March 2, 2012

2012Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (born 1950)^[†]

Lawrence Anthony was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and author. He was the long-standing head of conservation at the Thula Thula animal reserve in Zululand, South Africa, and the Founder of The Earth Organization, a privately registered, independent, international conservation and environmental group. He was an international member of the Explorers Club of New York and a member of the National Council of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science.

2012Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1919)^[†]

Van Thomas Barfoot was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.

2012Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1929)^[†]

Norman Antony Francis St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, was a British Conservative politician, author and barrister. He served as Leader of the House of Commons in the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1981. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford from 1964 to 1987 and was made a life peer in 1987. His surname was created by compounding those of his father (Stevas) and mother.

2012James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (born 1931)^[†]

James Quinn Wilson was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration. Most of his career was spent as a professor at UCLA and Harvard University. He was the chairman of the Council of Academic Advisors of the American Enterprise Institute, member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1985–1990), and the President's Council on Bioethics. He was Director of Joint Center for Urban Studies at Harvard-MIT.

2012A tornado outbreak occurs over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.^[†]

On March 2 and 3, 2012, a large and deadly tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States into the Ohio Valley region. The storms resulted in 41 tornado-related fatalities, 22 of which occurred in Kentucky. Tornado-related deaths also occurred in Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio. The outbreak was the second deadliest in early March for the U.S. since official records began in 1950; only the 1966 Candlestick Park tornado had a higher death toll for a tornadic system in early March.