Hit REFRESH if page doesn't load Please Support our Fine Sponsors . . . Link to us - click here . Useful Links - click here . Add your own Personal Historic listing FREE! - Click Here Return to Daily Calendar Today's date is:    Please Support Our Sponsors Wisdom? Humor? Fact? Advice? ... Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue... What happened on March 12 Please support our Sponsors - They help us keep this site Alive! 0515 BC - Construction is completed on the Second Temple in Jerusalem. 0538 Witiges, 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. 0641 A.D. Chinese Princess Wen Cheng goes to Tibet to marry the Tibetan ruler and the marriage becomes the basis for China's claim to sovereignty over the region 1572 Luos Vaz de Camoes publishes "Os Lusíados" in Portugal 1594 Company of Distant established for business on East-Indies 1597 England routes troops to Amiens 1609 Bermuda becomes an English colony 1619 Dutch settlement on Java changes name to Batavia 1622 Ignatius of Loyola declared a saint 1642 Abel Tasman is first European in New Zealand 1664 First naturalization act in American colonies 1664 New Jersey becomes a British colony 1664 New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain. 1689 Former English King James II lands in Ireland 1737 Galileo's body moved to Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy 1755 First steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine 1773 Jeanne Baptiste Pointe de Sable found settlement now known as Chicago 1814 British troops under Wellington capture Bordeaux in France 1848 Second republic established in France 1849 The first gold seekers arrive in Nicaragua en route to California 1850 US $20 gold piece first issued 1857 A Great Western Railway train breaks an axle while crossing a swing bridge and plunges into the Desjardins Canal near Hamilton. 59 people are killed. 1860 Congress accepts Pre-emption Bill; free land in West for colonists 1868 Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax 1868 Great Britain annexes Basutoland in Africa 1868 Henry James O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. 1881 Andrew Watson made his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain. 1884 Mississippi establishes first US state college for women 1888 2nd day of the Great blizzard of '88 in northeast US (400 die) 1889 Battle at Metema (Gallabad); Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV, defeated 1889 Ethiopia's Johannes IV is killed in the Battle of Metemma fighting the Mahdists 1889 Start of South Africa's first Test, vs England, Port Elizabeth 1894 Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time. 1896 The first movie in Netherlands (Kalverstr 220) 1900 President Steyn of Orange-Free state flees from Bloemfontein 1904 Andrew Carnegie establishes Carnegie Hero Fund 1904 The first main line electric train in UK (Liverpool to Southport) 1906 Heavy storm ravages Dutch west coast 1907 At Toulon, France, the battleship Iena explodes, killing at least 118 men 1908 The Pan-Macedonian group is formed in Athens to support the Greek Struggle for Macedonia. 1912 Captain Albert Berry performs first parachute jump from an airplane 1912 Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) founded in Savannah, by Juliette Gordon Low 1912 The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the U.S.. 1913 Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital was still under construction.) 1913 Canberra becomes the capital of Australia when the foundation stone of the Federal Parliament building is laid. 1913 Foundation stone of the Australian capitol in Canberra laid 1916 French airship sinks British submarine D3 1917 Russian Dumas sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets 1917 Stalin, Kamenev & Muranov arrive in St Petersburg 1918 Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years. 1919 Austrian National Meeting affirms Anschluss (incorporate into Germany) 1925 Death of Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary leader. 1926 Denmark begins unilateral disarmament 1928 In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people. 1930 Mahatma Gandhi began a march to the sea, his boldest act of civil disobedience yet against British rule in India 1930 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. 1932 The so-called "Swedish Match King", Ivar Kreuger, commits suicide in Paris, leaving behind a financial empire that turns out to be worthless 1933 FDR announces the "New Deal." 1933 FDR conducts his first "fireside chat" 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." 1934 Acting President Constantine Päts commits coup in Tallinn Estonia 1934 Josip Broz (Tito) freed from jail 1935 England establishes 30 MPH speed limit for towns & villages 1935 UK hist Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain 1938 Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day. 1938 Germans enter Vienna, and 183,000 Jews in Austria fall under Nazi control. Within one month, 500 Jews commit suicide. 1938 Nazi Germany invades Austria (Anschluss) 1939 Pope Pius XII crowned in Vatican ceremonies 1940 Finland surrenders to Russia during WWII, giving up Karelische Isthmus 1940 Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated. 1941 German occupiers confiscate AVRO studios in Netherlands 1943 Soviet troops liberate Wjasma 1945 30 Amsterdammers executed by Nazi occupiers 1945 Italy's Communist Party (CPI) calls for armed uprising in Italy 1945 New York is the first to prohibit discrimination by race & creed in employment 1945 The British Empire celebrates its first British Empire Day 1945 USSR returns Transylvania to Romania 1946 Part of Petsamo province ceded by Soviet Union to Finland 1947 President Truman introduces Truman-doctrine to fight communism 1947 The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. 1948 -5ºF lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in March 1950 Visitor posting - Pamela Turner was born. - USA 1950 Belgium votes (58%) for return of King Leopold III 1951 Communist troops driven out of Seoul 1952 Mercedes introduced the 300 SL to the press on this day. With a sleek rounded body, gull-wing doors and a detachable steering wheel, the 300 SL created quite a buzz 1954 Sahitya Akademi is founded in India. 1958 British Empire Day is renamed "Commonwealth Day" 1959 US House joins Senate approving Hawaii statehood 1962 Dutch Premier De Quay announces secret talks with Indonesia 1963 Beatles perform as a trio, John Lennon is ill with a cold 1963 Bob Dylan cancels "Ed Sullivan Show" television appearance 1964 6th Grammy Awards: Days of Wine & Roses, Streisand win 1964 Jimmy Hoffa sentenced to 8 years 1964 Malcolm X resigns from Nation of Islam 1966 Bobby Hull's 51st goal of season, sets record 1966 Love's first album released "Love" 1967 Austria's Reinhold Bachler ski jumps 505 feet 1967 Indonesian congress deprives President Sukarno of authority 1967 Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia. 1968 Mauritius achieves independence. 1968 Mauritius gains independence from Britain (National Day) 1969 11th Grammy Awards: Mrs Robinson, By the Time I Get to Phoenix win 1969 120 joints found at George & Patti Harrison's home 1969 Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman in London 1970 US lowers voting age from 21 to 18 1971 Rolling Stone Mick Jagger marries Bianca Pérez Morena de Macias 1971 Syrian premier Hafez Assad elected President 1971 Turkish Government of Demirel forced to resign by Army 1972 NHL great Gordie Howe retires after 26 seasons 1974 Bundy victim Donna Manson disappears, Evergreen SC, Olympia WA 1975 Vietcong conquer Ban me Thuot South Vietnam 1976 South African troops leave Angola 1977 Chile President Pinochet bans Christian-Democratic Party 1977 Egypt's Anwar Sadat pledges to regain Arab territory from Israel 1977 Number one hit on UK music charts - Manhattan Transfer - Chanson D'Amour 1978 Eric Heiden skates world record 1000 meter (1:14.99) 1980 Jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of murdering 33 in Chicago 1981 Soyuz T-4 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station 1981 Walter R T Witschey installs world's largest sundial, Richmond VA 1982 1st-class debut of Courtney Walsh, Jamaica vs Leeward Islands 1982 PLO chief Yassar Arafat appears on "Nightline" 1983 Number one hit on UK music charts - Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart 1984 British ice dancing team, Torvill & Dean, become first skaters to receive 9 perfect 6.0s in world championships 1986 210.25 million shares traded in New York Stock Exchange 1986 Giotto encounters Comet Halley 1986 Susan Butcher wins 1,158 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 1987 "Les Miserables" opens at Broadway/Imperial NYC for 4000+ performances 1987 Federal judge dismisses lawsuits sought by Oliver North 1989 15th People's Choice Awards 1989 2 cyanide-contaminated Chilean grapes found (Philadelphia) 1989 Madagascar AREMA party wins parliamentary election 1990 Los Angeles Raiders announce they were returning to Oakland 1991 5th Soul Train Music Awards 1991 Visitor posting - Deontae Cratic was born 1992 Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 1993 317 killed by bomb attacks in Bombay 1993 Entertainment Tonight's 3,000th show 1993 Inkhata leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi begins 2½ week speech 1993 North Korea announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty 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. 1993 Visitor posting - Alexus was born as a beautiful child to her mother and father 1993 Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more. 1994 Church of England ordains first 33 women priests 1994 The Church of England ordains its first female priests. 1995 Congress party loses India national election 1995 Lara scores 139 in ODI vs Australia at Port-of-Spain 1995 Sprinter Melinda Gainsford becomes the first Australian to win a world sprint title in more than 30 years 1996 Leeward Islands beat Trinidad by 73 runs to win Red Stripe Trophy 1997 Visitor posting - March 12 1997 Madeleine Novak was born 1997 Visitor posting - Jerry Alvarez arrived.. - USA 1998 "Sound of Music", opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC 1999 Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO. 2003 Zoran ini, 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. 2005 Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, steps down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government. 2007 Van Halen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 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