March 12 in Pop Culture History

March 12 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

March 12 History Highlights

  • 1609 – Bermuda was colonized by England
  • 1933 – President Roosevelt gave his first ‘Fireside Speech’
  • 1938 – Austria was invaded by Germany
  • 1998 – The Church of England ordained its first female priests.
  • March 12 19** Birthday (fictional) Perry White, DC Comics
  • March 12, 19**Birthday (fictional) Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
  • If you were born on March 12th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… June 19th (prior year)

Girl Scout Day

On March 12, 1912, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled a group of eighteen girls from Savannah, Georgia for the first Girl Scout (Girl Guides) meeting. Low believed that all young ladies should have the chance to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. She organized service projects, outdoor adventures, and enrichment programs to urge girls out of the house and into the community.

Today, over 4.4 million girls are active Girl Scouts and members.

National Flower Day

Did you know that flowers have been around for over 145 million years? Flowers first appeared in the Cretaceous period, and they’ve changed the face of the earth ever since. Before flowers, the world was filled with ferns and conifers – an endlessly green landscape. Flowers diversified rapidly, thanks to insects and dinosaurs plowing their way across the earth. The explosion of plant varieties and color cascaded into the birth of several plant families we know today. Flowering plants are vital to existence – they’re food sources that provide humans and animals with the sustenance we need to survive.

March 12 is…

Alfred Hitchcock Day
Baked Scallops Day
Girl Scout Day
Plant a Flower Day

March 12 Birthday Quotes

“Be stupid, be dumb, be funny, if that’s who you are. Don’t try to be someone that society wants you to be, that’s stupid. So be yourself.”
– Christina Grimmie

“The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins.”
– Aaron Eckhart

“Free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty, to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids, and to make our lives better than all the programs of government combined.”
– Mitt Romney

“You have to choose whether to love yourself or not.”
– James Taylor

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that g*dd*mn mountain.”
– Jack Kerouac

March 12 Birthdays

1864 – W.H.R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (died in 1922)
1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (died in 1986)
1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (died in 1969)
1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (died in 2012)
1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress
1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (died in 2017)
1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer and dancer
1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician
1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter
1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter, Jackson 5
1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor
1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player
1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor
1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist
1984 – Jaimie Alexander, American actress
1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (died in 2016)

March 12 History

1894 – Coca-Cola bottles were sold to the public for the first time, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

1912 – The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in the United States.

1923 – Phonofilm, the first motion picture with a sound-on-film track was demonstrated at a press conference by Dr. Lee De Forest, who was also the inventor of the radio tube in 1907.

1928 – St. Francis Dam collapsed San Francisquito Canyon, California

1933 – New resident Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first national radio address or “fireside chat,” from the White House.

March 12, 1952, 19** Birthday (fictional) Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

1987 – Broadway Show – Les Miserables (Musical) March 12, 1987

1988 – #1 Hit March 12, 1988 – March 25, 1988: Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up

1993 – ’93 Superstorm stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the northeastern US. 318 were killed.

1994 – #1 Hit March 12, 1994 – April 8, 1994: Ace Of Base – The Sign

1994 – The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

1999 – Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

2003 – 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart was found in Sandy, Utah, nine months after being abducted from her Salt Lake City home.

2003 – The Dixie Chicks’ lead singer, Natalie Maines said, in an interview with The Guardian “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” That lead to a revolt from many of their fans.

2008 – Hulu opened online.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

“Die, my dear? Why that’s the last thing I’ll do!” – Groucho Marx #LastWords

Portia De Rossi – Real Name: Amanda Lee Rogers

John Wayne actually went bald in the 1940s and wore a hairpiece throughout his career.

“These go to eleven” – Nigel Tufnel #moviequotes

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing.” – Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) #moviequotes

As a child, Audrey Hepburn was a courier for resistance fighters in Holland during World War II.

Antarctica is the largest desert on earth.

“You don’t want to get mixed up with a guy like me Dottie. I’m a loner. A rebel.” – Pee-Wee Herman #moviequotes

Marie Curie – Real Name: Manya Sklodowska

A scream and a whisper are the same volumes in your head.

The British Royal family is named after Windsor Castle, not the other way around.

Useless Pronunciation: K as in knot

Dorothy ACTUALLY said: “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” #moviequotes

Every year in the US, over 600 people are struck by lightning.

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