Almanac - Tuesday March 12, 2024

Lupe Anguiano, Mexican-American civil rights activist known for her work on women’s rights, the rights of the poor, and the protection of the environment, was born today in 1929. She was a national organizer for the United Farm Workers and founded the National Women’s Employment & Education Inc.

Dorrit Hoffleit, a senior research astronomer at Yale University, was born today in 1907. She was known for her work in variable stars, astrometry, spectroscopy, meteors, and the Bright Star Catalog, as well as her mentorship of many young women and generations of astronomers.

Also on this day in history….

1913 – The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra.

1918 – Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713.

1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.

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.

1933 –Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation in the first of his "fireside chats".

1999 – Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.

2009 – Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history.

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.

Today’s birthdays also include….

1637 – Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and Albany (d. 1671)

1685 – George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (d. 1753)

1781 – Frederica of Baden, Queen consort to Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1826)

1806 – Jane Pierce, American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)

1864 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (d. 1943)

1896 – Jesse Fuller, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1976)

1900 – Sylvi Kekkonen, Finnish writer and wife of President of Finland Urho Kekkonen (d. 1974)

1904 – Lyudmila Keldysh, Russian mathematician (d. 1976)

1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (d. 2007)

1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)

1913 – Agathe von Trapp, Hungarian-American singer and author (d. 2010)

1917 – Leonard Chess, American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (d. 1969)

1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (d. 1989)

1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986)

1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969)

1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007)

1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014)

1928 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (d. 2016)

1932 – Andrew Young, American pastor and politician, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations

1933 – Myrna Fahey, American actress (d. 1973)

1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress

1936 – Virginia Hamilton, American children's books author (d. 2002)

1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017)

1943 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general

1945 – Anne Summers, Australian feminist writer, editor, publisher and public servant

1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer and dancer

1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts

1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish social worker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer

1959 – Luenell, American comedian and actress

1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor and painter

1962 – Julia Campbell, American actress

1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player and minister

1963 – Candy Costie, American swimmer

1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American colonel, pilot, and politician

1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist and author

1970 – Karen Bradley, English politician

1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter

1976 – Zhao Wei, Chinese actress, film director, producer and pop singer

1977 – Michelle Burgher, track and field athlete

1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese author and illustrator

1980 – Becky Holliday, American pole vaulter

1981 – Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player

1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1982 – Lili Bordán, Hungarian-American actress

1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer

1990 – Milena Raičević, Montenegrin handballer

1992 – Ciara Mageean, Irish middle-distance runner

1994 – Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist

1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)

1998 – Elizaveta Ukolova, Czech figure skater

2003 – Malina Weissman, American actress and model