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 was later referred to as "subjective idealism" by others. As a leading figure in the empiricism movement, he was one of the most cited philosophers of 18th-century Europe, and his works had a profound influence on the views of other thinkers, especially Immanuel Kant and David Hume. Interest in his ideas increased significantly in the United States during the early 19th century, and as a result, the University of California, Berkeley, the city of Berkeley, California, and Berkeley College, Yale, were all named after him.

March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 294 days remain until the end of the year.