Summary of the Day ✨ 12 March (12/03)
The United States suspended travel from Europe as COVID-19 spread globally, while the UK House of Commons rejected the revised EU Withdrawal Bill by a margin of 149 votes amid Brexit tensions. Tragedy struck as a US-Bangla Airlines flight crashed in Kathmandu killing 51, an East Harlem gas explosion killed 8, and a reactor at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant exploded following a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Historical Events 📜
- 2020: The United States suspends travel from Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2019: In the House of Commons, the revised EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected by a margin of 149 votes.
- 2018: US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 crashes at Tribhuvan International Airport in Katmandu, killing 51 and injuring 20.
- 2014: A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others.
- 2011: A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
- 2009: Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street’s history.
- 2006: In Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi is raped and murdered by five American soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, who also murder both of her parents and her sister.
- 2004: President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its National Assembly, the first such impeachment in the nation’s history.
- 2003: Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
- 2003: The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
- 1999: Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
- 1993: Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing about 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
- 1993: North Korea announces that it will withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and refuses to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites.
- 1992: Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1989: Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the World Wide Web.
Famous Births 👶
- 2008: Emma Kok, Dutch singer
- 2004: DannyLux, American singer-songwriter
- 2003: Andrea Brillantes, Filipino actress and model
- 2003: Malina Weissman, American actress and model
- 2001: Max Duggan, American football player
- 2001: Kim Min-kyu, South Korean singer and actor
- 1998: Carsen Edwards, American basketball player
- 1998: Mecole Hardman, American football player
- 1998: Daniel Samohin, Israeli figure skater
- 1998: Elizaveta Ukolova, Czech figure skater
- 1997: Dean Henderson, English footballer
- 1997: Allan Saint-Maximin, French footballer
- 1997: Felipe Vizeu, Brazilian footballer
- 1996: Serhou Guirassy, French-Guinean footballer
- 1996: Karim Hafez, Egyptian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2021: Ronald DeFeo Jr., American criminal (born 1951)
- 2016: Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet and author (born 1942)
- 2016: Felix Ibru, Nigerian architect and politician, Governor of Delta State (born 1935)
- 2016: Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1923)
- 2015: Willie Barrow, American minister and activist (born 1924)
- 2015: Michael Graves, American architect and academic, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (born 1934)
- 2015: Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet and author (born 1924)
- 2015: Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (born 1948)
- 2014: Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (born 1929)
- 2014: Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (born 1923)
- 2014: José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (born 1936)
- 2013: Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (born 1936)
- 2013: Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter and illustrator (born 1937)
- 2012: Dick Harter, American basketball player and coach (born 1930)
- 2012: Michael Hossack, American drummer (born 1946)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Arbor Day (China)
- Arbor Day (Taiwan)
- Aztec New Year
- Christian feast day:
Alphege - Christian feast day:
Angela Salawa - Christian feast day:
Bernard of Carinola (or of Capua) - Christian feast day:
Gorgonius, Peter Cubicularius and Dorotheus of Nicomedia - Christian feast day:
Mura (McFeredach) - Christian feast day:
Fina - Christian feast day:
Maximilian of Tebessa - Christian feast day:
Paul Aurelian - Christian feast day:
Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion) - Christian feast day:
Theophanes the Confessor - Christian feast day:
March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - National Day (Mauritius)