On This Day — 12 March

2000s

2020

The United States suspends travel from Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

United States

2019

In the House of Commons, the revised EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected by a margin of 149 votes.

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

2018

US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 crashes at Tribhuvan International Airport in Katmandu, killing 51 and injuring 20.

US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211

2014

A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others.

2014 East Harlem gas explosion

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.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

2009

Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history.

Bernie Madoff

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.

Mahmoudiyah, Iraq

2004

President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its National Assembly, the first such impeachment in the nation's history.

President of South Korea

2003

Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.

Zoran Đinđić

2003

The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

World Health Organization

1900s

1999

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

Warsaw Pact

📅

1993

Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing about 300 people and injuring hundreds more.

1993 Bombay bombings

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.

North Korea

1992

Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Mauritius

1989

Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the World Wide Web.

Tim Berners-Lee

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1971

The 1971 Turkish military memorandum is sent to the Süleyman Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns.

1971 Turkish military memorandum

1968

Mauritius gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Mauritius

1967

Suharto takes power from Sukarno when the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly inaugurate him as Acting President of Indonesia.

Suharto

1950

The Llandow air disaster kills 80 people when the aircraft they are travelling in crashes near Sigingstone, Wales. At the time this was the world's deadliest air disaster.

Llandow air disaster

1947

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

Cold War

1942

The Battle of Java ends with the surrender of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command to the Empire of Japan in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies.

Battle of Java (1942)

1940

Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia.

Winter War

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1940

The most destructive train accident in Finnish history kills 39 and injures 69 people in Turenki, Janakkala.

Turenki rail accident

1938

Anschluss: German troops occupy and annex Austria.

Anschluss

1933

Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his "fireside chats".

Great Depression

1930

Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile (320 km) march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India.

Mahatma Gandhi

1928

In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.

California

1920

The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin.

Kapp Putsch

1918

Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713.

Moscow

1913

The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra.

Australia

1912

The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.

Girl Guides

1800s

1862

Paddle steamer Brother Jonathan docks in Fort Victoria (now Victoria, British Columbia), carrying smallpox-infected passengers from San Francisco. The ensuing epidemic killed an estimated two-thirds of First Nations in the province of British Columbia.

Brother Jonathan (steamer)

1811

Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delays the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.

Peninsular War