April 12

April 12 is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 263 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 238 – Gordian II lost the Battle of Carthage against the Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus Thrax and is killed. Gordian I, his father, commits suicide.
• 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.
• 1557 – Cuenca is founded in Ecuador.
• 1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.
• 1633 – The formal inquest of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition begins.
• 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.
• 1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.
• 1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurred, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Fort Pillow massacre: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
• 1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
• 1910 – The SMS Zrinyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.
• 1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
• 1927 – April 12 Incident: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
• 1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
• 1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite Strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.
• 1935 – First flight of the Bristol Blenheim.
• 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
• 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies while in office; vice-president Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd President.
• 1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City.
• 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
• 1961 – The Russian (Soviet) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).

The first human spaceflight is accomplished on April 12, 1961 by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

• 1963 – The Soviet nuclear powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.
• 1968 – Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah.
• 1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.
• 1980 – Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.
• 1980 – Terry Fox begins his "Marathon of Hope" at St. John's, Newfoundland.
• 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) launches on the STS-1 mission.

April 12, 1981: First Space Shuttle launch, flown by Commander John Young and Pilot Bob Crippen on Columbia.

• 1990 – Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
• 1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland. The resort and its park's name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.
• 1994 – Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
• 1998 – An earthquake in Slovenia, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurs near the town of Bovec.
• 1999 – US President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.
• 2002 – A female suicide bomber detonated at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market, killing 7 and wounding 104.
• 2007 – A suicide bomber penetrated the Green Zone and detonated in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
• 2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwe Dollar as their official currency.
• 2010 – A train derails near Merano, Italy, after running into a landslide, causing nine deaths and injuring 28 people.

Births

• 599 BC – Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism (d. 527 BC)
• 812 – Muhammad at-Taqi, Muslim Shia Imam (d. 835)
• 1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (d. 1546)
• 1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (d. 1574)
• 1526 – Muretus, French humanist (d. 1585)
• 1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English politician (d. 1604)
• 1577 – King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (d. 1648)
• 1705 – William Cookworthy, English chemist (d. 1780)
• 1710 – Caffarelli, Italian castrato and opera singer (d. 1783)
• 1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (d. 1796)
• 1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1796)
• 1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian composer (d. 1793)
• 1724 – Lyman Hall, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1790)
• 1726 – Charles Burney, English music historian (d. 1814)
• 1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (d. 1836)
• 1760 – Juan Manuel Olivares, Venezuelan composer (d. 1797)
• 1777 – Henry Clay, American statesman (d. 1852)
• 1792 – John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, Governor General of British North America (d. 1840)
• 1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (d. 1847)
• 1796 – George N. Briggs, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
• 1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1855)
• 1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian dramatist (d. 1886)
• 1839 – Nikolai Przhevalsky, Russian explorer (d. 1888)
• 1848 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican poet (d. 1880)
• 1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer (d. 1928)
• 1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician (d. 1939)
• 1856 – William Martin Conway, English art critic and mountaineer (d. 1937)
• 1866 – Princess Viktoria of Prussia (d. 1929)
• 1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese naval commander (d. 1918)
• 1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
• 1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and dictator (d. 1941)
• 1874 – William B. Bankhead, American politician, Speaker of the House of Representatives (d. 1940)
• 1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Otto Meyerhof, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1951)
• 1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932)
• 1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor (d. 1918)
• 1888 – Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet musician (d. 1964)
• 1892 – Johnny Dodds, American musician (d. 1940)
• 1893 – Robert Harron, American actor (d. 1920)
• 1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
• 1898 – Lily Pons, American soprano (d. 1976)
• 1901 – Lowell Stockman, American representative (d. 1962)
• 1902 – Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
• 1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-born sculptor (d. 2003)
• 1907 – Hardie Gramatky, American author and animator (d. 1979)
• 1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot (d. 2006)
• 1908 – Ida Crowe Pollock, English writer
• 1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Suez Canal engineer (d. 1976)
• 1912 – Walt Gorney, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Second Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
• 1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-born American martial artist
• 1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist
• 1916 – Beverly Cleary, American writer
• 1916 – Russell Garcia, American composer for screen, stage and broadcast (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Benjamin Libet, American scientist (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Robert Cliche, Quebec politician and magistrate (d. 1978)
• 1923 – Ann Miller, American actor and dancer (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Raymond Barre, French politician and Prime Minister (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Joe Bowman, American sharpshooter, Hollywood consultant, bootmaker & master showman (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor
• 1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor
• 1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Manuel Neri, American artist
• 1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician (d. 2006)
• 1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet-songwriter (d. 1995)
• 1932 – Dennis Banks, American Indian activist
• 1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Tiny Tim, American musician (d. 1996)
• 1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano
• 1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer
• 1935 – Jimmy Makulis, Greek singer (d. 2007)
• 1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Igor Volk, Soviet astronaut
• 1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English writer
• 1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1940 – John Hagee, American pastor and televangelist
• 1940 – Herbie Hancock, American musician and composer
• 1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer (d. 1993)
• 1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentine racing driver and politician
• 1942 – Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa
• 1944 – Georgios Balanos, Greek translator, author and publisher
• 1944 – John Kay, German-born musician
• 1945 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the WHO (d. 2006)
• 1946 – Ed O'Neill, American actor
• 1947 – Tom Clancy, American author
• 1947 – Woody Johnson, sports team owner
• 1947 – Antonin Kratochvil, Czech-born American photographer
• 1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
• 1947 – David Letterman, American talk show host
• 1947 – Wayne Northrop, American actor
• 1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian football coach
• 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television presenter (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister of Germany 1998-2005
• 1948 – Sandra "Lois" Reeves, American singer
• 1949 – Scott Turow, American writer
• 1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman and F1 team principal (Renault F1)
• 1950 – David Cassidy, American singer and actor
• 1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
• 1952 – Ralph Wiley, American sports journalist (d. 2004)
• 1952 – Reuben Gant, American professional football player
• 1954 – Jon Krakauer, American author
• 1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian musician
• 1956 – Andy García, Cuban-born actor
• 1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer
• 1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer
• 1957 – Vince Gill, American musician
• 1958 – Will Sergeant, English musician
• 1958 – Howard Stableford, English actor and host
• 1960 – Ron MacLean, Canadian sportscaster
• 1961 – Lisa Gerrard, Australian musician
• 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player
• 1961 – Magda Szubanski, Australian actress
• 1962 – Art Alexakis, American musician
• 1962 – Takada Nobuhiko, Japanese wrestler
• 1963 – [Lydia Cacho Ribeiro]], Mexican journalist
• 1964 – Amy Ray, American musician
• 1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor
• 1965 – Tom O'Brien, American actor-producer
• 1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer
• 1967 – Mellow Man Ace, Afro-Cuban rapper
• 1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
• 1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer
• 1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer
• 1971 – Nick Hexum, American musician
• 1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actor
• 1972 – Sebnem Ferah, Turkish singer
• 1972 – Dimitrios Kokotis, Greek high jumper
• 1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player
• 1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American comic book artist
• 1973 – Claudia Jordan, American model
• 1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican baseball player
• 1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actor (d. 2006)
• 1974 – Roman Hamrlík, Czech ice hockey player
• 1974 – Marley Shelton, American actor
• 1974 – Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player
• 1977 – Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1977 – Sarah Jane Morris, American actor
• 1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer
• 1977 – Glenn Rogers, Scottish cricketer
• 1977 – Jordana Spiro, American actor
• 1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish musician (Coldplay)
• 1978 – Riley Smith, American actor
• 1979 – Claire Danes, American actress
• 1979 – Jordan De Jong, American baseball player
• 1979 – Elena Grosheva, Russian gymnast
• 1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
• 1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress and model
• 1979 – Paul Nicholls, English actor
• 1979 – Cristian Ranalli, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer
• 1980 – Erik Mongrain, Canadian musician
• 1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer
• 1981 – Brian Vandborg, Danish cyclist
• 1982 – Deen, Bosnian singer
• 1983 – Jelena Dokić, Serbian/Australian tennis player
• 1983 – Dwayne Smith, West Indian cricketer
• 1984 – brentalfloss, American YouTube celebrity
• 1985 – Jeísa Chiminazzo, Brazilian model
• 1985 – Ted Ginn, Jr., American football player
• 1985 – Anna-Katharina Samsel, German actress
• 1985 – Olga Seryabkina, Russian singer
• 1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer
• 1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer
• 1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player
• 1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
• 1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player
• 1987 – Brendon Urie, American musician (Panic at the Disco)
• 1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer
• 1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1993 – Dorial Green-Beckham, American football player
• 1994 – Saoirse Ronan, Irish actress
• 1994 – Airi Suzuki, Japanese singer
• 2000 – Suzanna von Nathusius, Polish actress

Deaths

• 45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, Roman general
• 65 – Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher, statesman, and dramatist
• 238 – Gordian I, Roman Emperor
• 238 – Gordian II, heir to the Roman Empire
• 352 – St. Julius I, 35th Pope
• 434 – Archbishop Maximianus of Constantinople
• 1125 – Vladislaus I of Bohemia (b. 1065)
• 1443 – Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1550 – Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (b. 1496)
• 1555 – Joanna of Castile, wife of Philip I of Castile (b. 1479)
• 1675 – Richard Bennett, British Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1609)
• 1684 – Nicolò Amati, Italian luthier and member of the Amati family (b. 1596)
• 1687 – Ambrose Dixon, British-born American settler (b. c. 1619)
• 1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and writer (b. 1627)
• 1748 – William Kent, English architect (b. c. 1685)
• 1782 – Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist (b. 1698)
• 1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (b. 1719)
• 1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
• 1814 – Charles Burney, English music historian (b. 1726)
• 1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer (b. 1730)
• 1850 – Adoniram Judson, American missionary (b. 1788)
• 1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English Member of Parliament and developer (b. 1801)
• 1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer (b. 1795)
• 1878 – William Magear "Boss" Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
• 1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Roman Catholic archbishop of Quebec (b. 1820)
• 1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist (b. 1842)
• 1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and Red Cross advocate (b. 1821)
• 1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician (b. 1835)
• 1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Lionel Logue, speech therapist who worked with King George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Indian politician and engineer (b. 1861)
• 1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1923)
• 1968 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German automobile engineer (b. 1899)
• 1971 – Wynton Kelly, American jazz pianist (b. 1931)
• 1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player (b. 1871)
• 1975 – Josephine Baker, American dancer (b. 1906)
• 1977 – Phil Wrigley, American manufacturer and baseball executive (b. 1894)
• 1980 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (b. 1895)
• 1980 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
• 1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American naval officer (b. 1903)
• 1986 – Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (b. 1897)
• 1987 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1964)
• 1988 – Alan Paton, South African writer (b. 1903)
• 1989 – Gerald Flood, British actor (b. 1927)
• 1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American political activist (b. 1936)
• 1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
• 1996 – Gabriel Gomez, Future professional basketball player.
• 1999 – Marion Pruett, American spree killer (b. 1949)
• 1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Harvey Ball, American inventor (b. 1921)
• 2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-born American linguist and academic (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Sydney Lassick, American actor (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter, translator, and radio and TV personality (b. 1941)
• 2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Puggy Pearson, American poker player (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Rajkumar, Indian film actor/singer (b. 1929)
• 2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian TV anchor (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Cecilia Colledge, British ice skater (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish politician (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-born American businessman (b. 1949)
• 2009 – Marilyn Chambers, American pornographic actress (b. 1952)
• 2010 – Palito, Filipino comedian (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Alferius
  • Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
  • Erkembode
  • Pope Julius I
  • Zeno of Verona
  • April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin:
  • Cosmonautics Day (Russia)
  • Yuri's Night (International)
• Halifax Day (North Carolina)
• The first day of Cerealia (Roman Empire)
• Global Day of Action on Military Spending

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: April 12

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada