On this day in History - Dec. 12

• 0627 - Battle of Nineveh.
• 0884 - Carloman dies. King of the West Franks
• 1098 - Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan where Crusaders resort to cannibalism
• 1198 - Averroes Ibn Rushd dies (b. 1126)
• 1212 - Geoffrey, Archbishop of York dies.
• 1254 - Alexander IV is elected Pope
• 1298 - Archduke Albert II of Austria was born (d. 1358)
• 1418 - Archduke Albert VI of Austria was born (d. 1463)
• 1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
• 1569 - Metropolitan Philip of Moscow dies (b. 1507)
• 1574 - Selim II dies (b. 1524). Ottoman Sultan
• 1574 - Anne of Denmark was born (d. 1619). Queen of James I of England
• 1610 - Saint Vasilije was born (d. 1671)
• 1685 - John Pell dies (b. 1610). English mathematician.
• 1712 - Prince Charles of Lorraine was born (d. 1780). Austrian military leader
• 1719 - The Boston Gazette is published for the first time.
• 1724 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was born (d. 1816). British admiral.
• 1736 - D. António Manuel de Vilhena dies (b. 28 May 1663). Gran-Master of Order of Malta.
• 1745 - John Jay was born (d. 1829). Chief Justice of the United States
• 1751 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke dies (b. 1678). English statesman and philosopher
• 1754 - Wu Jingzi dies (b. 1701). Chinese writer.
• 1766 - Johann Christoph Gottsched dies (b. 1700). German writer.
• 1779 - Madeline Sophie Barat was born (d. 1865). French saint.
• 1781 - The British navy defeated a French fleet in the Second Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1786 - William L. Marcy was born (d. 1857). American statesman.
• 1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1789 - John Ponsonby dies (b. 1713). Irish politician.
• 1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov dies (b. 1733). Russian philosopher and writer.
• 1799 - Karl Briullov was born (d. 1852). Russian painter.
• 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison was born (d. 1879). American abolitionist.
• 1806 - Stand Watie was born (d. 1871). American Confederate general and Cherokee leader.
• 1821 - Gustave Flaubert was born in Rouen (d. 1880). French novelist.
• 1843 - King William I of the Netherlands dies (b. 1772)
• 1863 - Edvard Munch was born (d. 1944). Norwegian painter.
• 1864 - Paul Elmer More was born (d. 1937). American critic and essayist.
• 1866 - Alfred Werner was born (d. 1919). German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1870 - Walter Benona Sharp was born (d. 1912). American oil pioneer.
• 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.
• 1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein was born (d. 1928). American athlete
• 1877 - José de Alencar dies (b. 1829). Brazilian writer ( O Guarani) and politician.
• 1887 - Kurt Atterberg was born (d. 1974). Swedish composer.
• 1889 - Robert Browning dies (b. 1812). English poet.
• 1892 - Herman Potočnik Noordung was born (d. 1929). Slovenian rocket engineer
• 1893 - Edward G. Robinson was born (d. 1973). American actor.
• 1894 - Sir John Thompson dies (b. 1845). Fourth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is inaugurated.
• 1900 - US Steel formed
• 1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr. was born. American dancer
• 1901 - First radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean by Guglielmo Marconi
• 1903 - The City of Fairfield,California is incorporated.
• 1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom was born (d. 1976). American composer, pianist, one of The Nordstrom Sisters
• 1903 - Ozu Yasujiro was born (d. 1963). Japanese film director.
• 1904 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg was born (d. 1981). Magazine editor, socialite
• 1905 - Mànes Sperber was born (d. 1984). Austrian-born writer.
• 1908 - Manoel de Oliveira was born. Portuguese film director.
• 1911 - The capital of India is shifted to New Delhi from Calcutta (now Kolkata).
• 1913 - The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence after having been stolen two years earlier (August 1911) from the Louvre.
• 1913 - Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia dies (b. 1844)
• 1914 - Patrick O'Brian was born (d. 2000). British author.
• 1914 - José Sebastião e Silva was born in Mértola (d. 25 May 1972). Portuguese mathematicien.
• 1915 - Frank Sinatra was born (d. 1998). American singer and actor.
• 1915 - President of the Republic of China Yuan Shikai declares himself the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, restoring monarchy.
• 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).
• 1918 - Joe Williams was born (d. 1999). American singer.
• 1919 - Joel Serrão was born on Funchal, Madeira. Portuguese historian and essayst.
• 1923 - Bob Barker was born. American television game show host .
• 1923 - Raymond Radiguet dies (b. 1903). French author.
• 1924 - Ed Koch was born. Mayor of New York City.
• 1924 - Spanish troops are pushed out of Morocco by Abd el Krim.
• 1925 - Reza Pahlavi takes control of Iran as Shah
• 1926 - Jean Richepin dies (b. 1849). French poet.
• 1927 - Honor Blackman was born. English actress.
• 1927 - Robert Noyce was born (d. 1990). American inventor.
• 1928 - Chinghiz Aitmatov was born. Kyrgyz writer.
• 1929 - John Osborne was born (d. 1994). British dramatist .
• 1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi was born. Japanese musician.
• 1929 - Charles Goodnight was born (d. 1836). American cattle baron.
• 1932 - Bob Pettit was born. American basketball star.
• 1934 - Miguel de la Madrid was born. President of Mexico
• 1936 - O líder chinês Chiang Kai-Shek declara guerra ao Japão
• 1937 - Panay incident Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat "Panay" on China’s Yangtze River. (Japan apologized, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.)
• 1938 - Connie Francis was born. American singer
• 1939 - Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, their first major victory in the Winter War.
• 1939 - Douglas Fairbanks dies (b. 1883). American actor.
• 1940 - Sharad Pawar was born. Indian politician
• 1940 - Dionne Warwick was born. American singer
• 1941 - Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan. United States seizes French ship Normandie.
• 1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
• 1943 - Dickie Betts was born. American musician (The Allman Brothers)
• 1943 - Grover Washington Jr. was born (d. 1999). American musician.
• 1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi was born. Brazilian driver.
• 1946 - A fire at a New York, New York ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
• 1947 - The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor
• 1948 - Batang Kali Massacre, Malaysia
• 1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
• 1950 - Rajnikanth was born. Indian actor.
• 1952 - Cathy Rigby was born. American gymnast and actress.
• 1952 - Bedřich Hrozný dies (b. 1879). Czech orientalist and linguist.
• 1956 - Johan Van der Velde was born. Dutch cyclist.
• 1957 - Sheila E. was born. American musician.
• 1957 - José Lins do Rego dies (b. 1901). Brazilian writer.
• 1958 - Guiné is admited as UN member
• 1962 - Tracy Austin was born. American tennis player
• 1963 - Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
• 1963 - Ozu Yasujiro dies (b. 1903). Japanese film director
• 1964 - Kenya declared a republic. Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
• 1966 - Royce Gracie was born. Brazilian martial artist .
• 1967 - John Randle was born. American football player.
• 1968 - Laurie Williams was born. West Indian cricketer.
• 1968 - Tallulah Bankhead dies (b. 1902). American actress.
• 1969 - Strage di Piazza Fontana in Italy.
• 1970 - Jennifer Connelly was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Doris Blackburn dies (b. 1889). Australian politician.
• 1971 - David Sarnoff dies (b. 1891). Russian-born radio and television pioneer.
• 1975 - Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San Francisco the previous September.
• 1976 - Dan Hawkins was born. English musician.
• 1977 - Orlando Hudson was born. American baseball player.
• 1977 - Bridgett Hall was born in Springdale, Arkansas; American supermodel.
• 1978 - Evren Genis was born. Turkish composer.
• 1979 - The Coup d'état of December Twelfth of South Korea.
• 1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
• 1979 - Garrett Atkins was born. Baseball player.
• 1979 - Nate Clements, American football player.
• 1981 - The Chaos Computer Club was founded in Berlin.
• 1981 - Yuvraj Singh was born. Indian cricketer.
• 1981 - Stephen Warnock was born. English footballer.
• 1983 - Dallos is the first OAV (Original Animation Video) ever released.
• 1983 - Katrina Elam was born. American singer.
• 1983 - Brad Smith was born. American football player.
• 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
• 1985 - Anne Baxter dies (b. 7 May 1923). American actress.
• 1989 - Harry Eden was born. British actor.
• 1989 - Max Grundig dies (b. 1908). German industrialist.
• 1994 - The Brazilian Supreme Court acquitted former President Fernando Collor de Mello of the corruption charges that had forced him to resign in 1992.
• 1994 - Stuart Roosa dies (b. 1933). Astronaut.
• 1996 - Vance Packard dies (b. 1914). American author.
• 1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
• 1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Clinton.
• 1999 - Joseph Heller dies (b. 1923). American author.
• 2000 -The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the presidential election recount in Florida.
• 2001 - Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
• 2001 - Jean Richard dies (b. 1921). French actor.
• 2002 - Dee Brown dies (b. 1908). American author.
• 2003 - Geidar Aliev dies. President of Azerbaijan.
• 2003 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario dies (b. 1926). American Catholic prelate.
• 2003 - Paul Martin, Jr. is sworn-in as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada
• 2004 - FC Porto are World Champions in soccer (futebol, fútbol, football, fussball) in Yokohama, Japan, beatting Once Caldas on penalties decision (8-7) after a match null.
• 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