March 12

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 rearguard 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.

1868 – Basutoland, today called Lesotho, is annexed by the United Kingdom.

1881 – Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.

1885 – Tonkin Campaign: France captures the citadel of Bắc Ninh.

1894 – Coca-Cola is bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph A. Biedenharn.

1910 – Greek cruiser Georgios Averof is launched at Livorno.

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.

1920 – The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin.

1921 – İstiklâl Marşı is adopted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

1922 – Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan form the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic

1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kills 431 people.

1930 – Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India

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 and absorb 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.

1942 – Pacific War: The Battle of Java ends with an ABDACOM surrender to the Japanese Empire in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies.

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 North Face of the Eiger.

1967 – Suharto take power from Sukarno when the MPRS inaugurated him as Acting President of Indonesia.

1968 – Mauritius achieves independence from the United Kingdom.

1971 – The March 12 Memorandum is sent to the Suleyman 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 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.

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.

2003 – WHO officially released global warning on pandemic SARS disease.

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's 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.

2014 – A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others.

Births

1270 – Charles, Count of Valois (d. 1325)

1386 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (d. 1428)

1475 – Luca Gaurico, Italian astrologer (d. 1558)

1476 – Anna Jagiellon, Duchess of Pomerania, Polish princess (d. 1503)

1479 – Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours (d. 1516)

1500 – Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1558)

1501 – Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian scientist (d. 1577)

1607 – Paul Gerhardt, German poet and 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)

1647 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)

1672 – Richard Steele, Irish-Welsh journalist and politician (d. 1729)

1685 – George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (d. 1753)

1710 – Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)

1781 – Frederica of Baden (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 lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)

1824 – Gustav Kirchhoff, Russian-German physicist and academic (d. 1887)

1831 – Clement Studebaker, American businessman, co-founded Studebaker (d. 1901)

1832 – Charles Boycott, English farmer and agent (d. 1897)

1832 – Charles Friedel, French chemist and mineralogist (d.1899)

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 and academic (d. 1907)

1851 – Theodore Thurston Geer, American journalist and politician, 10th Governor of Oregon (d. 1924)

1858 – Adolph Ochs, American publisher (d. 1935)

1859 – Abraham H. Cannon, American religious leader (d. 1896)

1860 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian poet and author (d. 1895)

1861 – József Konkolics, Hungarian-Slovene cantor and author (d. 1941)

1863 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian soldier, journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1938)

1863 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (d. 1945)

1864 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (d. 1922)

1864 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist and composer (d. 1943)

1864 – Charles Young, American colonel (d. 1922)

1869 – George Forbes, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1947)

1874 – Charles Weeghman, American businessman (d. 1938)

1877 – Wilhelm Frick, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 1946)

1878 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903)

1880 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American chemist and academic (d. 1952)

1880 – Jaan Soots, Estonian general and politician, 7th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1942)

1881 – Gunnar Nordström, Finnish physicist and academic (d. 1923)

1883 – Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian politician (d. 1959)

1889 – Idris of Libya (d. 1983)

1890 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)

1890 – William Dudley Pelley, American screenwriter and politician, founded the Silver Legion of America (d. 1965)

1890 – Evert Taube, Swedish singer-songwriter and lute player (d. 1976)

1891 – George W. Mason, American businessman (d. 1954)

1895 – Otakar Batlička, Czech journalist and author (d. 1942)

1895 – William C. Lee, American general (d. 1948)

1896 – Jesse Fuller, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1976)

1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (d. 2007)

1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)

1908 – David Marshall, Singaporean lawyer and 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 academic and politician, 49th President of Mexico (d. 1979)

1912 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (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 – Frank Soo, English footballer and manager (d. 1991)

1915 – Willibald C. Bianchi, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1945)

1915 – Alberto Burri, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1995)

1917 – Leonard Chess, American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (d. 1969)

1917 – Millard Kaufman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009)

1917 – Googie Withers, Indian-Australian actress (d. 2011)

1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (d. 1989)

1919 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of the Territory of Alaska (d. 2014)

1920 – Roland Fraïssé, French mathematical logician (d. 2008)

1921 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (d. 2003)

1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986)

1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969)

1922 – Lane Kirkland, American sailor and union leader (d. 1999)

1923 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (d. 2013)

1923 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005)

1923 – Clara Fraser, American activist, co-founded Radical Women (d. 1998)

1923 – Hanne Hiob, German actress and screenwriter (d. 2009)

1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007)

1923 – Joseph F. Weis, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 2014)

1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014)

1924 – Henri Rochon, Canadian tennis player (d. 2005)

1924 – Mary Lee Woods, English mathematician and computer programmer

1925 – Louison Bobet, French cyclist (d. 1983)

1925 – Georges Delerue, French pianist and composer (d. 1992)

1925 – Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)

1926 – George Ariyoshi, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii

1927 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (d. 2009)

1928 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (d. 2016)

1928 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007)

1930 – Bronco Horvath, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1930 – Vern Law, American baseball player, coach, and manager

1930 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (d. 2014)

1931 – Herb Kelleher, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines

1931 – Robert B. Oakley, American soldier and diplomat, 19th United States Ambassador to Pakistan (d. 2014)

1932 – Andrew Young, American pastor and politician, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations

1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress

1934 – Virginia Hamilton, American author (d. 2002)

1934 – David Spenser, Sri Lankan-English actor and director (d. 2013)

1936 – Lloyd Dobyns, American journalist and author

1936 – Patrick Procktor, Irish-English painter and academic (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 (d. 1990)

1938 – Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver and sportscaster

1938 – Dimitri Terzakis, Greek-German composer and educator

1939 – Lyndsie Holland, English actress and singer (d. 2014)

1939 – Jude Milhon, American hacker and author (d. 2003)

1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017)

1940 – M. A. Numminen, Finnish singer-songwriter and producer

1942 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general

1942 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (d. 2013)

1942 – Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player and sportscaster

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 and singer

1946 – Serge Turgeon, Canadian actor and union leader (d. 2004)

1947 – Peter Harry Carstensen, German educator and politician

1947 – Mary Jean Harrold, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013)

1947 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish painter (d. 1987)

1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts

1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish social worker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

1948 – Kent Conrad, American politician

1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1949 – Mike Gibbins, Welsh drummer, singer, and songwriter (Badfinger) (d. 2005)

1949 – Rob Cohen, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1949 – David Mellor, English journalist, lawyer, and politician, Chief Secretary to the Treasury

1949 – Bill Payne, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

1949 – Fergus Slattery, Irish rugby player

1950 – Javier Clemente, Spanish footballer and manager

1952 – Boris Anatolyevich Gavrilov, Russian football player and manager

1954 – Anish Kapoor, Indian-English sculptor

1954 – Hajime Meshiai, Japanese golfer

1955 – Nicole Léger, Canadian educator and politician

1956 – Steve Harris, English bass player and songwriter

1956 – Lesley Manville, English actress

1956 – Dale Murphy, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster

1957 – Patrick Battiston, French footballer and coach

1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer

1958 – Phil Anderson, English-Australian cyclist

1958 – Matt Millen, American football player, executive, and sportscaster

1958 – Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player

1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor and painter

1961 – Joseph Facal, Canadian journalist and politician

1961 – Titus Welliver, American actor

1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player and minister

1963 – Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner and coach

1963 – Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager

1963 – Paul Way, English golfer

1965 – Steve Finley, American baseball player

1965 – Shawn Gilbert, American baseball player and coach

1965 – Steve Levy, American journalist and sportscaster

1965 – Coleen Nolan, English singer and television host

1966 – Grant Long, American basketball player and sportscaster

1967 – Jorge Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager

1967 – Julio Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager

1968 – Dylan Carlson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American colonel, pilot, and politician

1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor and producer

1969 – Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist and author

1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter

1970 – Mathias Gronberg, Swedish golfer

1970 – John Nemechek, American race car driver (d. 1997)

1970 – Rex Walters, American basketball player and coach

1971 – Isaiah Rider, American basketball player and rapper

1971 – Dragutin Topić, Serbian high jumper

1972 – Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1974 – Matt Barela, American wrestler and actor

1974 – Chris Carr, American basketball player and coach

1974 – Steve Price, Australian rugby league player

1975 – Kéllé Bryan, English singer-songwriter and actress

1977 – Ramiro Corrales, American soccer player

1978 – Casey Mears, American race car driver

1978 – Neal Obermeyer, American cartoonist

1978 – Claudio Sanchez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese author and illustrator

1979 – Pete Doherty, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1979 – Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player and coach

1979 – Nidia Guenard, American wrestler and manager

1979 – Shaun Rogers, American football player

1979 – Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian footballer

1980 – Jens Mouris, Dutch cyclist

1980 – Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player

1981 – Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler and kick-boxer

1981 – Maurizio Lauro, Italian footballer

1981 – Kristjan Makke, Estonian basketball player

1981 – Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player

1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1982 – Zach Miner, American baseball player

1982 – Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer

1982 – Erick Stevens, American wrestler

1986 – Danny Jones, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1986 – Ben Offereins, Australian runner

1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer

1987 – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player

1987 – Chris Seitz, American soccer player

1987 – Omar Abdulrazaq, Syrian footballer

1988 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoe racer

1988 – Konstantinos Mitroglou, Greek footballer

1988 – Tyler Ward, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1988 – Myles Weston, English footballer

1989 – Tyler Clary, American swimmer

1989 – Richard Eckersley, English footballer

1989 – Siim Luts, Estonian footballer

1989 – Mark Sirõk, Estonian activist

1989 – Gareth Widdop, English rugby league player

1990 – Lawrence Clarke, English hurdler

1990 – Kai-Fabian Schulz, German footballer

1991 – Felix Kroos, German footballer

1992 – Cian Bolger, Irish footballer

1993 – Anton Shramchenko, Belarusian footballer

1993 – Jeppe Tverskov, Danish professional footballer

1993 – Nikolai Alho, Finnish football player

1994 – Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist

1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016)

1995 – Will Pearsall, Australian rugby league player

1996 – Robert Bartczak, Polish footballer

1996 – Aristo Sham, Hong Kong pianist

Deaths

417 – Pope Innocent I

604 – Pope Gregory I (b. 540)

1289 – Demetrius II of Georgia (b. 1259)

1316 – Stefan Dragutin of Serbia (b. 1253)

1374 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (b. 1336)

1496 – Johann Heynlin, German humanist scholar (b. c. 1425)

1507 – Cesare Borgia, Italian cardinal (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 the Elder, Dutch painter (b. 1635)

1699 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish politician (b. 1635)

1703 – Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, English jurist and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1627)

1731 – Ernest August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (b. 1660)

1790 – András Hadik, Hungarian field marshal (b. 1710)

1820 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish explorer and politician (b. 1764)

1832 – Friedrich Kuhlau, German-Danish pianist and composer (b. 1786)

1858 – William James Blacklock, English-Scottish painter (b. 1816)

1872 – Zeng Guofan, Chinese general and politician, Viceroy of Liangjiang (b. 1811)

1894 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)

1898 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish-Swedish journalist, historian, and author (b. 1818)

1909 – Joseph Petrosino, American police officer (b. 1860)

1914 – George Westinghouse, American engineer and businessman (b. 1846)

1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (b. 1830)

1925 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese physician and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1866)

1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (b. 1851)

1929 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (b. 1853)

1930 – William George Barker, Canadian colonel and 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)

1942 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)

1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)

1945 – Friedrich Fromm, German general (b. 1888)

1946 – Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian soldier and politician, Head of State of Hungary (b. 1897)

1947 – Winston Churchill, American author and playwright (b. 1871)

1955 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1920)

1957 – Josephine Hull, American actress (b. 1877)

1960 – Kshitimohan Sen, Indian historian, author, and academic (b. 1880)

1963 – Arthur Grimsdell, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1894)

1973 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)

1974 – George D. Sax, American banker and businessman (b. 1904)

1978 – John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)

1979 – Nader Jahanbani, Iranian general and pilot (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)

1988 – Romare Bearden, American painter (b. 1911)

1989 – Maurice Evans, English-American actor (b. 1901)

1989 – Jakob Gimpel, Polish concert pianist and educator (b. 1906)

1991 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)

1991 – William Heinesen, Faroese author, poet, and author (b. 1900)

1992 – Hans G. Kresse, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1921)

1992 – Lucy M. Lewis, American potter (b. 1890)

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, actor, and talk show host (b. 1933)

2001 – Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)

2001 – Victor Westhoff, Dutch botanist and academic (b. 1916)

2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)

2002 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)

2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)

2003 – Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1914)

2003 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (b. 1948)

2004 – Milton Resnick, Russian-American painter (b. 1917)

2005 – Bill Cameron, Canadian journalist and producer (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)

2008 – Jorge Guinzburg, Argentinian journalist and producer (b. 1949)

2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, Italian-French soldier (b. 1897)

2010 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1920)

2011 – Olive Dickason, Canadian historian and journalist (b. 1920)

2011 – Joe Morello, American drummer and educator (Dave Brubeck Quartet) (b. 1923)

2011 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (b. 1919)

2012 – Samuel Glazer, American businessman, co-founded Mr. Coffee (b. 1923)

2012 – Dick Harter, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)

2012 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (The Doobie Brothers) (b. 1946)

2012 – Friedhelm Konietzka, German-Swiss footballer and manager (b. 1938)

2013 – George Burditt, American lawyer and politician (b. 1921)

2013 – Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1957)

2013 – Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (b. 1936)

2013 – Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter and illustrator (b. 1937)

2014 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)

2014 – George Donaldson, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1968)

2014 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)

2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931)

2014 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1936)

2015 – Willie Barrow, American minister and activist (b. 1924)

2015 – Michael Graves, American architect and academic, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (b. 1934)

2015 – Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1924)

2015 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1948)

2016 – Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet and author (b. 1942)

2016 – Felix Ibru, Nigerian architect and politician, Governor of Delta State (b. 1935)

2016 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Fina

Luigi Orione

Maximilian of Tebessa

Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion)

Theophanes the Confessor

Zhang Dapeng (one of Martyr Saints of China)

March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Arbor Day (China)

Arbor Day (Taiwan)

Tree Day (Republic of Macedonia)

Aztec New Year

Girl Scout Birthday (United States)

National Day (Mauritius)

World Day Against Cyber Censorship (requested by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International in 2009)

Youth Day (Zambia)