This Day Trivia - March 12th

Events

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

1994 Loch Ness Monster The famous 1934 "Surgeon's photo" reportedly taken by Col. Robert Wilson is exposed as a hoax in a deathbed confession by Chris Spurling who claimed to help create the photo.

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 is 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.

Births

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 Buckwheat d. 1980 (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 d. 2007 American astronaut, one of the seven original Project Mercury astronauts. He was the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo).

1922 Jack Kerouac d. 1969 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 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk d. 1938 Turkish patriot, Father of the Turks, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic.

1831 Clement Studebaker d. 1901 American carriage manufacturer. He and his brothers founded H & C Studebaker Company, which built Conestoga wagons and carriages. The Studebaker company didn't begin making their famous automobiles until 1904, several years after his death.

Deaths

2001 Robert Ludlum b. 1927 American author. Writings: The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971), The Osterman Weekend (1972), and the Bourne Supremacy (1986).

1993 June Valli b. 1930 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 Maurice Evans b. 1901 British-born American Shakespearean actor. TV: Bewitched (Samantha's father).

1945 Anne Frank b. 1929 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 Robert Bosch b. 1861 German industrialist, invented the spark plug (1902).

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

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

1888 Henry Bergh b. 1811 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 Saint Gregory I b. ???? Italian religious leader, 64th Pope (590-604).

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