March 12
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Featured Event
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Gandhiâs Salt March begins
On this day in 1930, a small group of Indian citizens walked towards the sea, intending to produce salt from seawater rather than purchasing it from the British. The group, led by Mahatma Gandhi, started at Sabarmati Ashram and headed in the direction of Dandi, on the Gujarat coast. Hundreds of Indians joined along the way. Inspired by the protest, Indians broke salt laws across the countryâand more than 60,000 people had been arrested by the end of the year. The Salt March would be a major force in exposing the realities of British colonization to the world, and it ultimately helped to dismantle Britainâs presence in India. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62 54857
Born this day in 1862, American nurse Jane A. Delano was instrumental in the mobilization of upward of 20,000 nurses, as well as a great number of nursesâ aides and other workers, for overseas duty during World War I.
Famous Birthdays
More on March 12
© Peter Aaron/ESTO
2015
American architect and designer Michael Graves, who was one of the principal figures of the postmodernist movement, died at age 80. [Sort fact from fiction in our art and architecture quiz.]
Kathy WillensâAP/REX/Shutterstock.com
2009
American hedge-fund investment manager Bernie Madoff pled guilty to various crimes related to his operation of a Ponzi scheme that was one of the largest in the world; he was sentenced to 150 years in prison. [Test your knowledge of criminality and famous outlaws.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
2003
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a worldwide health alert, one of the first in a decade, regarding an illness it later called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that struck hundreds of people in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. [Take our viruses, bacteria, and diseases quiz.]
NATO photos
1999
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic became members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) shortly before the groupâs 50th anniversary. [How does a country become a member of NATO?]
© Wally McNameeâCorbis Historical/Getty Images
1993
Janet Reno was sworn in as U.S. attorney general, becoming the first woman to hold the office. [Test your knowledge of womenâs famous firsts.]
AP/REX/Shutterstock.com
1980
John Wayne Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 boys and young men. He was later sentenced to death. [Read more about seven of historyâs most notorious serial killers.]
© Michael Putland/Retna Ltd.
1948
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts. [Take our quiz about songwriters.]
Romney for President, Inc.
1947
Mitt Romneyâwho served as governor of Massachusetts (2002â06), ran for president in 2012 as the Republican nominee, and was a U.S. senator (2019â25)âwas born in Detroit, Michigan. [Take our quiz about Republicans and Democrats.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-13033)
1947
U.S. President Harry S. Truman articulated what became known as the Truman Doctrine when he asked Congress to appropriate aid for Greece and Turkey, both of which were facing communist threats.
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1940
Finland agreed to Soviet peace terms, including the cession of western Karelia and the construction of a Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula, to end the Russo-Finnish War. [How much do you know about the history of warfare?]
Courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum website; version date 2009
1933
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first fireside chat; the radio addresses became a source of hope and security for Americans during the Great Depression and World War II. [Test your knowledge of U.S. presidential history.]
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1922
Novelist and poet Jack Kerouacâwho was a leader of the Beat movement and is best known for his On the Road (1957)âwas born in Lowell, Massachusetts. [Test your knowledge of famous writers.]
Harris & Ewing Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-hec-09028)
1912
Juliette Gordon Low formed the first troop of American Girl Guides (later Girl Scouts), in Savannah, Georgia.
Image: EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1849
The Sikh army surrendered to the British at the end of the Second Sikh War, conceding to the annexation of the Punjab in northwestern India.
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1831
Clement Studebaker, founder of the Studebaker automobile company, was born in Pinetown, Pennsylvania. [Test your knowledge of American industry and innovation.]
The New York Public Library Digital Collections (1253444)
1804
Samuel Chase became the first U.S. Supreme Court justice to be impeached. [Discover how much you know about U.S. political scandals.]
© air/Fotolia
1613
AndrĂ© Le NĂŽtreâone of the greatest French landscape architects, whose masterpiece is the gardens of Versaillesâwas born in Paris. [Take our garden quiz.]