Osun Defender History Corner: March 12 In Focus

Today, on the history corner, we take a trip in the realm of flashbacks and recall some events that marked this day.

March 12, 538

Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths, ends his siege of Rome, withdrawing his army north of the city. Belisarius, general of the Byzantine Empire, secures Rome for the Byzantines.

March 12, 1550

Several European nations form the League of Boulogne, aimed at opposing the actions of Emperor Charles V.

March 12, 1609

Bermuda becomes an English colony.

March 12, 1868

Henry O’Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, in Sydney, Australia.

March 12, 1894

Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

March 12, 1912

The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts) is founded in Savannah, Georgia, United States, by Juliette Gordon Low.

March 12, 1928

In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, causing a massive flood that kills over 600 people.

March 12, 1930

Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 240-mile march to the sea to protest the British salt tax in India.

March 12, 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first fireside chat, reassuring Americans during the Great Depression.

March 12, 1938

The Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria.

March 12, 1947

The Truman Doctrine is announced, stating that the United States will provide military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism.

March 12, 1950

The Llandow air disaster occurs near Sigingstone, Wales, in which 80 people die when an Avro Tudor V plane crashes in thick fog.

March 12, 1968

Mauritius becomes independent from British colonial rule.

March 12, 1993

Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing 257 people and injuring over 1,400 others in what becomes known as the 1993 Bombay bombings.

March 12, 2003

Elizabeth Smart, a teenager from Salt Lake City, Utah, is found alive nine months after being abducted from her home.

March 12, 2011

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami strike Japan, resulting in thousands of deaths and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

March 12, 2013

Pope Francis is elected as the 266th pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in over a millennium.

March 12, 2014

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board, sparking one of the most extensive aviation searches in history.

March 12, 2019

The World Wide Web celebrates its 30th anniversary, marking three decades since Tim Berners-Lee proposed a decentralized information management system.

March 12, 2020

The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a global pandemic, as the virus continues to spread rapidly across the globe, impacting economies, health systems, and daily life worldwide.

Please note that these are just a few historical events that happened on March 12. History is full of numerous other significant events on this day, ranging from politics and warfare to cultural and scientific milestones.