Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

March 12

2003
Elizabeth Smart: The Utah child is rescued after having been kidnapped the previous June.

1994
Church of England's first women priests: Thirty-two women are ordained as priests in the England's official state church.

1993
First woman U.S. Attorney General: Janet Reno, appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton, takes office.

1977
Roman Polanski: The film director 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.

1969
The Beatles: Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman.

1969
The Beatles: George Harrison and his wife Patti are arrested for drug possession. They claimed that the drugs had been planted by the police.

1933
Pres. F.D. Roosevelt gives his first "Fireside Chat."

1928
St. Francis Dam in Santa Paula, California collapses, killing 450 people.

1912
American Girl Guides founded, by Juliette Low, name later changed to Girl Scouts.

1894
Coca-Cola: The soft drink sold in bottles for the first time.

1865
Civil War: The Confederacy authorizes the use of slaves in the army.

1652
Virginia surrenders to Commonwealth of England.

515 B.C.
The Second Temple: The Jewish Holy Temple is completed in Jerusalem.

1962
Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player.

1957
Marlon Jackson, American singer, one of the Jackson Five.

1953
Ron Jeremy (Ronald Jeremy Hyatt), American porn star.

1948
James Taylor, American Grammy-winning singer. Music: You've Got a Friend (1971, #1, Grammy) and Handy Man (1979, Grammy).

1946
Liza Minnelli, American Oscar-Tony-winning actress, singer. Film: Cabaret (1972, Oscar) and Arthur (1981).

1945
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, American crime boss of the Gambino family under John Gotti.

1940
Al Jarreau (Alwyn Lopez Jarreau), American Grammy-winning jazz singer. Music: Breakin' Away (1981).

1938
Johnny Rutherford (John Sherman Rutherford III), American auto racer, three-time winner of the Indy 500.

1932
Barbara Feldon, American actress. TV: Get Smart (Agent 99).

1931     d. 1980
Buckwheat (William Thomas, Jr.), American actor, one of the Little Rascals. He appeared in 93 Our Gang films.

1928
Edward Albee, American Pulitzer-winning playwright. Writings: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer), and Three Tall Women (1994, Pulitzer).

1923
Walter M. Schirra Jr., American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts.

1922     d. 1969
Jack Kerouac, 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.

1881     d. 1938
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkish patriot, Father of the Turks, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic.

1993     b. 1930
June Valli, American singer. Music: Crying in the Chapel (1954). TV: The Andy Williams and June Valli Show and the voice on the Chiquita banana commercials.

1989     b. 1901
Maurice Evans, British-born American Shakespearean actor. TV: Bewitched (Samantha's father).

1945     b. 1929
Anne Frank, Dutch-Jewish war victim. Her diary, which chronicled her family and friends hiding in an attic from the Germans, has been read by millions. She died in a Nazi concentration camp.

1942     b. 1861
Robert Bosch, German industrialist, invented the spark plug (1902).

1935     b. 1858
Michael Pupin, Hungarian-born American physicist. He won the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography From Immigrant to Inventor.

1914     b. 1846
George Westinghouse, American inventor, railway air brakes (1868) and provided alternating current to the U.S.

1888     b. 1811
Henry Bergh, 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).

604     b. ????
Saint Gregory I, Italian religious leader, 64th Pope (590-604).

417     b. circa 350
Saint Innocent I, Italian religious leader, 40th Pope (401-417).

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