March 12
March 12 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 294 days remain until the year's end. It falls in winter (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Pisces.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On March 12 the Sun's declination is approximately -3.6°. At this latitude the Sun is south of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere shorter days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a March 12.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
No widely-observed holidays catalogued for this day in our base set. See the external almanacs above for region-specific observances.
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
1894 — Coca-Cola was bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi. ↗(132 years ago)more
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day. Coca-Cola ranked No. 94 in the 2024 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
1912 — The Girl Scouts of the USA was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia. ↗(114 years ago)more
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she had met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting America.
1930 — Mohandas Gandhi began the 240-mile (390 km) Salt March to protest the British salt tax. ↗(96 years ago)more
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March, and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India, led by Mahatma Gandhi. The 24-day march (padayatra) lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.
1933 — Eight days after his inauguration, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his first "fireside chat" radio address. ↗(93 years ago)more
The fireside chats were a series of evening radio addresses given by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, between 1933 and 1944. Roosevelt spoke with familiarity to millions of Americans about recovery from the Great Depression, the promulgation of the Emergency Banking Act in response to the banking crisis, the 1937 recession, ...
Notable births
1685 — George Berkeley, Anglo-Irish philosopher. ↗(341 years ago)more
George Berkeley, known as Bishop Berkeley, was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and clergyman who is regarded as the founder of immaterialism, a philosophical theory he developed which later came to be known as subjective idealism. He has also been called "the father of idealism" by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
1928 — Edward Albee, American playwright. ↗(98 years ago)more
Edward Franklin Albee III was an American playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story (1958), The Sandbox (1959), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), A Delicate Balance (1966), and Three Tall Women (1994).
Notable deaths
1925 — Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary and political leader. ↗(101 years ago)more
Sun Yat-sen, a.k.a. Sun Zhongshan, was a Chinese revolutionary who founded the Republic of China (ROC) and the Kuomintang (KMT). Sun is credited with leading the 1911 Revolution and overthrowing the Qing dynasty. He served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912) and as the inaugural premier of the Kuomintang.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (72) | 2^3 × 3^2 · composite (no) |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (294) | 2 × 3 × 7^2 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 12032026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | -3.62° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 83 days |