This Day in History: Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to largest fraud in Wall St. history

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on March 12:

1925 – Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen died. Known as the father of modern China, he became its first provisional president from 1911-1912.

1938 – German troops invaded Austria.

1999 – Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic became the first former members of the Soviet bloc to join NATO.

1999 – Yehudi Menuhin, the American-born violinist and music teacher, died in Berlin.

2003 – Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in front of the main government building in Belgrade.

2005 – Russian sportsman attempts record of staying in cold water for 60 minutes.

2005 – China accepted the resignation of Hong Kong’s unpopular chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, after he was made a vice-chairman of an advisory body to parliament.

2009 – Bernard Madoff pleads guilty to largest fraud in Wall St. history.

2011 – Officials check radiation levels near Fukushima after an explosion and radiation leak at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s nuclear power plant.

2012 – Researchers say they have found hidden Da Vinci masterpiece.

2014 – Fatal gas explosion in New York’s Harlem neighbourhood.

(Reuters)