Did you know about Chris Sanders
Chris Sanders created the popular Disney character Stitch in 1985, wrote the story of Lilo & Stitch, and has voiced Stitch in most of his media appearances.
Famous Birthdays on March 12
March 12 has 292 recorded notable births across history, from 1270 to 2008. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1962 — Chris Sanders
American illustrator and voice actor
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
292 source records
1270 – 2008
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Today in history
Major events on March 12
See what else happened on this day in history.
Did you know about Dale Murphy
Dale Murphy was again named the MVP in 1983 after improving his batting figures in nearly every category, batting .302 with a career-high 121 RBI, and becoming only the sixth player in history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.
Did you know about Andrew Young
Andrew Young was the first Black American elected to Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, as well as one of the first two Black Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction.
Did you know about Wally Schirra
In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' first effort to put humans into space.
Did you know about Jane Pierce
Jane Means Pierce was the first lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857, being married to Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States.
More major people born on March 12
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1956
Dale Murphy
American baseball player
Dale Bryan Murphy is an American former outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for three National League (NL) teams, mainly the Atlanta Braves, from 1976 to 1993. A seven-time All-Star, he led the NL in home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage twice each. Playing on frequently poor teams that posted only three winning seasons in his 15 years with Atlanta, he was named the NL's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1982 after leading the Braves to their first division title in 13 years, topping the league with 109 RBI. He was again named the MVP in 1983 after improving his batting figures in nearly every category, batting .302 with a career-high 121 RBI, and becoming only the sixth player in history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.
1932
Andrew Young
American pastor, civil rights movement activist, politician, and 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and as a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. A member of the Democratic Party, Young later became active in politics, serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Carter Administration, and 55th Mayor of Atlanta. He was the first Black American elected to Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, as well as one of the first two Black Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction. Since leaving office, Young has founded or served in many organizations working on issues of public policy and political lobbying.
1923
Wally Schirra
American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 2007)
Walter Marty Schirra Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' first effort to put humans into space. On October 3, 1962, he flew the six-orbit, nine-hour, Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, in a spacecraft he nicknamed Sigma 7, becoming the fifth American and ninth human to travel into space. In December 1965, as part of the two-man Gemini program, he achieved the first space rendezvous, station-keeping his Gemini 6A spacecraft within 1 foot (30 cm) of the sister Gemini 7 spacecraft. In October 1968, he commanded Apollo 7, an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three-man Apollo Command/Service Module and the first crewed launch for the Apollo program.
1806
Jane Pierce
American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (died 1863)
Jane Means Pierce was the first lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857, being married to Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States. Born in Hampton, New Hampshire, she married Pierce, then a congressman, in 1834 despite her family's misgivings. She refused to live in Washington, D.C., and in 1842, she convinced her husband to retire from politics. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination without her knowledge in 1852 and was elected president later that year. Their only surviving son, Benjamin, was killed in a train accident before Franklin's inauguration, sending Jane into a deep depression that afflicted her for the rest of her life. Pierce was a reclusive first lady, spending the first two years of her husband's presidency mourning her son. Her duties at this time were often fulfilled by Abby Kent-Means. After Franklin's presidency, they traveled abroad for two years before settling in Massachusetts. She died of tuberculosis in 1863.
1978
Casey Mears
American race car driver
Casey James Mears is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66, and the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Beard Motorsports. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series, including fifteen seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super Trucks. A former winner of the Coca-Cola 600, Mears is a member of the Mears racing family as the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of IndyCar and off-road veteran Roger Mears.
1979
Jamie Dwyer
Australian field hockey player and coach
Jamie Dwyer is an Australian field hockey player. He currently plays for YMCC Coastal City Hockey Club in the Melville Toyota League in Perth, Western Australia. He previously played for the Queensland Blades in the Australian Hockey League. He debuted for Australia as a junior player in 1995, and for the senior side in 2001. He played over 365 matches for Australia and scored over 244 goals. He represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics where he won a gold medal and the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics where Australia won bronze medals. He has also represented Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games where he won a gold medal and the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he also won gold. He has won silver medals at the 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup and the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup. He won a gold medal at the 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup and the 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
1926
George Ariyoshi
American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii (died 2026)
George Ryoichi Ariyoshi was an American lawyer and politician who served as the third governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. A Democrat, he was Hawaii's longest-serving governor and the first American of Asian descent to serve as governor of a U.S. state. He assumed gubernatorial powers and duties when Governor John A. Burns was declared incapacitated in October 1973 and was elected in 1974, becoming the first Asian-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state or territory. His lengthy tenure of over 13 years is a record likely to remain unbroken due to term limits enacted after he left office.
1626
John Aubrey
English historian and philosopher (died 1697)
John Aubrey was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England, and who is particularly noted for his systematic examination of the Avebury henge monument. The Aubrey holes at Stonehenge are named after him, although there is considerable doubt as to whether the holes that he observed are those that currently bear the name. He was also a pioneer folklorist, collecting together a miscellany of material on customs, traditions and beliefs under the title "Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme". He set out to compile county histories of both Wiltshire and Surrey, although both projects remained unfinished. His "Interpretation of Villare Anglicanum" was the first attempt to compile a full-length study of English place-names. He had wider interests in applied mathematics and astronomy, and was friendly with many of the greatest scientists of the day.
1930
Vern Law
American baseball player and manager
Vernon Sanders Law is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in 1950–51 and 1954–67. He batted and threw right-handed and was listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and 195 pounds (88 kg). Law signed for the Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1948 and made his major-league debut in 1950. In 1960, he won both the Cy Young Award and a World Series ring as a member of the Pirates. He is currently the oldest living Cy Young Award winner. In 1965, he won the Lou Gehrig Award and the Associated Press's National League Comeback Player of the Year Award. A control pitcher, he finished among the top three National League pitchers in bases on ball per nine innings pitched in multiple seasons. Law was inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in August 2025. At the time, he was the 11th oldest living Major League player.
1868
Mary Karadja
Swedish writer, spiritualist and princess (died 1943)
Marie Louise "Mary" Karadja was a Swedish writer, spiritual medium and aristocrat, a central figure in Western esotericism during the Belle Époque. Born in Stockholm to the business magnate Lars Olsson Smith, she married prince Jean Karadja Pasha, an Ottoman diplomat, with whom she had a son, the Romanian diplomat and scholar Constantin Karadja. She lived in various European countries, and published works in several languages—beginning with aphorisms in French. Her involvement with Kardecist spiritism dates to 1899, and was prompted by the deaths of an infant son and of her husband the prince. Under the influence of spiritism, Theosophy and neo-gnosticism, the princess produced spirit drawings and writings that she stated were inspired and dictated to her spiritually. She was a literary celebrity in her native country for a while, and corresponded with August Strindberg; she was also heavily criticized for her claims by investigators such as Henry Morselli and Joseph McCabe, and was a regular target of Birger Sjöberg's satirical articles.
1898
Tian Han
Chinese playwright (died 1968)
Tian Han, formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the New Culture Movement of the early 20th century and continued to be active until the Cultural Revolution, when he was denounced and jailed for two years until his death, before being "posthumously rehabilitated" by the Chinese authorities in 1979. He is considered by drama historians as one of the three founders of Chinese spoken drama, together with Ouyang Yuqian and Hong Shen. His most famous legacy may be the lyrics he wrote for "March of the Volunteers" in 1934, which were later adopted as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.
1795
William Lyon Mackenzie
Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Toronto (died 1861)
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represented York County in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada and aligned with Reformers. He led the rebels in the Upper Canada Rebellion; after its defeat, he unsuccessfully rallied American support for an invasion of Upper Canada as part of the Patriot War. Although popular for criticising government officials, he failed to implement most of his policy objectives. He is one of the most recognizable Reformers of the early 19th century.
1863
Vladimir Vernadsky
Russian and Ukrainian mineralogist and chemist (died 1945)
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, known in Ukraine as Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky, was a Russian, Ukrainian, and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology. He was one of the founders and the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Vladimir Vernadsky is most noted for his 1926 book The Biosphere in which he inadvertently worked to popularize Eduard Suess's 1875 term biosphere, by hypothesizing that life is the geological force that shapes the earth. In 1943 he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Vernadsky's portrait is depicted on the Ukrainian ₴1,000 hryvnia banknote.
1964
Umirzak Shukeyev
Kazakh chairman of Samruk-Kazyna
Umirzak Shukeyev is a Kazakh politician who's serving as the akim of Turkistan Region since 2019. Prior to that, he served as the Minister of Agriculture from 2017 to 2019, chairman of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund from 2011 to 2017, First Deputy Prime Minister from 2009 to 2011, and prior to that, Deputy Prime Minister from 2007, akim of South Kazakhstan from 2006 to 2007, akim of Astana from 2004 to 2006, akim of Kostanay Region from 1998 to 2004, Minister of Economy and Trade from 1995 to 1997 while serving as Deputy Prime Minister.
1710
Thomas Arne
English composer (died 1778)
Thomas Augustine Arne was an English composer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He is known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of The Beggar's Opera, which has since become popular as a folk song and a nursery rhyme. Arne was a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at the West End's Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias and sonatas.
1990
Dont'a Hightower
American football coach and former player
Qualin Dont'a Hightower is an American football coach and former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the New England Patriots. Hightower played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, earning consensus All-American honors and winning two BCS National Championships. Selected by New England in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft, he received two Pro Bowl selections and was named a second-team All-Pro, in addition to winning three Super Bowl titles. After retiring, he served as the inside linebackers coach for the Patriots in 2024.
1971
Raúl Mondesí
Dominican baseball player and politician
Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in 1993. He was the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year in 1994, an MLB All-Star, and a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner. Known for his combination of power and speed, Mondesí twice achieved the 30–30 club. He led MLB right fielders in assists in three separate seasons over the course of his career.
1685
George Berkeley
Irish bishop and philosopher (died 1753)
George Berkeley, known as Bishop Berkeley, was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and clergyman who is regarded as the founder of immaterialism, a philosophical theory he developed which later came to be known as subjective idealism. He has also been called "the father of idealism" by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Berkeley played a leading role in the empiricism movement and was one of its pioneers. He was among the most cited philosophers of 18th-century Europe, and his works deeply influenced later thinkers such as Immanuel Kant and David Hume.
1918
Pádraig Faulkner
Irish Fianna Fáil politician (died 2012)
Pádraig Faulkner was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Defence 1979 to 1980, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1977 to 1979, Minister for Education from 1969 to 1973, Minister for the Gaeltacht and Minister for Lands from 1968 to 1969 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Gaeltacht from 1965 to 1968. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 1957 to 1987.