March 12

Saturday 12, 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.

Friday 12, 2004:

Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.

Wednesday 12, 2003:

Zoran ?in?i?, Prime Minister of Serbia, assassinated in Belgrade.

Tuesday 12, 2002:

In Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison.

Friday 12, 1999:

Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.

Wednesday 12, 1997:

Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.

Saturday 12, 1994:

The Church of England ordains its first female priests.

Friday 12, 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.

Thursday 12, 1992:

13 are killed and several injured when a tram-car crashes into a crowd of people at the tram-station at Vasaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Thursday 12, 1987:

Les Misérables opens on Broadway.

Tuesday 12, 1968:

Mauritius achieves independence.

Sunday 12, 1967:

Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.

Saturday 12, 1960:

A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea kills 68.

Wednesday 12, 1958:

In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love).

Monday 12, 1956:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time (500.24)

Monday 12, 1951:

The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the USA for the first time.

Wednesday 12, 1947:

The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.

Tuesday 12, 1940:

Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.

Saturday 12, 1938:

Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.

Sunday 12, 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."

Wednesday 12, 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.

Monday 12, 1928:

In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people.

Wednesday 12, 1913:

Canberra becomes the capital of Australia.

Tuesday 12, 1912:

The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts in the US) are founded in the US.

Monday 12, 1894:

Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time

Wednesday 12, 1664:

New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.

Wednesday 12, -515:

Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.

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