March 12

Events515 BC - Construction is completed on the Second Temple in Jerusalem. 538 - 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. 1664 - New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.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.1894 - Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.1908 - The Pan-Macedonian group is formed in Athens to support the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.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.)1918 - Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg held this status for 215 years.1928 - In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people. 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.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." 1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.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.1947 - The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. 1954 - Sahitya Akademi is founded in India.1956 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time (500.24)1967 - Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.1968 - Mauritius achieves independence.1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay (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 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, 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.
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