Today
Thursday March 12 2026
- Day of the year
- 71/ 365
- Week
- 112,026
- Days left
- 29419%
- Moon
- 38%Waning crescent
Today is Thursday, March 12, 2026. It is day 71 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 294 remain, and 19% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 11.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- March 20International Day of Happiness
- March 21International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- March 21World Poetry Day
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Gregory I64th Bishop of Rome, Head of the Roman Catholic Church from 590 to 604
- Innocent Iearly medieval pope (???-417)
- Theophanes the ConfessorByzantine aristocrat, monk and historian (c.758/60–c.817/8)
- Brian BoruHigh King of Ireland
- Symeon the New TheologianChristian saint, monk, and theologian
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 07:12
- Sunset
- 18:59
- Length of day
- 11h 47m+3 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:06
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Winter
began on December 21, 2025
Next season
Spring — 8 days, March 20, 2026 (March equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Memorial Day — May 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waning crescent
Illumination : 38%
Moon age : 23.2 days
- Next full moon
- April 2, 2026
- Next new moon
- March 19, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Pisces
until March 21, 2026 — Aries
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
538
Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths, ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. Wikipedia
1088
Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is best known for initiating the Crusades. Wikipedia
1622
Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Wikipedia
1913
The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. Wikipedia
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. Wikipedia
1938
Anschluss: German troops occupy and annex Austria. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1940
Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Wikipedia
1947
Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. Wikipedia
1999
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO. Wikipedia
2003
Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day March 12
- 1270Charles, Count of Valois (died 1325)
- 1613André Le Nôtre, French gardener and architect (died 1700)
- 1626John Aubrey, English historian and philosopher (died 1697)
- 1685George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (died 1753)
- 1824Gustav Kirchhoff, Russian-German physicist and academic (died 1887)
- 1835Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (died 1909)
- 1911Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 49th President of Mexico (died 1979)
- 1947Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusettsturns 79 years
Died on this day March 12
- 604Gregory I, pope of the Catholic Church (born 540)aged 64 years
- 1925Sun Yat-sen, Chinese physician and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (born 1866)aged 59 years
- 1943Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (born 1869)aged 74 years
- 1955Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (born 1920)aged 35 years
- 1991Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)aged 91 years
- 1999Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (born 1916)aged 83 years
- 2002Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (born 1932)aged 70 years
- 2003Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (born 1952)aged 51 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 07:12 and sets at 18:59, giving 11h 47m of daylight — 3 minutes more than yesterday. It has been winter since December 21, 2025; spring opens in 8 days, on March 20, 2026 (March equinox).
The moon is a waning crescent, 38% illuminated. The next full moon falls on April 2, 2026 and the next new moon on March 19, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches March 12 to Gregory I, Innocent I and Theophanes the Confessor.
No United Nations international day falls on March 12. The next one on the calendar is International Day of Happiness, on March 20.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths, ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius (538); Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is best known for initiating the Crusades (1088). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Charles was born on March 12, 1270; Gregory I died on March 12, 604.
288 days remain until Christmas and 295 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — March 12 falls under the sign of Pisces.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 19%
- of the year elapsed
- 288
- until Christmas
- 295
- until New Year
- 719
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26