March 12

Today in History
• 1054 - Pope Leo IX escapes captivity and returns to Rome
• 1350 - Orvieto city says it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples
• 1365 - University of Vienna founded
• 1609 - Bermuda becomes an English colony
• 1619 - Dutch settlement on Java changes name to Batavia
• 1642 - Abel Tasman is the 1st European to sight New Zealand
• 1664 - New Jersey becomes an English colony
• 1894 - Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time in a candy store


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Alfred Hitchcock Day
• Aztec New Year
• Check Your Batteries Day
• Daylight Saving Time Starts
• Mauritius Independence Day
• National Christian Day
• National Girl Scout Day
• World Glaucoma Day

Birthdays
• 1336 - Eduard, Duke of Gelre, 1361-71, husband of Catharina of Bayern
• 1479 - Giuliano de' Medici, monarch of Florence
• 1758 - Leopold earl of Limburg Stirum, Dutch general and politician
• 1781 - Frederica of Baden, Queen of Sweden
• 1806 - Jane Means Appleton Pierce, 1st lady, 1853-57
• 1821 - John Abbott, born in Quebec, Canada, C, 3rd Canadian PM, 1891-92
• 1831 - Clement Studebaker, automobile pioneer, Studebaker
• 1862 - Jane Delano, U.S., nurse, teacher and founder, Red Cross