MARCH 12 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1894 – Coca-Cola was bottled and sold for the first time outside of Atlant on the 12th March 1894, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph Biedenharn.

19th century Coca Cola coupon distributed in 1888 to help promote Coca Cola
19th century Coca Cola coupon distributed in 1888 to help promote Coca Cola

1912 – The Girl Guides (now known as the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in the United States on the 12th March 1912.

1913 – Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra on the 12th March 1913. (Melbourne remained temporary capital until 1927 while Canberra was under construction.)

1918 – Moscow became the capital of Russia again on the 12th March 1918, after Saint Petersburg was the capital for 215 years.

1928 – The St. Francis Dam In California failed on the 12th March 1928, with the resulting floods killing over 600 people.

1930 – Mahatma Gandhi led a 200-mile march known as the Salt March on the 12th March 1930, to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.

1994 – The Church of England ordained its 1st female priests on the 12th March 1994..

2009 – Financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty in New York on the 12th March 2009, for scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history.

2011 – A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melted, exploded and released radioactivity into the atmosphere on the 12th March 2011, a day after Japan’s earthquake.

2013 ~ Melbourne broke it’s record for the longest stretch of hot weather on Tuesday 12th March 2013, when the mercury hit 36.2°C, on the 9th day of heatwave temperatures over 30°C. See news stories: Herald Sun: Melbourne sets another weather record before cool change brings relief to the city, News.com.au: Melbourne breaks heatwave record & Weather Zone: Another record broken in Melbourne’s heatwave

Brighton Beach Melbourne heatwave photo people swimming sunbaking red umbrella Port Phillip Bay bikini girls
Brighton Beach, Melbourne, Australia on a very hot day (photo by Anton K. Kressnig 2013)