Today in history: March 12
In 1980, a Chicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. The next day, Gacy was sentenced to death; he was executed in May 1994.
1912: Girl Scouts of the USA
In 1912, the Girl Scouts of the USA had its beginnings as Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Georgia, founded the first American troop of the Girl Guides.
1925: Sun Yat-sen
In 1925, Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing.
1947: Harry S. Truman
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman announced what became known as the “Truman Doctrine” to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism.
1971: Hafez Assad
In 1971, Hafez Assad was confirmed as president of Syria in a referendum.
1980: John Wayne Gacy Jr
In 1980, a Chicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. (The next day, Gacy was sentenced to death; he was executed in May 1994.)
1987: “Les Miserables”
In 1987, the musical play “Les Miserables” opened on Broadway.
2003: Elizabeth Smart
In 2003, Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old girl who vanished from her bedroom nine months earlier, was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb with two drifters, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee.
2009: Bernard Madoff
On March 12, 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty in New York to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history; he would be sentenced to 150 years behind bars. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)
2011: Ophadell Williams
In 2011, fifteen passengers were killed when a tour bus returning from a Connecticut casino scraped along a guard rail on the outskirts of New York City, tipped on its side and slammed into a pole that sheared it nearly end to end.
2017: Tom Brady
Authorities in Mexico recovered New England quarterback Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey more than a month after it had gone missing from the Patriots’ locker room following the game.
2020: NCAA
The NCAA canceled its basketball tournaments because of the coronavirus, after earlier planning to play in empty arenas.
2021: George Floyd
The city of Minneapolis agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody, as jury selection continued in a former officer’s murder trial.
A newly released transcript sheds fresh light on President Joe Biden's memories about his son's death during an interview with prosecutors investigating his handling of classified documents.
President Joe Biden won enough delegates to clinch the 2024 Democratic nomination in a slate of low-profile contests Tuesday, while former President Donald Trump, too, was poised to win the GOP nomination as well.
