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: Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they 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).
• 1408 - Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12, 1408 by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.
• 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 - Anne of Denmark was born (d. 1619). Queen consort of James I of England.
• 1574 - Selim II dies (b. 1524).Ottoman Sultan.
• 1586 - Stefan Batory dies (b. 1533). King of Poland.
• 1610 - Saint Vasilije was born (d. 1671).
• 1659 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena was born (d. 1739). Italian architect / designer.
• 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 - Madeleine Sophie Barat was born (d. 1865). French saint.
• 1781 - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeated a French fleet in the Second Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War.
• 1783 - Ner Alexander Middleswarth was born (d. 1865). American politician.
• 1786 - William L. Marcy was born (d. 1857). American statesman.
• 1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.
• 1789 - John Ponsonby dies (b. 1713). Irish politician.
• 1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov dies (b. 1733). Russian philosopher and writer.
• 1791 - Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria was born (d. 1847). Second wife of Napoleon.
• 1799 - Karl Briullov was born (d. 1852). Russian painter.
• 1805 - Henry Wells was born (d. 1878). Founder of American Express.
• 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison was born (d. 1879). American abolitionist.
• 1806 - Stand Watie was born (d. 1871). American Confederate general and Cherokee leader.
• 1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.
• 1817 - Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia dies (b. about 1751).
• 1821 - Gustave Flaubert was born in Rouen (d. 1880). French novelist.
• 1843 - King William I of the Netherlands dies (b. 1772).
• 1845 - Bruce Price was born (d. 1903). American architect.
• 1849 - William Kissam Vanderbilt was born (d. 1920). Member of the Vanderbilt family.
• 1858 - Jacques Viger dies (b. 1787). Antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal
• 1862 - USS Cairo sunk on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
• 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 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
• 1870 - Walter Benona Sharp was born (d. 1912). American oil baron.
• 1872 - A meteorite struck earth near the town of Banbury, England.
• 1875 - Gerd von Rundstedt was born (d. 1953). German field marshal.
• 1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein was born (d. 1928). American athlete.
• 1887 - Kurt Atterberg was born (d. 1974). Swedish composer.
• 1877 - José de Alencar dies (b. 1829). Brazilian writer (O Guarani) and politician.
• 1889 - Robert Browning dies (b. 1812). English poet.
• 1889 - Viktor Bunyakovsky dies (b. 1804). Russian mathematician.
• 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 founded.
• 1900 - US Steel formed.
• 1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr. was born. American dancer.
• 1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
• 1902 - Koloman Sokol was born (d. 2003). Slovak painter.
• 1903 - The City of Fairfield,California is incorporated.
• 1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom was born (d. 1976). American composer, pianist, one of The Nordstrom Sisters.
• 1903 - Yasujiro Ozu 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.
• 1906 - Alberto de Serpa was born in Porto (d. 8 Oct 1992). Portuguese poet.
• 1907 - Roy Douglas was born. British composer and orchestrator.
• 1908 - Gustav Ernesaks was born (d. 1993). Estonian composer and conductor.
• 1909 - Karen Morley was born (d. 2003). American actress.
• 1911 - The capital of India is shifted to New Delhi from Calcutta.
• 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 - Portugal: Victor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho succeeds to Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães on the seat of Prime-Minister.
• 1914 - Patrick O'Brian was born (d. 2000). British author.
• 1914 - José Sebastião e Silva was born in Mértola (d. 25 May 1972). Portuguese mathematician.
• 1914 - The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
• 1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, reinstates the monarchy and proclaims himself Emperor of China.
• 1915 - Frank Sinatra was born (d. 1998). American singer and actor.
• 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 in Funchal, Madeira. Portuguese historian and essayst.
• 1919 - Dan DeCarlo was born (d. 2001). American cartoonist.
• 1919 - Olivia Barclay was born (d. 2001). British astrologer.
• 1920 - Fred Kida was born. American comics artist.
• 1923 - Bob Barker was born. American television game show host.
• 1923 - Ken Kavanagh was born. Australian racing driver
• 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 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
• 1925 - Vladimir Shainsky was born. Soviet and Russian composer.
• 1925 - Ahmad Shamlou was born (d. 2000). Iranian poet.
• 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.
• 1930 - Bill Beutel was born (d. 2006). American Journalist.
• 1931 - Lionel Blair was born. British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter.
• 1932 - Bob Pettit was born. American basketball star.
• 1934 - Miguel de la Madrid was born. President of Mexico.
• 1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
• 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 - HMS Duchess (H64) sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
• 1939 - Douglas Fairbanks dies (b. 1883). American actor.
• 1940 - Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
• 1940 - Sociedade Portuguesa de Matemática is founded.
• 1940 - Arnaldo Jabor was born. Brazilian cineast, critic and writer.
• 1940 - Sharad Pawar was born. Indian politician.
• 1940 - Dionne Warwick was born. American singer.
• 1941 - Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
• 1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
• 1941 - World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
• 1941 - Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
• 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.
• 1944 - Jean Doré was born. Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal.
• 1944 - Kenneth Cranham was born. Scottish born actor.
• 1946 - A fire at a New York, New York ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
• 1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi was born. Brazilian racing driver.
• 1946 - Paula Wagner was born. American film executive.
• 1947 - The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor
• 1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
• 1948 - Tom Wilkinson was born. English actor.
• 1949 - Bill Nighy was born. English actor.
• 1949 - Rajnikanth (Shivaji Rao Gaekwad) was born. Indian actor.
• 1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
• 1950 - Billy Smith was born. National Hockey League goaltender.
• 1951 - Mildred Bailey dies (b. 1907). American jazz singer.
• 1952 - Cathy Rigby was born. American gymnast and actress.
• 1952 - Herb Dhaliwal was born. Canadian politician.
• 1952 - Bedřich Hrozný dies (b. 1879). Czech orientalist and linguist.
• 1953 - Bruce Kulick was born. American guitarist (KISS).
• 1954 - Liz Claman was born. American television anchor.
• 1955 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki was born. Greek businesswoman.
• 1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.
• 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.
• 1957 - Robert Lepage was born. French Canadian playwright.
• 1958 - Guiné is admited as UN member.
• 1962 - Mike Golic was born. American football player.
• 1962 - Tracy Austin was born. American tennis player.
• 1963 - Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
• 1963 - Yasujiro Ozu dies (b. 1903). Japanese film director.
• 1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
• 1964 - Sabu was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1966 - Royce Gracie was born. Brazilian martial artist.
• 1967 - John Randle was born. American football player.
• 1967 - Yuzo Koshiro was bor. Japanese composer.
• 1967 - Takenobu Mitsuyoshi was born. Japanese composer.
• 1967 - John Randle was born. American football player.
• 1968 - Kate Humble was born. English television presenter.
• 1968 - Rory Kennedy was born. American documentarian.
• 1968 - Laurie Williams was born (d. 2002). Jamaican West Indies cricketer.
• 1968 - Tallulah Bankhead dies (b. 1902). American actress.
• 1969 - Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
• 1970 - Jennifer Connelly was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Madchen Amick was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Regina Hall was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Doris Blackburn dies (b. 1889). Australian politician.
• 1971 - David Sarnoff dies (b. 1891). Russian-born radio and television pioneer.
• 1972 - Two million people filled the streets of Azadi Square (Then Shahyad Square) in Tehran to protest against the Shah.
• 1972 - Hank Williams III was born. Grandson of Hank Williams.
• 1972 - Nicky Eaden was born. English football player.
• 1972 - Kevin Parent was born. Quebec singer and songwriter.
• 1972 - Brandon Teena was born (d. 1993). American hate crime victim.
• 1972 - Wilson Kipketer was born. Danish middle-distance runner.
• 1972 - Yeoryios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter.
• 1973 - William Hutton wa born. American engineer.
• 1973 - Walter Otta was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1974 - Rey Mysterio, Jr. was born. American wrestler.
• 1974 - Nolberto Solano was born. Peruvian footballer.
• 1975 - Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San Francisco the previous September.
• 1975 - Mayim Bialik was born. American actress.
• 1975 - Craig Moore was born. Australian football player.
• 1976 - Dan Hawkins was born. English musician (The Darkness).
• 1976 - Keiko was born. Orca Whale in Free Willy.
• 1976 - Vinko Zganec dies (b. 1890). Croatian ethnomusicologist.
• 1977 - Orlando Hudson was born. American baseball player.
• 1977 - Colin White was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1977 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm were born. American triplet Playboy models.
• 1977 - Bridgett Hall was born in Springdale, Arkansas. American supermodel.
• 1977 - Oxana Fedorova was born. Russian Miss Univers 2002, whose title would be retired.
• 1977 - Lady Spencer Churchill dies (b. 1885). Wife of Winston Churchill.
• 1978 - Evren Genis was born. Turkish composer.
• 1978 - Monica Barladeanu was born. Romanian actress.
• 1979 - Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean military officer Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
• 1979 - President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
• 1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
• 1979 - Garrett Atkins was born. Baseball player.
• 1979 - Nate Clements was born. American football player.
• 1979 - Sharin Foo was born. Danish singer and bassist.
• 1980 - Jean Lesage dies (b. 1912). Politician, premier of Quebec.
• 1981 - The Chaos Computer Club was founded in Berlin.
• 1981 - Jeret Peterson was born. American aerial skier.
• 1981 - Ronnie Brown was born. American football player.
• 1981 - Pedro Ríos was born. Spanish football player.
• 1981 - Yuvraj Singh was born. Indian cricketer.
• 1981 - Stephen Warnock was born. English football player.
• 1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
• 1982 - Dmitry Tursunov was born. Russian tennis player.
• 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.
• 1984 - Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya become the third president of Mauritania after coup d'etat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the later was attending a summit. Taya was ousted in March 2005 by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall in another coup.
• 1984 - Daniel Agger was born. Danish football player.
• 1984 - Daniel Merrett was born. Australian rules footballer.
• 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.
• 1985 - Ian Stewart dies (b. 1938). Scottish musician.
• 1986 - Perparim Hetemaj was born. Finnish footballer.
• 1986 - Thomas Wansey was born. English television actor.
• 1987 - Kate Todd was born. Canadian actress.
• 1987 - Enrique Jorrín dies (b. 1926). Cuban musician and composer.
• 1988 - Clapham Junction rail crash killed 35 and injured 100's after two collisions of three commuter trains. One of the worst train crashes in Britain.
• 1989 - Harry Eden was born. British actor.
• 1989 - Max Grundig dies (b. 1908). German industrialist.
• 1990 - Pakistan became the 37th country in the world to send an expedition to Antarctica.
• 1990 - Victor Moses was born. English footballer of Nigerian descent.
• 1991 - Russian Federation gains independance from the USSR.
• 1991 - Maastricht Treaty signed to create a European Community.
• 1991 - Daniel Magder was born. Canadian actor.
• 1992 - Suzanne Lilar dies (b 1901). Belgian esssayist, novelist and playwright.
• 1993 - József Antall dies (b. 1932). Hungarian politician.
• 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). American astronaut.
• 1996 - Vance Packard dies (b. 1914). American author.
• 1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
• 1997 - Yevgeniy Landis dies (b. 1921). Russian mathematician.
• 1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Clinton.
• 1998 - Lawton Chiles dies (b. 1930). U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida.
• 1999 - Joseph Heller dies (b. 1923). American author.
• 2000 -The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the presidential election recount in Florida.
• 2000 - George Montgomery dies (b. 1916). American actor.
• 2001 - Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
• 2001 - Jean Richard dies (b. 1921). French actor.
• 2002 - Jay Wesley Neill dies (b. 1965). American convicted murderer.
• 2002 - Brad Dexter dies (b. 1917). American 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.
• 2003 - Keiko (Orca) dies. Willy in Free Willy.
• 2004 - FC Porto becomes World Champions in soccer (futebol, fútbol, football, fussball) in Yokohama, Japan, beatting Once Caldas on penalties decision (8-7) after a match null.
• 2005 - Annette Vadim dies (b. 1936). Danish actress.
• 2005 - Gebran Tueni dies (b. 1957). Lebanese politician.
• 2005 - Robert F. Newmyer dies (b. 1946). American film producer.
• 2006 - Peugeot produce their last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
• 2006 - Al Shugart dies (b. 1930). Pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology.
• 2006 - Kenny Davern dies (b. 1935). American jazz clarinetist.
  
• 2006 - Paul Arizin dies (b. 1928). American basketball player.
• 2006 - Peter Boyle dies (b. 1935). American actor.
• 2006 - Raymond P. Shafer dies (b. 1917). 38th Governor of Pennsylvania.
• 2007 - Francois Hajj (b. 1953), the Lebanese army's chief of operations, is assassinated.
• 2007 - Ike Turner dies (b. 1931). American singer, former husband of Tina Turner.
• Kenya Jamhuri Day :Independence Day from Britain (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.
• Turkmenistan - Neutrality Day.