December 12

December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining.

Events

• 627 – Battle of Nineveh
• 1531 – Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
• 1719 – The first U.S. newspaper (the Boston Gazette) is published
• 1781 – The British navy defeated a French fleet in the Second Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution
• 1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman
• 1872 – A meteorite struck earth near the town of Banbury, England.
• 1897 – The city of Belo Horizonte is founded.
• 1900 – US Steel formed
• 1901 – First radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean by Guglielmo Marconi
• 1913 – Mona Lisa recovered in Florence, two years after it was stolen
• 1917 – In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys (in 1979 it was opened to girls as well).
• 1925 – Reza Pahlavi takes control of Iran as Shah
• 1937 – Panay incident
• 1939 – Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, their first major victory in the Winter War.
• 1941 – United States seizes French ship Normandie.
• 1942 – A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
• 1946 – A fire at a New York, New York ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
• 1948 – Batang Kali Massacre, Malaysia
• 1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1969 – Strage di Piazza Fontana in Italy.
• 1979 – The Coup d'état of December Twelfth of South Korea.
• 1979 – Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe
• 1981 – The Chaos Computer Club was founded in Berlin.
• 1983 – Dallos is the first OAV (Original Animation Video) ever released.
• 1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division
• 1996 – Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
• 2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore, deciding the presidential election of 2000.
• 2003 – Paul Martin, Jr. is sworn-in as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada
• 2004 – Portuguese football team FC Porto wins the last-held Intercontinental Cup against Colombia's Once Caldas in an 8–7 penalty shoot-out.

Births

• 1298 – Duke Albert II of Austria
• 1418 – Duke Albert VI of Austria
• 1574 – Anne of Denmark, queen of James I of England (d. 1619)
• 1786 – William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
• 1821 – Gustave Flauber, French writer (d. 1880)
• 1831 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist, grand-father of Charles Darwin (d. 1802)
• 1745 – John Jay, United States Supreme Court justice (d. 1829)
• 1805 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
• 1806 – Stand Watie, American Confederate general and Cherokee leader (d. 1871)
• 1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
• 1863 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
• 1871 – Umenosuke Bessho, Japanese writer (d. 1945)
• 1876 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete
• 1879 – Laura Hope Crews, actress (d. 1942)
• 1887 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer
• 1892 – Liesl Karlstadt, actress (d. 1960)
• 1892 – Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovenian rocket engineer (d. 1929)
• 1893 – Edward G. Robinson, actor (d. 1973)
• 1900 – Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer
• 1903 – Ozu Yasujiro, film director (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Mànes Sperber, writer (d. 1984)
• 1914 – Patrick O'Brian, British author (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Joe Williams, singer (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Hermann Neuberger, sports official (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Bob Barker, American television game show host
• 1924 – Ed Koch, Mayor of New York City
• 1927 – Honor Blackman, actress
• 1927  – Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
• 1929 – John Osborne, British dramatist (d. 1994)
• 1932 – Bob Pettit, basketball star
• 1934 – Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico
• 1938 – Connie Francis, American singer
• 1940 – Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
• 1940  – Dionne Warwick, American singer
• 1943 – Dickie Betts, musician (The Allman Brothers)
• 1943  – Grover Washington Jr., musician (d. 1999)
• 1952 – Cathy Rigby, gymnast, actress
• 1957 – Sheila E., musician
• 1967 – John Randle, American football player
• 1970 – Jennifer Connelly, actress
• 1976 – Dan Hawkins, musician
• 1979 – Nate Clements, American football player
• 1981 – Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1983 – Katrina Elam, country music singer

Deaths

• 884 – Carloman, King of the West Franks
• 1574 – Selim II, Ottoman Emperor
• 1766 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
• 1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (b. 1812)
• 1894 – Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
• 1923 – Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
• 1929 – Charles Goodnight, cattle baron (b. 1836)
• 1939 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
• 1952 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist
• 1963 – Ozu Yasujiro, film director
• 1968 – Tallulah Bankhead, actress (b. 1902)
• 1970 – Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
• 1971 – David Sarnoff, radio and television pioneer (b. 1891)
• 1994 – Stuart Roosa, astronaut (b. 1933)
• 1996 – Vance Packard, American author on media manipulation (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
• 2001 – Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Dee Brown, author
• 2003 – Geidar Aliev, President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Keiko, killer whale in the Free Willy movies
• 2003 – Fadwa Toukan, Palestinian poet

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day in Kenya (1963)
• Bahá'í Faith – Feast of Masá'il (Questions) – First day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
• Roman Catholic – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
• United Nations – Digital Solidarity Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

December 11 – December 13 – November 12 – January 12 — listing of all days