What Happened On
Loch Ness Monster Hoax
March 12, 1994
The famous 1934 "Surgeon's photo" reportedly taken by Col. Robert Wilson is called a hoax in a deathbed confession by Chris Spurling who claimed he helped create the photo.
Dennis the Menace
March 12, 1951
Hank Ketcham's comic strip Dennis the Menace debuts. It was based on his real-life son, Dennis Ketcham, who earned the nickname "Dennis the Menace" when he was four years old.
Second Temple of Jerusalem
March 12, 515 B.C.
The Jewish Holy Temple is completed in Jerusalem. It stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period (516 BCE-70 CE). It replaced the First Temple (Solomon's Temple), which was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE.
Elizabeth Smart
March 12, 2003
Elizabeth Smart is rescued after having been abducted 9 months earlier at knife point from her bedroom in her family's Salt Lake City, Utah home. Her kidnappers were recognized from the TV show America's Most Wanted. Her abduction has been the subject of numerous books and films.
Church of England's First Women Priests
March 12, 1994
Thirty-two women are ordained as priests in the England's official state church.
First Woman U.S. Attorney General
March 12, 1993
Janet Reno, appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton, takes office.
Roman Polanski
March 12, 1977
The film director Roman Polanski is arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old model at Jack Nicholson's home. He entered a partial guilty plea and then fled the country while awaiting trial.
The Beatles
March 12, 1969
George Harrison and his wife Patti are arrested for drug possession. They claimed that the drugs had been planted by the police.
Roosevelt's first fireside chat
Roosevelt's first fireside chat
First Fireside Chat
March 12, 1933
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first "Fireside Chat" radio broadcast, just eight days after taking office. Roosevelt felt that the fledgling new medium of radio would help him counter the conservative bias of newspapers of that time.
Juliette Gordon Low (center) standing with two Girl Scouts
Juliette Gordon Low (center) standing with two Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts
March 12, 1912
American Girl Guides is founded, by Juliette Gordon Low. The name was later changed to Girl Scouts.
Birthdays
James Taylor
Born March 12, 1948
American Grammy-winning singer. Music: You've Got a Friend (1971, #1, Grammy) and Handy Man (1979, Grammy).
Taylor wrote the lyrics for Fire and Rain after his friend Suzanne Schneer committed suicide by jumping in front of a New York subway train in 1968. Taylor was in London recording at the time. His band members did not tell him of her death until later, so as not to distract him from the recording sessions.
"Just yesterday morning, they let me know that you were gone.
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you…
I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end."
Buckwheat (William Thomas, Jr.)
Born March 12, 1931 d. 1980
American actor, one of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) (1934-44), with his famous catch phrase, "Otay!" He appeared in 93 Our Gang films and later worked as a lab technician editing film for Technicolor. Biography: "Otay!" The Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas Story. He died of a heart attack at age 49, exactly 46 years to the day he auditioned for the role of Buckwheat.
Wally Schirra (Walter M. Schirra, Jr.)
Born March 12, 1923 d. 2007
American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts (1959). He was the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs (Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo). He also performed the first manned rendezvous in space.
Darryl Strawberry
Born March 12, 1962
American baseball player.
Marlon Jackson
Born March 12, 1957
American singer, one of the Jackson Five.
Ron Jeremy (Ronald Jeremy Hyatt)
Born March 12, 1953
American porn star.
Liza Minnelli
Born March 12, 1946
American Oscar-Tony-winning actress, singer. Film: Cabaret (1972, Oscar) and Arthur (1981).
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano
Born March 12, 1945
American crime boss of the Gambino family under John Gotti. His testimony helped bring down John Gotti.
Al Jarreau (Alwyn Lopez Jarreau)
Born March 12, 1940 d. 2017
American Grammy-winning jazz singer. Music: Breakin' Away (1981).
Johnny Rutherford (John Sherman Rutherford III)
Born March 12, 1938
American auto racer, three-time winner of the Indy 500.
Barbara Feldon
Born March 12, 1933
American actress. TV: Get Smart (1965-70, Agent 99). In 1957, she won the grand prize on the TV show The $64,000 Question for the category of William Shakespeare. She also starred in the TV cult classic Vacation in Hell (1979, also starring Maureen McCormick and Priscilla Barnes).
Edward Albee
Born March 12, 1928 d. 2016
American Pulitzer-Tony-winning playwright. Writings: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer), and Three Tall Women (1994, Pulitzer).
Jack Kerouac
Born March 12, 1922 d. 1969
American author, On the Road (1957). He was one of the founders of the beatnik movement of the late 1950s and is known as the godfather of the '60s hippie movement.
Wilhelm Frick
Born March 12, 1877 d. 1946
German Nazi politician. He became State Minister of the Interior and of Education in the coalition government of Thuringia, making him the first Nazi to hold any ministerial-level office in pre-Nazi Germany (1930). He used his position to replace officials with Nazi Party members and banned several newspapers as well as pacifist drama and film performances. He served as Reich Minister of the Interior in Adolf Hitler's Cabinet (1933-43) and as the last governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After World War II, he was tried and convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed by hanging.
Clement Studebaker
Born March 12, 1831 d. 1901
American carriage manufacturer. He and his brothers founded H & C Studebaker Company, which built Conestoga wagons and carriages. The Studebaker company didn't begin making their famous automobiles until 1904, several years after his death.
Deaths
Amityville Horror
Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, Jr.
Died March 12, 2021 b. 1951
American murderer. He was convicted of the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in their home at 112 Ocean Avenue. George and Kathleen Lutz purchased the house the following year. The Lutz's claims of paranormal happenings in the house were the basis for The Amityville Horror (1977) book and subsequent movies.
Founder of the ASPCA
Henry Bergh
Died March 12, 1888 b. 1813
American animal rights activist. Founder and first president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA, 1866) and helped found the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (1875).
Robert Ludlum
Died March 12, 2001 b. 1927
American author. Writings: The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971), The Osterman Weekend (1972), and the Bourne Supremacy (1986).
June Valli
Died March 12, 1993 b. 1928
American singer. Music: Crying in the Chapel (1953). TV: The Andy Williams and June Valli Show (1957) and the singing voice on the Chiquita banana commercials.
Maurice Evans
Died March 12, 1989 b. 1901
British-born American Shakespearean actor. TV: Bewitched (Samantha's father).
Robert Bosch
Died March 12, 1942 b. 1861
German industrialist, invented the spark plug (1902).
Michael Pupin
Died March 12, 1935 b. 1858
Hungarian-born American physicist. He invented "pupinization," which extends the range of long-distance telephone communication by placing loading coils (of wire) at predetermined intervals along the transmitting wire. He won the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography From Immigrant to Inventor.
George Westinghouse
Died March 12, 1914 b. 1846
American inventor. Invented railway air brakes (1868) and provided alternating current to the U.S.
Saint Gregory I
Died March 12, 604 b. ????
Italian religious leader, 64th Pope (590-604).
Saint Innocent I
Died March 12, 417 b. circa 350
Italian religious leader, 40th Pope (401-417).