March 12

March 12 is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 294 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
• 1550 – Several hundred Spanish and indigenous troops under the command of Pedro de Valdivia defeat an army of 60,000 Mapuche at the Battle of Penco during the Arauco War in present-day Chile.
• 1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Jesuits, are canonized as saints by the Catholic Church.
• 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.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as a US Navy fleet of 13 Ironclads and 7 Gunboats and other support ships enter the Red River.
• 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.
• 1894 – Coca-Cola is bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph Biedenharn.
• 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 remains 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.
• 1961 – First Winter Ascent of the Eiger north face.
• 1967 – Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become Acting 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 – Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), 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 its nuclear sites.
• 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.
• 1993 – Janet Reno was sworn in as the United States' first female attorney general.
• 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 pleads 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.

Births

• 1270 – Charles, Count of Valois (d. 1325)
• 1479 – Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours (d. 1516)
• 1607 – Paul Gerhardt, German composer (d. 1676)
• 1613 – André Le Nôtre, French gardener and architect (d. 1700)
• 1620 – Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667)
• 1626 – John Aubrey, English historian and philosopher (d. 1697)
• 1637 – Anne Hyde, English wife of James II of England (d. 1671)
• 1647 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)
• 1672 – Richard Steele, Irish politician (d. 1729)
• 1685 – George Berkeley, Irish philosopher (d. 1753)
• 1710 – Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)
• 1713 – Johann Adolph Hass, German instrument maker (d. 1771)
• 1718 – Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester, English politician (d. 1798)
• 1781 – Frederica of Baden, Queen consort of Sweden (d. 1826)
• 1795 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Toronto (d. 1861)
• 1806 – Jane Pierce, American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
• 1821 – John Abbott, Canadian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)
• 1824 – Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (d. 1887)
• 1831 – Clement Studebaker, American businessman (d. 1901)
• 1832 – Charles Boycott, English farmer and agent (d. 1897)
• 1835 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909)
• 1837 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911)
• 1838 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist (d. 1907)
• 1854 – Mahendranath Gupta, Indian author (d. 1932)
• 1858 – Adolph Ochs, American publisher (d. 1935)
• 1859 – Abraham H. Cannon, American religious leader (d. 1896)
• 1860 – Eric Stenbock, Baltic German poet and writer (d. 1895)
• 1861 – József Konkolics, Hungarian-Slovene cantor and author (d. 1941)
• 1863 – Gabriele d'Annunzio, Italian soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1938)
• 1863 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (d. 1945)
• 1864 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (d. 1922)
• 1864 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist and composer (d. 1943)
• 1874 – Charles Weeghman, American businessman (d. 1938)
• 1877 – Wilhelm Frick, German politician (d. 1946)
• 1878 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903)
• 1880 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American chemist (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Nikolaos Georgantas, Greek discus thrower (d. 1958)
• 1880 – Jaan Soots, Estonian military commander (d. 1942)
• 1881 – Gunnar Nordström, Finnish physicist (d. 1923)
• 1883 – Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian politician (d. 1959)
• 1889 – Idris of Libya, king of Libya (d. 1983)
• 1889 – Þórbergur Þórðarson, Icelandic author (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)
• 1890 – William Dudley Pelley, American politician (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Evert Taube, Swedish singer-songwriter and author (d. 1976)
• 1891 – George W. Mason, American businessman (d. 1954)
• 1895 – W. T. I. Alagaratnam, Ceylon Tamil civil engineer (d. 1977)
• 1895 – William C. Lee, American general (d. 1948)
• 1899 – Gracie Doll, German-born American actress (d. 1970)
• 1907 – Arthur Hewlett, English actor (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)
• 1908 – David Marshall Singaporean politician, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1980)
• 1911 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican politician, 49th President of Mexico (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Irving Layton, Canadian poet (d. 2006)
• 1912 – Edgar Tafel, American architect (d. 2011)
• 1912 – Paul Weston, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
• 1913 – Agathe von Trapp, Hungarian-American singer and author (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Julia Lennon, English mother of John Lennon (d. 1958)
• 1915 – Willibald C. Bianchi, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1945)
• 1917 – Millard Kaufman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1917 – Googie Withers, Indian-English actress (d. 2011)
• 1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter (d. 1989)
• 1919 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of the Territory of Alaska
• 1921 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Ülo Jõgi, Estonian historian and activist (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969)
• 1922 – Lane Kirkland, American union leader (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (Amadeus Quartet) (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Clara Fraser, American activist, co-founded Radical Women (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Hanne Hiob, German actress (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler
• 1924 – Claude-Gilles Gosselin, Canadian politician
• 1924 – Donald A. Haggar, American lawyer, businessman, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Henri Rochon, Canadian tennis player (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Louison Bobet, French cyclist (d. 1983)
• 1925 – Georges Delerue, French composer (d. 1992)
• 1925 – Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
• 1926 – George Ariyoshi, American politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii
• 1926 – Freddie Williams, Welsh motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Edward Albee, American playwright
• 1928 – Thérèse Lavoie-Roux, Canadian politician (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician
• 1930 – Bronco Horvath, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1930 – Vern Law, American baseball player
• 1931 – Herb Kelleher, American businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines
• 1931 – Billie Thomas, American actor (d. 1980)
• 1932 – Jack Davis, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Andrew Young, American politician and activist, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
• 1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress
• 1934 – David Spenser, Sri Lankan-English actor (d. 2013)
• 1935 – John Doherty, English footballer (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Valentyna Shevchenko, Ukrainian politician
• 1936 – Lloyd Dobyns, American journalist
• 1936 – Patrick Procktor, Irish-English painter (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Eddie Sutton, American basketball player and coach
• 1937 – Valentīna Eiduka, Latvian javelin thrower and coach
• 1938 – Lew DeWitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Statler Brothers) (d. 1990)
• 1938 – Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver
• 1938 – Dimitri Terzakis, Greek-German composer
• 1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer
• 1940 – M. A. Numminen, Finnish singer-songwriter and producer (Suomen Talvisota)
• 1942 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general
• 1942 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player
• 1945 – Sammy Gravano, American mobster
• 1945 – George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1946 – Frank Welker, American voice actor
• 1946 – Serge Turgeon, Canadian actor and union leader (d. 2004)
• 1947 – Peter Harry Carstensen, German politician
• 1947 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish painter (d. 1987)
• 1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish politician
• 1948 – Kent Conrad, American politician
• 1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Rob Cohen, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Moctesuma Esparza, American film producer
• 1949 – David Mellor, English journalist and politician
• 1949 – Bill Payne, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Little Feat and Phil Lesh and Friends)
• 1950 – Javier Clemente, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1950 – Jon Provost, American actor
• 1950 – Wheeler Winston Dixon, American director, critic, and author
• 1952 – Benjamín Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker
• 1952 – Boris Gavrilov, Russian football player and coach
• 1952 – Pierre Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1952 – Naomi Shihab Nye, American poet, songwriter, and author
• 1952 – Randy Stonehill, American singer-songwriter
• 1953 – Carl Hiaasen, American journalist and author
• 1953 – Ron Jeremy, American porn actor and director
• 1955 – Nicole Léger, Canadian politician
• 1956 – Steve Harris, English bass player and songwriter (Iron Maiden)
• 1956 – Dale Murphy, American baseball player
• 1957 – Patrick Battiston, French footballer
• 1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer (The Jackson 5)
• 1957 – Jerry Levine, American actor and director
• 1958 – Phil Anderson, Australian cyclist
• 1958 – Matt Millen, American football player
• 1959 – N.N. Krishnadas, Indian politician
• 1960 – Kipp Lennon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Venice)
• 1960 – Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player (Loudness and Earthshaker)
• 1960 – Maki Nomiya, Japanese singer (Pizzicato Five)
• 1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor
• 1961 – Joseph Facal, Canadian journalist and politician
• 1961 – Titus Welliver, American actor
• 1962 – Julia Campbell, American actress
• 1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player
• 1963 – Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner
• 1963 – Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager
• 1963 – Farahnaz Pahlavi, Iranian-American daughter of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
• 1965 – Steve Finley, American baseball player
• 1965 – Shawn Gilbert, American baseball player
• 1965 – Steve Levy, American journalist
• 1965 – Coleen Nolan, English singer, author, and television host (The Nolans)
• 1965 – Ivari Padar, Estonian politician
• 1965 – Liza Umarova, Kazakh singer and actress
• 1966 – Grant Long, American basketball player
• 1966 – Akemi Okamura, Japanese voice actress
• 1967 – Massimiliano Frezzato, Italian author
• 1976 – Julio Dely Valdes, Panamanian footballer
• 1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American pilot and politician
• 1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor
• 1969 – Graham Coxon, German-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Blur)
• 1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist
• 1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter
• 1970 – Roy Khan, Norwegian singer-songwriter (Kamelot and Conception)
• 1970 – John Nemechek, American race car driver (d. 1997)
• 1970 – Rex Walters, American basketball player
• 1971 – Vito DeNucci, American wrestler
• 1971 – Tony Eveready, American porn actor
• 1971 – Isaiah Rider, American basketball player
• 1972 – Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian-American actor
• 1972 – James Maritato, American wrestler
• 1974 – Matt Barela, American wrestler
• 1974 – Chris Carr, American basketball player
• 1974 – Steve Price, Australia rugby player
• 1975 – Kéllé Bryan, English singer-songwriter and actress (Eternal)
• 1975 – Egidijus Juška, Lithuanian footballer
• 1975 – Annabel Port, English radio host
• 1976 – Panagiotis Bachramis, Greek footballer (d. 2010)
• 1976 – Zhao Wei, Chinese actress and singer
• 1977 – Ramiro Corrales, American soccer player
• 1978 – Masuimi Max, American model and actress
• 1978 – Casey Mears, American race car driver
• 1978 – Neal Obermeyer, American cartoonist
• 1978 – Claudio Sanchez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Coheed and Cambria, Fire Deuce, and The Prize Fighter Inferno)
• 1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese illustrator
• 1979 – Rhys Coiro, Italian-American actor
• 1979 – Pete Doherty, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Libertines and Babyshambles)
• 1979 – Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player
• 1979 – Nidia Guenard, American wrestler
• 1979 – Enrico Kern, German footballer
• 1979 – Shaun Rogers, American football player
• 1979 – Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1980 – John-Paul Lavoisier, American actor
• 1980 – Jens Mouris, Dutch cyclist
• 1980 – Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1981 – Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler
• 1981 – Maurizio Lauro, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Kristjan Makke, Estonian basketball player
• 1981 – Chiwa Saitō, Japanese voice actress
• 1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1982 – Samm Levine, American actor
• 1982 – Zach Miner, American baseball player
• 1982 – Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer
• 1982 – Erick Stevens, American wrestler
• 1983 – Atif Aslam, Pakistani singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Jal)
• 1983 – Nam Doh-hyeong, South Korean voice actor
• 1983 – Mikko Koivu, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1984 – Jaimie Alexander, American actress
• 1984 – Shreya Ghoshal, Indian singer
• 1985 – Stromae, Belgian-Rwandan singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Bradley Wright-Phillips, English footballer
• 1986 – Danny Jones, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (McFly)
• 1986 – Ben Offereins, Australian runner
• 1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer
• 1987 – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player
• 1987 – Chris Seitz, American soccer player
• 1987 – Chris Stark, English radio host
• 1987 – Rico Vonck, Dutch darts player
• 1988 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoe racer
• 1988 – Tyler Ward, American singer
• 1988 – Konstantinos Mitroglou, Greek footballer
• 1989 – Tyler Clary, American swimmer
• 1989 – Siim Luts, Estonian footballer
• 1989 – Mark Sirõk, Russian-Estonian political activist
• 1990 – Kai-Fabian Schulz, German footballer
• 1991 – Felix Kroos, German footballer
• 1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1994 – Tyler Patrick Jones, American actor
• 1995 – Kanon Fukuda, Japanese singer and voice actress (S/mileage, Minimoni, and Shugo Chara Egg!)
• 1999 – Sakura Oda, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 2003 – Andrea Brillantes, Filipina actress

Deaths

• 417 – Pope Innocent I
• 604 – Pope Gregory I (b. 540)
• 1289 – Demetrius II of Georgia (b. 1259)
• 1316 – Stephen Dragutin of Serbia (b. 1253)
• 1374 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (b. 1336)
• 1507 – Cesare Borgia, Italian cardinal and politician (b. 1475)
• 1608 – Kōriki Kiyonaga, Japanese daimyo (b. 1530)
• 1628 – John Bull, English organist and composer (b. 1562)
• 1648 – Tirso de Molina, Spanish monk and poet (b. 1571)
• 1681 – Frans van Mieris, Sr., Dutch painter (b. 1635)
• 1699 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish politician (b. 1635)
• 1790 – András Hadik, Hungarian general (b. 1710)
• 1820 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish explorer (b. 1764)
• 1832 – Friedrich Kuhlau, German-Danish composer (b. 1786)
• 1858 – William James Blacklock, English painter (b. 1816)
• 1872 – Zeng Guofan, Chinese general and politician (b. 1811)
• 1894 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
• 1898 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish-Swedish journalist, author, and historian (b. 1818)
• 1909 – Joseph Petrosino, American police officer (b. 1860)
• 1914 – George Westinghouse, American engineer (b. 1846)
• 1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (b. 1830)
• 1925 – Gergely Luthár, Slovenian-Hungarian author (b. 1841)
• 1925 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1866)
• 1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (b. 1851)
• 1930 – William George Barker, Canadian pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1894)
• 1930 – Alois Jirásek, Czech author and playwright (b. 1851)
• 1935 – Mihajlo Pupin, Serbian-American physicist and chemist (b. 1858)
• 1937 – Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1858)
• 1937 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (b. 1844)
• 1942 – Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH (b. 1861)
• 1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
• 1944 – Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer (b. 1861)
• 1945 – Friedrich Fromm, German general (b. 1861)
• 1946 – Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian politician, Head of State of Hungary (b. 1897)
• 1947 – Winston Churchill, American author (b. 1871)
• 1955 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1920)
• 1963 – Arthur Grimsdell, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1894)
• 1971 – August Torma, Estonian military officer and diplomat (b. 1895)
• 1973 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
• 1974 – George D. Sax, American businessman (b. 1904)
• 1975 – Olga Hepnarová, Czech mass murderer (b. 1951)
• 1978 – John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
• 1978 – Gene Moore, American baseball player (b. 1909)
• 1979 – Nader Jahanbani, Iranian general (b. 1928)
• 1984 – Arnold Ridley, English actor and playwright (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Maurice Evans, English actor and producer (b. 1901)
• 1991 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
• 1991 – William Heinesen, Faroese author, poet, and author (b. 1900)
• 1992 – Hans G. Kresse, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1921)
• 1995 – Juanin Clay, American actress (b. 1949)
• 1998 – Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Beatrice Wood, American painter and potter (b. 1893)
• 1999 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Morton Downey, Jr., American singer-songwriter and talk show host (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)
• 2001 – Victor Westhoff, Dutch botanist (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)
• 2002 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)
• 2003 – Howard Fast, American author (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Andrei Kivilev, Kazakh cyclist (b. 1973)
• 2003 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress (b. 1948)
• 2005 – Bill Cameron, Canadian journalist (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Greek composer (b. 1932)
• 2006 – Victor Sokolov, Russian-American priest and journalist (b. 1947)
• 2007 – Arnold Drake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Hege Nerland, Norwegian politician (b. 1966)
• 2008 – Jorge Guinzburg, Argentinian journalist and producer (b. 1949)
• 2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, Italian-French soldier (b. 1897)
• 2010 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish author (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Olive Dickason, Canadian historian (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Joe Morello, American drummer (Dave Brubeck Quartet) (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Hasan Gafoor, Indian police officer (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (Doobie Brothers) (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (Iron Maiden, Samson, and Trust) (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Robert Castel, French sociologist (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Avo Paistik, Estonian cartoonist, author, film director, painter and pastor (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Arbor Day (China and Taiwan)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Fina
  • Maximilian the martyr
  • Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion)
  • Theophanes the Confessor
  • March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Girl Scout Birthday (United States)
• Grækarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory). According to tradition, the oystercatcher, the Faroes' national bird returns this day. This event is celebrated in the capital, Tórshavn (Faroe Islands)
• National Day (Mauritius)
• World Day Against Cyber Censorship (requested by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International in 2009)
• Youth Day (Zambia)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 12.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada