March 12

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 515 BC &ndash; Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.
* 1550 &ndash; Several hundred Spanish and indigenous troops under the command of Pedro Valdivia defeat an army of 60,000 Mapuche at the Battle of Penco during the Arauco War in present–day Chile.
* 1622 &ndash; Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier are canonized as Saints of the Roman Catholic Church.
* 1664 &ndash; New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.
* 1689 &ndash; The Williamite War in Ireland begins.
* 1811 &ndash; Peninsular War: A day after a successful rear guard action, French Marshal Michel Neyonce again successfully delays the pursuing an Anglo–Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.
* 1868 &ndash; Henry O'Farrell attempts to kill Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
* 1871 &ndash; Karl Theodor Robert Luther discovers Jupiter's moon Amalthea.
* 1878 &ndash; Walvis Bay in present–day Namibia comes under British control.
* 1881 &ndash; Andrew Watson makes his first appearance for the Scotland national football team, as the world's first black footballer to turn out for a national side.
* 1894 &ndash; Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1912 &ndash; The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts in the US) are founded in the US.
* 1913 &ndash; Canberra becomes the capital of Australia.
* 1918 &ndash; Moscow becomes the capital city of Russia.
* 1922 &ndash; Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan form the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
* 1928 &ndash; In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people.
* 1930 &ndash; Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200–mile march known as *Dandi March* to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.
* 1933 &ndash; 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."
* 1934 &ndash; Konstantin Pats and General John Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia.
* 1934 &ndash; Japanese torpedo boat *Tomozuru* sinks in a storm off Sasebo, Nagasaki, killing 100 out of the 113 people on board.
* 1938 &ndash; *Anschluss:* German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
* 1940 &ndash; Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.
* 1947 &ndash; The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
* 1950 &ndash; Llandow Air Disaster: In South Wales, an aircraft crashes near the village of Sigingstone, killing 80 people.
* 1951 &ndash; The *Dennis the Menace* comic strip appears in newspapers across the US for the first time.
* 1956 &ndash; The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time (500.24)
* 1958 &ndash; In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love).
* 1960 &ndash; A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea kills 68.
* 1961 &ndash; The Eiger north face is climbed outside the main climbing season for the first time.
* 1967 &ndash; Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.
* 1968 &ndash; Mauritius achieves independence.
* 1984 &ndash; National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill, call for a nationwide strike against the economic policies of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher.
* 1987 &ndash; Les Misérables opens on Broadway.
* 1992 &ndash; Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth.
* 1993 &ndash; Several bombs explode in Bombay, India killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.
* 1993 &ndash; 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.
* 1993 &ndash; The Blizzard of '93 hits the eastern United States, with heavy snowfall, high winds and tornadoes.
* 1994 &ndash; A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as 'proof' of the Loch Ness monster, is confirmed to be a hoax.
* 1994 &ndash; The Church of England ordains its first female priests.
* 1997 &ndash; Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27–year–old son, Ennis Cosby.
* 1999 &ndash; Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia, assassinated in Belgrade.
* 2003 &ndash; Elizabeth Smart, a kidnapped teenager is found and returned to her family in Utah.
* 2004 &ndash; Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.
* 2005 &ndash; Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, stepped down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government.
* 2010 &ndash; The Winter Paralympics begin in Vancouver.
* 2011 &ndash; Fukushima nuclear disaster: After the previous day's earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant fails in several reactors, causing a nuclear disaster, as explosions occur.
* 2014 &ndash; An explosion at the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills 8 people and injures around 70.
* 2017 &ndash; A landslide at a landfill site outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, kills 72 people.
* 2019 &ndash; British Prime Minister Theresa May loses a second vote on her Brexit deal in the House of Commons.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 1270 &ndash; Charles, Count of Valois, son of Philip III of France (d. 1325)
* 1479 &ndash; Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours, ruler of Florence (d. 1516)
* 1607 &ndash; Paul Gerhardt, German hymnist (d. 1676)
* 1620 &ndash; Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667)
* 1626 &ndash; John Aubrey, English writer (d. 1697)
* 1637 &ndash; Anne Hyde, wife of James VII of Scotland/James II of England (d. 1671)
* 1685 &ndash; George Berkeley, Irish philosopher (d. 1753)
* 1710 &ndash; Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)
* 1713 &ndash; Johann Adolph Hass, German instrument maker (d. 1771)
* 1728 &ndash; Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter (d. 1779)
* 1763 &ndash; Martin Chittenden, American politician, Governor of Vermont (d. 1840)
* 1769 &ndash; Archibald Campbell, British general (d. 1843)
* 1781 &ndash; Frederica of Baden, Queen of Sweden (d. 1826)
* 1795 &ndash; George T. Wood, 2nd Governor of Texas (d. 1858)
* 1806 &ndash; Jane Pierce, First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
* 1821 &ndash; John Abbott, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)
* 1821 &ndash; Luitpold, Prince of Bavaria (d. 1912)
* 1824 &ndash; Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (d. 1887)
* 1832 &ndash; Charles Boycott, British land agent (d. 1897)
* 1835 &ndash; Simon Newcomb, Canadian–American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909)
* 1837 &ndash; Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911)
* 1838 &ndash; William Henry Perkin, English chemist (d. 1907)
* 1851 &ndash; Theodore Thurston Geer, American politician, 10th Governor of Oregon (d. 1924)
* 1858 &ndash; Adolph Ochs, American newspaper publisher (d. 1935)
* 1863 &ndash; Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer and politician (d. 1938)
* 1864 &ndash; Alice Tegnér, Swedish composer and organist (d. 1943)
* 1864 &ndash; W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist (d. 1922)
* 1869 &ndash; George Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1947)
* 1876 &ndash; Elbert Lee Trinkle, Governor of Virginia (d. 1939)
* 1878 &ndash; Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903)
* 1881 &ndash; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, First President of Turkey (d. 1938)
* 1884 &ndash; Vittorio Pozzo, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1968)
* 1889 &ndash; Thorbergur Thordarson, Icelandic writer (d. 1974)
* 1890 &ndash; King Idris of Libya (d. 1983)
* 1890 &ndash; Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1908 &ndash; David Marshall, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore (d. 1995)
* 1910 &ndash; Masayoshi Ohira, Japanese statesman (d. 1980)
* 1911 &ndash; Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, President of Mexico (d. 1979)
* 1912 &ndash; Paul Weston, American pianist, arranger and conductor (d. 1996)
* 1913 &ndash; Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician (d. 1984)
* 1913 &ndash; Agathe von Trapp, Austrian–American singer (d. 2010)
* 1914 &ndash; Julia Lennon, John Lennon's mother (d. 1958)
* 1917 &ndash; Leonard Chess, American company executive (d. 1969)
* 1918 &ndash; Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
* 1919 &ndash; Michael Stepovich, Territorial Governor of Alaska, last–surviving territorial Governor in the US (d. 2014)
* 1921 &ndash; Gianni Agnelli, Italian automobile executive (d. 2003)
* 1921 &ndash; Ulo Jogi, Estonian anti–Soviet activist (d. 2007)
* 1921 &ndash; Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (d. 1986)
* 1922 &ndash; Jack Kerouac, American writer (d. 1969)
* 1923 &ndash; Wally Schirra, American astronaut (d. 2007)
* 1923 &ndash; Clara Fraser, American activist (d. 1998)
* 1923 &ndash; Hanne Hiob, German actress (d. 2009)
* 1923 &ndash; Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2013)
* 1923 &ndash; Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014)
* 1924 &ndash; Mary Lee Woods, British mathematician and computer programmer (d. 2017)
* 1925 &ndash; Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist
* 1925 &ndash; Harry Harrison, American writer (d. 2012)
* 1925 &ndash; Georges Delerue, French movie score composer (d. 1992)
* 1926 &ndash; Gudrun Ure, Scottish actress
* 1926 &ndash; George Ariyoshi, American politician, former Governor of Hawaii
* 1926 &ndash; Minerva Mirabal, Dominican activist (d. 1960)
* 1927 &ndash; Raul Alfonsin, President of Argentina (d. 2009)
* 1927 &ndash; Ragne Tangen, Norwegian children's television presenter (d. 2015)
* 1928 &ndash; Edward Albee, American dramatist (d. 2016)
* 1930 &ndash; Win Tin, Burmese politician (d. 2014)
* 1931 &ndash; Robert B. Oakley, American diplomat (d. 2014)
* 1932 &ndash; Andrew Young, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
* 1933 &ndash; Ken Hodgkisson, English footballer (d. 2018)
* 1933 &ndash; Barbara Lee Feldon, American actress and model
* 1935 &ndash; Valentyna Shevchenko, Soviet–Ukrainian politician
* 1936 &ndash; Eddie Sutton, American college basketball coach
* 1937 &ndash; Valentina Eiduka, Latvian javelin thrower and coach
* 1940 &ndash; Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017)
* 1940 &ndash; M. A. Numminen, Finnish singer and writer
* 1942 &ndash; Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player
* 1943 &ndash; Ratko Mladic, Serbian military commander, currently on trial for war crimes
* 1946 &ndash; Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
* 1946 &ndash; Frank Welker, American actor
* 1947 &ndash; Mitt Romney, American politician, former Governor of Massachusetts and Presidential candidate
* 1947 &ndash; Peter Harry Carstensen, German politician, former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein
* 1948 &ndash; James Taylor, American musician
* 1948 &ndash; Kent Conrad, American politician
* 1948 &ndash; Roger Mullin, Scottish politician
* 1948 &ndash; Virginia Bottomley, Scottish politician
* 1949 &ndash; David Mellor, English journalist, lawyer and politician
* 1950 &ndash; Javier Clemente, Spanish football manager

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1952 &ndash; Jon Provost, American actor
* 1952 &ndash; Yasuhiko Okudera, Japanese footballer
* 1953 &ndash; Carl Hiaasen, American journalist and writer
* 1953 &ndash; Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepalese politician
* 1953 &ndash; Ron Jeremy, American actor
* 1954 &ndash; Anish Kapoor, Indian–British sculptor and artist
* 1956 &ndash; Michael Catain, American businessman and convicted criminal
* 1956 &ndash; Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager
* 1956 &ndash; Steve Harrison, British musician (Iron Maiden)
* 1957 &ndash; Jerry Levine, American actor and director
* 1957 &ndash; Patrick Battiston, French footballer
* 1957 &ndash; Marlon Jackson, American singer and musician
* 1958 &ndash; Alan Sneddon, Scottish footballer
* 1959 &ndash; Mark Easton, Scottish journalist
* 1962 &ndash; Andreas Köpke, German footballer
* 1962 &ndash; Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player
* 1963 &ndash; Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager
* 1963 &ndash; Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner
* 1963 &ndash; Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi of Iran
* 1965 &ndash; Coleen Nolan, British singer (The Nolans)
* 1967 &ndash; Massimiliano Frezzato, Italian author
* 1968 &ndash; Tammy Duckworth, United States Senator for Illinois
* 1968 &ndash; Aaron Eckhart, American actor
* 1969 &ndash; Graham Coxon, British musician (Blur)
* 1970 &ndash; Karen Bradley, British politician
* 1971 &ndash; Andy Nicol, Scottish rugby player
* 1971 &ndash; Isaiah Rider, American basketball player
* 1972 &ndash; Hector Luis Bustamente, Colombian actor
* 1975 &ndash; Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
* 1975 &ndash; Kéllé Bryan, English singer

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Zhao Wei, Chinese actress
* 1979 &ndash; Pete Doherty, English musician
* 1979 &ndash; Shaun Rodgers, American football player
* 1980 &ndash; Douglas Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1980 &ndash; Ruth Hunt, Welsh activist
* 1981 &ndash; Kristjan Makke, Estonian basketball player
* 1981 &ndash; Peter Waterfield, English diver
* 1982 &ndash; Hisato Sato, Japanese footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Yuto Sato, Japanese footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Mikko Koivu, Finnish ice hockey player
* 1984 &ndash; Jaimie Alexander, American actress
* 1985 &ndash; Stromae, Belgian singer, rapper and producer
* 1985 &ndash; Bradley Wright-Phillips, English footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Danny Jones, English singer (McFly)
* 1987 &ndash; Jessica Hardy, American swimmer
* 1987 &ndash; Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player
* 1987 &ndash; Rico Vonck, Dutch darts player
* 1990 &ndash; Lawrence Clarke, English athlete
* 1991 &ndash; Felix Kroos, German footballer
* 1992 &ndash; Scott Robinson, Scottish footballer
* 1994 &ndash; Christina Grimmie, American pianist and singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
* 1994 &ndash; Tyler Patrick Jones, American actor
* 1994 &ndash; Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist
* 1995 &ndash; Kanon Fukuda, Japanese singer and voice actress
* 1999 &ndash; Sakura Oda, Japanese singer
* 2004 &ndash; Zhang Qiongyue, Chinese rifle shooter

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 417 &ndash; Pope Innocent I
* 604 &ndash; Pope Gregory I
* 1289 &ndash; King Demetre II of Georgia (b. 1259)
* 1316 &ndash; King Stephen Dragutin of Serbia (b. 1253)
* 1374 &ndash; Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan (b. 1336)
* 1447 &ndash; Shah Rukh, ruler of Persia and Transoxonia (b. 1377)
* 1507 &ndash; Cesare Borgia, Italian general and statesman (b. 1475)
* 1628 &ndash; John Bull, English composer (b. 1562)
* 1648 &ndash; Tirso de Molina, Spanish dramatist and poet (b. 1571)
* 1699 &ndash; Peder Griffenfeld, Danish statesman (b. 1635)
* 1820 &ndash; Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish explorer (b. 1764)
* 1832 &ndash; Friedrich Kuhlau, German composer (b. 1786)
* 1872 &ndash; Zeng Guofan, Chinese politician and general (b. 1811)
* 1894 &ndash; Ilarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
* 1898 &ndash; Zacharias Topelius, Finnish–Swedish writer (b. 1818)
* 1899 &ndash; Julius Vogel, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1835)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1914 &ndash; George Westinghouse, American entrepreneur and engineer (b. 1846)
* 1916 &ndash; Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer (b. 1830)
* 1925 &ndash; Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary and politician (b. 1866)
* 1929 &ndash; Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman (b. 1851)
* 1932 &ndash; Ivar Kreuger, Swedish businessman (b. 1880)
* 1935 &ndash; Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin, Serbian–American physicist and chemist (b. 1858)
* 1937 &ndash; Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (b. 1844)
* 1942 &ndash; Robert Bosch, German industrialist (b. 1861)
* 1943 &ndash; Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
* 1945 &ndash; Anne Frank, German–born Dutch Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim (b. 1929)
* 1946 &ndash; Ferenc Szalasi, Hungarian politician (b. 1897)
* 1947 &ndash; Winston Churchill, American novelist (b. 1871)
* 1955 &ndash; Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920)
* 1963 &ndash; Arthur Grimsdell, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1894)
* 1978 &ndash; John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
* 1985 &ndash; Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
* 1991 &ndash; Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist (b. 1900)
* 1991 &ndash; William Heinesen, Faroese writer, poet and artist (b. 1900)
* 1991 &ndash; LeRoy Collins, Governor of Florida (b. 1909)
* 1992 &ndash; Heinz Kühn, German politician (b. 1912)
* 1995 &ndash; Juanin Clay, American actress (b. 1949)
* 1998 &ndash; Judge Dread, English musician (b. 1945)
* 1999 &ndash; Yehudi Menuhin, American–born violinist (b. 1916)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; Robert Ludlum, American writer (b. 1927)
* 2002 &ndash; Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician (b. 1932)
* 2003 &ndash; Zoran Djindjic, President of Serbia and Montenegro (b. 1952)
* 2003 &ndash; Lynne Thigpen, American actress (b. 1948)
* 2006 &ndash; Victor Sokolov, Russian dissident, journalist and priest (b. 1947)
* 2008 &ndash; Lazare Ponticelli, Italian–French supercentenarian and World War I veteran (b. 1897)
* 2010 &ndash; Miguel Delibes, Spanish writer (b. 1920)
* 2013 &ndash; Clive Burr, British musician (Iron Maiden) (b. 1957)
* 2014 &ndash; Vera Chytilova, Czech movie director (b. 1929)
* 2014 &ndash; José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1936) 
* 2014 &ndash; Richard Coogan, American actor (b. 1914)
* 2014 &ndash; Ola L. Mize, American colonel (b. 1931)
* 2014 &ndash; Jackie Gaughan, American casino owner and gambler (b. 1920)
* 2014 &ndash; Jean Vallée, Belgian songwriter (b. 1941)
* 2014 &ndash; David Sive, American environmental lawyer (b. 1922)
* 2014 &ndash; Paul C. Donnelly, American aerospace pioneer (b. 1923)
* 2014 &ndash; Kjell Nupen, Norwegian artist (b. 1955)
* 2015 &ndash; Terry Pratchett, English writer (b. 1948)
* 2015 &ndash; Michael Graves, American architect (b. 1934)
* 2015 &ndash; Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet (b. 1924)
* 2016 &ndash; Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet (b. 1941)
* 2016 &ndash; Lloyd Shapley, American economist (b. 1923)
* 2016 &ndash; Erik Duval, Belgian computer scientist (b. 1965)
* 2017 &ndash; Murray Ball, New Zealand cartoonist (b. 1939)
* 2017 &ndash; Horst Ehmke, German politician (b. 1927)
* 2017 &ndash; Probyn Inniss, Saint Kitts and Nevis lawyer (b. 1936)
* 2017 &ndash; Ray Hassall, English politician (b. 1943)
* 2018 &ndash; Nokie Edwards, American musician and actor (b. 1935)
* 2018 &ndash; Rudolf Mang, German weightlifter (b. 1950)
* 2018 &ndash; Oleg Tabakov, Russian actor (b. 1935)
* 2018 &ndash; Henry Minarik, American football player (b. 1927)
* 2019 &ndash; Eurico Miranda, Brazilian football chairman and politician (b. 1944)

## Observances 
* National Day of Mauritius
* Youth Day (Zambia)
* Arbor Day (China and Taiwan)
* Aztec New Year