Jaimie Alexander, American actress
  • 1984
    Shreya Ghoshal, Indian singer
  • 1985
    Bradley Wright-Phillips, English footballer
  • 1986
    Ben Offereins, Australian athlete
  • 1986
    Danny Jones, English singer (McFly)
  • 1987
    Chris Seitz, American footballer
  • 1987
    Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player
  • 1988
    Konstantinos Mitroglou, Greek footballer
  • 1989
    Tyler Clary, American swimmer
  • 1994
    Christina Grimmie, American singer, songwriter, pianist
  • 1994
    Tyler Patrick Jones, American actor
  • 1995
    Kanon Fukuda, Japanese singer

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Who Died On March 12?

  • 417
    Pope Innocent I
  • 604
    Pope Gregory I
  • 1289
    King Demetre II of Georgia (b. 1259)
  • 1316
    King Stephen Dragutin of Serbia (b. 1253)
  • 1374
    Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (b. 1336)
  • 1447
    Shah Rukh, ruler of Persia and Transoxonia (b. 1377)
  • 1507
    Cesare Borgia, Italian general and statesman (b. 1475)
  • 1608
    Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
  • 1628
    John Bull, English composer
  • 1648
    Tirso de Molina, Spanish writer (b. 1571)
  • 1681
    Frans van Mieris, Sr., Dutch painter (b. 1635)
  • 1699
    Peder Griffenfeld, Danish statesman (b. 1635)
  • 1757
    Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/painter (b. 1696)
  • 1790
    Andreas Hadik, Austro-Hungarian general (b. 1710)
  • 1832
    Friedrich Kuhlau, German composer (b. 1786)
  • 1858
    William James Blacklock, British landscape painter (b. 1816)
  • 1872
    Zeng Guofan, Chinese politician and general (b. 1811)
  • 1894
    Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
  • 1898
    Zacharias Topelius, Finnish-Swedish writer (b. 1818)
  • 1908
    Edmondo De Amicis, Italian children’s writer (b. 1846)
  • 1909
    Joe Petrosino, American police lieutenant (b. 1860)
  • 1914
    George Westinghouse, American entrepreneur and engineer (b. 1846)
  • 1916
    Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer (b. 1830)
  • 1925
    Gergely Luthár, Hungarian Slovene writer (b. 1841)
  • 1925
    Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary and politician (b. 1866)
  • 1929
    Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman (b. 1851)
  • 1930
    Alois Jirásek, Czech writer (b. 1851)
  • 1930
    William George Barker, Canadian fighter ace (b. 1894)
  • 1937
    Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (b. 1844)
  • 1937
    Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist (b. 1858)
  • 1942
    Robert Bosch, German industrialist (b. 1861)
  • 1943
    Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
  • 1944
    Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer (b. 1861)
  • 1945
    Friedrich Fromm, German Army Officer (b. 1861)
  • 1946
    Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian politician (executed) (b. 1897)
  • 1947
    Winston Churchill, American novelist (b. 1871)
  • 1955
    Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920)
  • 1973
    Frankie Frisch, American baseball player (b. 1898)
  • 1974
    George D. Sax, American entrepreneur (b. 1904)
  • 1975
    Olga Hepnarová, Czech mass murderer (b. 1951)
  • 1978
    Gene Moore, American baseball player (b. 1909)
  • 1978
    John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
  • 1984
    Arnold Ridley, English playwright and actor (b. 1896)
  • 1985
    Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
  • 1987
    Woody Hayes, American football coach (b. 1913)
  • 1989
    Maurice Evans, English-born actor (b. 1901)
  • 1990
    Wallace Breem, British author (b. 1926)
  • 1991
    Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1900)
  • 1991
    William Heinesen, Faroese writer, poet and artist (b. 1900)
  • 1995
    Juanin Clay, American actress (b. 1949)
  • 1998
    Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramist (b. 1893)
  • 1998
    Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (b. 1924)
  • 1998
    Judge Dread, English musician (b. 1945)
  • 1999
    Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (b. 1916)
  • 2001
    Morton Downey, Jr., American television talk show host (b. 1933)
  • 2001
    Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)
  • 2002
    Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
  • 2002
    Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician (b. 1932)
  • 2003
    Andrei Kivilev, Kazakh cyclist (b. 1973)
  • 2003
    Howard Fast, American author (b. 1914)
  • 2003
    Lynne Thigpen, American actress (b. 1948)
  • 2003
    Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)
  • 2005
    Bill Cameron, Canadian journalist (b. 1943)
  • 2005
    Stavros Koujioumtzis, Greek songwriter (b. 1932)
  • 2006
    Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident journalist and priest (b. 1947)
  • 2007
    Hege Nerland, Norwegian politician (b. 1966)
  • 2008
    Jorge Guinzburg, Argentine journalist, producer and media host (b. 1949)
  • 2008
    Lazare Ponticelli, French soldier (b. 1897)
  • 2010
    Miguel Delibes, Spanish novelist (b. 1920)
  • 2011
    Joe Morello, American jazz drummer (Dave Brubeck Quartet; b. 1923)

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