On this day in History - Mar. 12

• 515 BC - Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.
• 0222 - Un grupo de soldados asesina al emperador Heliogábalo.
• 0417 - Innocent I dies. Italian Pope (401-417).
• 0538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius.
• 0604 - Gregory I the Great, Pope (590-604) dies at 64.
• 1270 - Charles of Valois was born (d. 1325). Son of Philip III of France.
• 1289 - King Demetre II of Georgia dies (b. 1259).
• 1365 - University of Vienna founded.
• 1374 - Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan dies (b. 1336).
• 1386 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi was born (d. 1428). Ashikaga shogun.
• 1447 - Shah Rukh dies (b. 1377). Ruler of Persia and Transoxonia.
• 1478 - Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici was born (d. 1516). Ruler of Florence.
• 1507 - Cesare Borgia dies (b. 1475). Cardinal, son of Pope Alexander VI.
• 1535 - El capitán Francisco Pacheco funda la ciudad de Puerto Viejo, la primera que se erigió en la costa de Ecuador.
• 1551 - Cédula de Carlos I para la fundación de la Universidad de Lima.
• 1572 - Publicação de "Os Lusíadas" de Luís Vaz de Camões.
• 1607 - Paul Gerhardt was born (d. 1676). German hymnist.
• 1608 - Koriki Kiyonaga dies (b. 1530). Japanese warlord.
• 1609 - Las Bermudas son proclamadas colonia inglesa.
• 1613 - André Le Nôtre was born in Paris (d. 1700). One of the greatest French landscape architects, whose masterpiece is the gardens of Versailles.
• 1613 - Anne Hyde was born. First wife of King James II of England.
• 1620 - Johann Heinrich Hottinger was born (d. 1667). Swiss philologist and theologian.
• 1622 - Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is canonized by Gregorio XV.
• 1626 - John Aubrey was born (d. 1697). English antiquary and writer.
• 1628 - John Bull dies. English composer.
• 1637 - Anne Hyde was born (d. 1671). Wife of James II of England.
• 1647 - Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie was born. French general.
• 1648 - Tirso de Molina dies (b. 1571). Spanish writer.
• 1660 - Atentado frustrado contra el virrey de Nueva España, duque de Alburquerque, en la catedral de México.
• 1664 - New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.
• 1681 - Frans van Mieris, Sr. dies (b. 1635). Dutch painter.
• 1685 - George Berkeley was born (d. 1753). Irish theologist.
• 1699 - Peder Griffenfeld dies (b. 1635). Danish statesman.
• 1710 - Thomas Arne was born. English composer (Rule Britannia).
• 1718 - Joseph Damer was born (d. 1798). English politician, Dorset landowner and MP.
  1737 - Los restos de Galileo son inhumados en la Iglesia de la Santa Cruz de Florencia junto a los grandes de Italia.
• 1757 - Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena dies (b. 1696). Italian architect/painter.
• 1790 - Andreas Hadik dies (b. 1710). Austro-Hungarian general.
• 1804 - Samuel Chase became the first (and, so far, only) U.S. Supreme Court justice to be impeached.
• 1806 - Jane Pierce was born (d. 1863). First Lady of the United States.
• 1821 - Sir John Abbott was born (d. 1893). Third Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1824 - Gustav Kirchhoff was born (d. 1887). German physicist, lends his name to Kirchhoff's Laws.
• 1831 - American manufacturer Clement Studebaker, founder of the Studebaker automobile company, was born in Pinetown, Pennsylvania.
• 1831 - Clement Studebaker was born. Automobile pioneer.
• 1832 - The Filippo Taglioni ballet La Sylphide receives its première performance at the Paris Opéra.
• 1832 - Friedrich Kuhlau dies (b. 1786). German composer.
• 1835 - Simon Newcomb was born (d. 1909). American astronomer and mathematician.
• 1838 - William Perkin was born (d. 1907). English chemist.
• 1841 - El Congreso de Paraguay nombra a Carlos Antonio López y Mariano Roque Alonso cónsules gobernadores.
• 1848 - Se proclama oficialmente la Segunda República Francesa.
• 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.
• 1859 - Abraham H. Cannon was born (d. 1896). Mormon apostle.
• 1863 - Gabriele D'Annunzio was born (d. 1938). Italian poet, dramatist, war hero and politician (The Intruder).
• 1863 - Vladimir Vernadsky was born (d. 1945). Russian mineralogist.
• 1864 - W. H. R. Rivers was born (d. 1922). British psychiatrist.
• 1867 - Raúl Brandão was born in Foz do Douro (5 Dec 1930). Portuguese journalist and writer.
• 1868 - Henry James O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
• 1868 - Marcelino Lima was born in Azores (d. 1961). Portuguese journalist, writer and historiographer.
• 1871 - Alemania: el astrónomo Karl Theodor Robert Luther descubre Amaltea (el quinto satélite de Júpiter).
• 1872 - Zeng Guofan dies (b. 1811). Chinese politician and general.
• 1880 - Nikolaos Georgantas was born (d. 1958). Greek discus thrower.
• 1881 - Andrew Watson made his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain.
• 1881 - Kemal Atatürk was born (d. 1938). Founder and first president of the Turkish Republic (This date is just found by astrology maps, not the exact date) .
• 1881 - A França ocupa Túnis, no Norte de África.
• 1883 - Zoltán Meskó was born (d. 1959). Hungarian Nazi.
• 1886 - Comienza a publicarse en Madrid "El Socialista", semanario dedicado a la clase obrera .
• 1889 - Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia dies.
• 1889 - Battle at Metema (Gallabad); Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV, defeated.
• 1889 - Costa Rego was born (d. 1954). Brazilian journalist and politician.
• 1890 - William Dudley Pelley was born (d. 1965). American leader of the Silver Legion.
• 1890 - Vaslav Nijinsky was born (d. 1950). Polish-born ballet dancer
• 1893 - Fundación del Conservatorio de Música de Buenos Aires, por iniciativa del pianista y compositor Emilio Durán.
• 1893 - Gilka da Costa Melo Machado was born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 1980). Brazilian poet.
• 1894 - In Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time.
• 1894 - Illarion Pryanishnikov dies (b. 1840). Russian painter.
• 1895 - William C. Lee was born (d. 1984). US Army General.
• 1896 - Sir John Abbott was born (d. 1983). Third Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1898 - Ribeiro Couto was born in Santos, São Paulo (d. 30 May 1963 in Paris). Brazilian poet.
• 1898 - Zacharias Topelius dies (b. 1818). Finnish-Swedish writer.
• 1900 - Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was born. Colombian militar and politician.
• 1906 - Manuel Quintana dies. President of Argentine.
• 1907 - Arthur Hewlett was born (d. 1997). British actor.
• 1907 - Dorrit Hoffleit was born. American astronomer.
• 1908 - The Pan-Macedonian group is formed in Athens to support the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.
• 1908 - Rita Angus was born (d. 1970). New Zealand painter.
• 1908 - Edmondo De Amicis dies (b. 1846). Italian children's writer
• 1909 - Joe Petrosino dies (b. 1860). NYPD lieutenant.
• 1912 - The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts in the US) are founded in the US.
• 1912 - O czar russo Nicolau II abdica, abrindo caminho para a Revolução Bolchevique .
• 1912 - Gustavo Diaz Ordaz was born. President of Mexico.
• 1912 - Irving Layton was born (d. 2006). Canadian poet.
• 1912 - Alberto Burri was born. Italian painter.
• 1912 - Paul Weston was born (d. 1996). American pianist, arranger and conductor.
• 1913 - Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital was still under construction).
• 1914 - George Westinghouse dies (b. 1846). American entrepreneur and engineer.
• 1916 - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach dies (b. 1830). Austrian writer.
• 1917 - Izvestia, the official Soviet newspaper, founded.
• 1918 - Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg had had this status for 215 years.
• 1918 - Elaine de Kooning was born (d. 1989). American artist.
• 1919 - Miguel Gila was born. Spanish humorist.
• 1921 - Gianni Agnelli was born (d. 2003). Itallian auto executive, manager of Fiat.
• 1921 - Gordon MacRae was born (d. 24 Jan 1986). American singer and actor: Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Desert Song; singer: I Still Get Jealous, It’s Magic, Hair of Gold Eyes of Blue, C’est Magnifique, The Secret [with Jo Stafford].
• 1922 - Lane Kirkland was born (d. 1999). American labor leader.
• 1922 - Jack Kerouac was born (d. 1969). Writer.
• 1923 - Wally Schirra was born. Astronaut.
• 1923 - Norbert Brainin was born (d. 2005). Austrian violinist.
• 1923 - Hjalmar Andersen was born. Norwegian speed skater.
• 1923 - Wally Schirra was born. Astronaut.
• 1923 - Mae Young was born. Professional wrestler.
• 1925 - Harry Harrison was born. American science fiction author.
• 1925 - Leo Esaki was born. Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1925 - Louison Bobet was born (d. 1983). French cyclist.
• 1925 - Georges Delerue was born (d. 1992). French film composer.
• 1925 - Walter Simons substitui interinamente Hans Luther (também ele interino) na presidência da Alemanha.
• 1925 - Sun Yat Sen dies (b. 1866). Chinese revolutionary, politician.
• 1927 - Raúl Alfonsín was born. President of Argentina.
• 1928 - Edward Albee was born. American dramatist. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright: A Delicate Balance [1967], Seascape [1974], Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• 1928 - Thérèse Lavoie-Roux was born. Quebec politician and senator.
• 1928 - In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people.
• 1928 - Em Portugal, Chaves foi elevada à categoria de cidade.
• 1929 - U Win Tin was born. Jailed Burmese journalist.
• 1929 - Asa Griggs Candler dies (b. 1851). American businessman.
• 1930 - Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march to the sea in defiance of British. opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.
• 1930 - Vernon Law was born. American baseball player.
• 1930 - Alois Jirásek dies (b. 1851). Czech writer.
• 1930 - William George Barker dies (b. 1894). Canadian fighter ace.
• 1931 - Herbert Kelleher was born. Southwest Airlines co-founder.
• 1931 - Alberto da Costa e Silva was born. Brazilian writer.
• 1932 - Barbara Feldon was born. American actress.
• 1932 - Andrew Young was born. Civil rights activist, politician, ambassador to the United Nations.
• 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.
• 1934 - Konstantin Päts and general Johan Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia, and ban all political parties.
• 1935 - É criada no Brasil a Aliança Nacional Libertadora, ou ANL, ampla frente de esquerda que faria oposição ao governo Getúlio Vargas.
• 1935 - Michel Pupin dies. Telephone pioneer.
• 1936 - Carlos Alberto de Nóbrega was born. Brazilian humorist.
• 1936 - Patrick Procktor was born. English artist.
• 1937 - Charles-Marie Widor dies (b. 1844). French organist and composer.
• 1937 - Jenő Hubay dies (b. 1858). Hungarian violinist.
• 1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
• 1938 - Johnny Rutherford was born. American automobile racer.
• 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.
• 1940 - Al Jarreau was born. American singer.
• 1940 - M.A. Numminen was born. Finnish singer and writer.
• 1942 - Brian O'Hara was born. Lead singer with the 'Fourmost' group.
• 1942 - Jimmy Wynn was born. American baseball player, 1963-1977.
• 1942 - Ratko Mladić was born. Republika Srpska leader.
• 1942 - Robert Bosch dies (b. 1861). German industrialist.
• 1943 - Gustav Vigeland dies. Norwegian sculptor.
• 1944 - Werner Drechsler dies. German POW.
• 1944 - Artur Gavazzi dies (b. 1861). Croatian geographer.
• 1945 - Anne Frank dies in Bielsen Camp (b. 1929). Diarist (Diary of Anne Frank) / Anne Frank, menina holandesa de religião judaica, morre de tifo no campo nazista de extermínio de Bergen-Belsen, sua adolescência e seu trágico destino ficaram mundialmente conhecidos graças a um diário pessoal encontrado no final da Segunda Grande Guerra Mundial.
• 1945 - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano was born. American gangster.
• 1946 - Liza Minnelli was born in Los Angeles, California. American singer and actress.
• 1946 - Serge Turgeon was born (d. 2004). Quebec actor and union leader.
• 1947 - The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. American 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.
• 1947 - Kalervo Palsa was born (d. 1987). Finnish artist.
• 1947 - Mitt Romney was born. Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1947 - "Winston Churchill the American" dies (b. 1871). American novelist.
• 1948 - James Taylor was born in Boston. American musician (singer, songwriter and guitarist).
• 1948 - William C. Lee dies (b. 1895). American general.
• 1949 - Natalia Kuchinskaya was born. Soviet gymnast.
• 1949 - Rob Cohen was born. American film director, producer and writer.
• 1950 - Javier Clemente was born. Spanish football manager.
• 1950 - Jon Provost was born. American actor.
• 1950 - Wheeler Winston Dixon was born. American filmmaker, critic and author.
• 1951 - The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the USA for the first time.
• 1952 - Eliézer Niyitegeka was born. Rwandan journalist, politician and genocidaire
• 1953 - Carl Hiaasen was born. American journalist and author.
• 1953 - Ron Jeremy was born. American pornographic film actor.
• 1955 - Charlie "Bird" Parker dies (b. 1920). American saxophonist.
• 1956 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time (500.24).
• 1956 - Dale Murphy was born. Baseball player.
• 1957 - Steve Harris was born. English musician ("Iron Maiden").
• 1957 - Nádia Lippi was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1957 - Marlon Jackson was born. American singer (The Jackson 5).
• 1958 - In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love).
• 1959 - La Cámara de Representantes de EEUU aprueba el ingreso de las islas Hawai como Estado número 50 de la Unión.
• 1960 - A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea kills 68.
• 1960 - Maki Nomiya was born. Japanese singer.
• 1961 - Joseph Facal was born. Quebec politician.
• 1962 - Darryl Strawberry was born. American baseball player.
• 1963 - Joaquim (Carvalho) Cruz was born. Brazilian runner 800 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1984).
• 1964 - 6th Grammy Awards: Days of Wine & Roses, Streisand win.
• 1965 - Steve Finley was born. Major League Baseball All-Star.
• 1965 - Shawn Gilbert was born. American baseball player.
• 1965 - Steve Levy was born. American sports journalist.
• 1966 - Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.
• 1967 - Julio Dely Valdés was born. Panamanian footballer.
• 1968 - Mauritius achieves independence after 158 years of British rule.
• 1968 - Aaron Eckhart was born. American actor (Erin Brockavich).
• 1969 - 11th Grammy Awards: Mrs Robinson, By the Time I Get to Phoenix win.
• 1969 - Graham Coxon was born. English musician.
• 1969 - Jake Tapper was born. American journalist.
• 1970 - Roy Khan was born. Norwegian singer (Kamelot)
• 1970 - Dave Eggers was born. American writer, editor, and publisher.
• 1971 - The March 12 Memorandum, second intervention of Turkish Army, is sent to the Demirel government and Demirel government resigned.
• 1971 - Premier Hafez al-Assad is elected President of Syria
• 1971 - Tony Eveready (Duane Moore) was born. American adult film actor.
• 1972 - Hector Luis Bustamante was born. Colombian actor.
• 1972 - James Maritato was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1973 - Na Síria, uma nova e permanente constituição é aprovada por mais de 97% dos eleitores nacionais.
• 1973 - Manuel Rojas Sepulveda dies at 77. Chilean writer (Hijo de Ladron).
• 1973 - Frankie Frisch dies (b. 1898). Baseball player.
• 1974 - Carlos Andrés Pérez inaugura su mandato como presidente de la República de Venezuela.
• 1974 - Rodrigo Menezes was born. Portuguese actor.
• 1974 - George D. Sax dies (b. 1904). Drive-in bank and instant loan innovator. Owner of the Saxony Hotel.
• 1975 - Em Portugal, foi criado o Conselho da Revolução.
• 1975 - Kelle Bryan was born. British singer.
• 1976 - Simon Young was born. British music journalist.
• 1976 - María Adánez was born. Spanish actress.
• 1977 - No Chile, Pinochet dissolveu todos os partidos políticos.
• 1977 - Marcus 40 (Mark Hendry) was born. New Zealand actor
• 1978 - Masuimi Max was born. American model.
• 1978 - Casey Mears was born. American auto racer.
• 1978 - Claudio Sanchez was born. Musician (Coheed and Cambria).
• 1978 - Arina Tanemura was born. Mangaka.
• 1978 - John Cazale dies (b. 1935). American actor.
• 1978 - Gene Moore dies (b. 1909). Baseball player.
• 1979 - Pete Doherty was born. Singer/guitarist (The Libertines and Babyshambles) .
• 1979 - Nidia Guenard was born. Former WWE Diva.
• 1979 - Edwin Villafuerte was born. Ecuadorian footballer.
• 1979 - Janaína Lince was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1980 - Juliana Silveira was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1982 - Tobias Schweinsteiger was born. German footballer.
• 1983 - El diplomático brasileño Joao Clemente Baena Soares es elegido secretario general de la OEA.
• 1984 - Arnold Ridley dies (b. 1896). British playwright and actor.
• 1985 - Eugene Ormandy dies (b. 1899). Hungarian conductor.
• 1985 - Larry Bird scores Boston Celtic club-record 60 points in a 126-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Bird broke the record previously held by teammate Kevin McHale, who scored 56 points just nine days earlier.
• 1985 - Bradley Wright-Phillips was born. English footballer.
• 1985 - Tosh Townend was born. American skateboarder.
• 1986 - La sonda Giotto encuentra al cometa Halley.
• 1986 - Spain: In a referendum Spanish vote yes to enter in OTAN.
• 1986 - Ben Offereins was born. Australian athlete.
• 1986 - Danny Jones was born. English singer (McFly).
  
• 1987 - Les Misérables opens on Broadway.
• 1987 - Chris Seitz was born. American footballer.
• 1987 - Woody Hayes dies (b. 1913). American football coach.
• 1988 – Konstantinos Mitroglou was born. Greek footballer.
• 1989 - Maurice Evans dies (b. 1901). British actor.
• 1990 - No Brasil, o Presidente José Sarney, um pouco antes de deixar o poder, assina 45 concessões de emissoras de rádio.
• 1990 - Wallace Breem dies (b. 1926). British author.
• 1991 - Ragnar Granit dies (b. 1900). Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1992 - La CE reconoce como república independiente a Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• 1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth.
• 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.
• 1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay, (Mumbai), India killing about 300 (317 more precisely says another font) and injuring hundreds more.
• 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.
• 1994 - A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as 'proof' of the Loch Ness monster, is confirmed to be a hoax.
• 1994 - The Church of England ordains its first female priests.
• 1994 - Tyler Patrick Jones was born. American actor.
• 1995 - Entra el vigor la Ley para el Dialogo, La Conciliación y la Paz Digna en Chiapas, tras su reciente aprobación por el Congreso mexicano.
• 1995 - Portugal : Basquetebol - Benfica vence a Taça de Portugal pela 4ª. vez consecutiva.
• 1995 - Juanin Clay dies (b. 1949). American actress .
• 1997 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.
• 1998 - Beatrice Wood dies (b. 1893). American artist and ceramist.
• 1998 - Judge Dread dies (b. 1945). English musician.
• 1999 - Sir Yehudi Menuhin dies (b. 1916). American-born violinist.
• 1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
• 2000 - Em um gesto inédito, o Papa João Paulo II pede o perdão de Deus pelos pecados da Igreja Católica cometidos através dos anos contra judeus, mulheres e minorias.
• 2001 - Morton Downey, Jr. dies (b. 1933). American television personality.
• 2001 - Robert Ludlum dies (b. 1927). American author of spy novels.
• 2001 - Ann Sothern dies. Actress.
• 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.
• 2002 - Spyros Kyprianou dies (b. 1932). Cypriot politician.
• 2002 - Jean-Paul Riopelle dies (b. 1923). Quebec painter and sculptor.
• 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.
• 2003 – Missing teen Elizabeth Smart is found in Sandy, Utah.
• 2003 - Zoran Djindjic Prime Minister of Serbia, dies assassinated in Belgrade.
• 2003 - Andrei Kivilev dies (b. 1973). Kazakh cyclist.
• 2003 - Ronnie Burk dies. Surrealist poet and AIDS activist.
• 2003 - Howard Fast dies (b. 1914). American author.
• 2003 - Lynne Thigpen dies (b. 1948). American actress.
• 2003 - Andrei Kivilev dies (b. 1973). Kazakh cyclist.
• 2004 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.
• 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.
• 2005 - Bill Cameron dies (b. 1943). Canadian journalist.
• 2005 - Stavros Koujioumtzis dies (b. 1932). Greek songwriter.
• 2006 - Australia scores a world record 434 runs in a One-day International cricket match against South Africa. South Africa replies by beating the record again to score 438/9 to win.
• 2006 - István Gyulai dies (b. 1943). Hungarian athletic official.
• 2006 - Victor Sokolov dies (b. 1947). Russian dissident journalist and priest.
• 2007 - Antonio Ortiz Mena dies (b. 1907). Mexican politician.
• 2007 – Hege Nerland dies (b. 1966). Norwegian politician.
  
• 2008 - Lazare Ponticelli, the last "poilu", French foot soldier of World War One, dies at 110 (b. 1897).
• 2008 - Jorge Guinzburg dies (b. 1949). Argentine journalist, producer, humorist, and TV, theater and radio host.
  
• Faroe Islands - Grækarismessa (Mass of St. Gregor): According to tradition, the oystercatcher, the Faroes' national bird returns this day. This event is celebrated in the capital, Tórshavn.
  
• Mauritius - National Day.
• Ancient Latvia - Gregoru Diena observed.
• Arbor Day in People's Republic of China and Taiwan.
• No Brasil este dia é comemorado como sendo o Dia da Biblioteca (conheça o site do Conselho Regional de Biblioteconomia) e Dia Nacional da Bibliotecária (Dec. 84.631/90).
• Roman Catholic Church - Feast day of St Theophanes.