April 12

April 12 in recent years

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 loses 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.
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.
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).
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) takes place - the STS-1 mission.
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 penetrates the Green Zone and detonates 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)
1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (d. 1546)
1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar (d. 1574)
1526 – Muretus, French humanist (d. 1585)
1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (d. 1604)
1577 – 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 physician, clergyman, and statesman, signer of United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1790)
1726 – Charles Burney, English 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 Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, British statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and commissioner (d. 1840)
1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (d. 1847)
1796 – George N. Briggs, American politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1855)
1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843)
1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright (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, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian footballer (d. 1959)
1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, 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 pianist (d. 1964)
1892 – Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist (d. 1940)
1893 – Robert Harron, American actor (d. 1920)
1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese politician and military man, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
1898 – Lily Pons, American soprano (d. 1976)
1901 – Lowell Stockman, American politician (d. 1962)
1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian 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, Egyptian engineer of the Suez Canal(d. 1976)
1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian hockey administrator (d. 1997)
1912 – Walt Gorney, American actor (d. 2004)
1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer and guitarist (d. 1975)
1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist
1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist
1916 – Beverly Cleary, American writer
1916 – Russell Garcia, American composer (d. 2011)
1916 – Benjamin Libet, American scientist (d. 2007)
1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer (d. 1999)
1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer (d. 2012)
1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian politician and magistrate (d. 1978)
1923 – Ann Miller, American actor and dancer (d. 2004)
1924 – Raymond Barre, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician (d. 2003)
1925 – Joe Bowman, American and marksman and boot-maker (d. 2009)
1925 – Ned Miller, American singer and songwriter
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 and songwriter (d. 1995)
1932 – Dennis Banks, American-Indian activist
1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2005)
1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor
1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer, ukulele player, and archivist (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 jazz musician, bandleader, and composer
1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer (d. 1993)
1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentine race car driver and politician
1942 – Jacob Zuma, African politician, President of South Africa
1944 – Georgios Balanos, Greek translator, author and publisher
1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter and musician (The Sparrows and Steppenwolf)
1945 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organization (d. 2006)
1946 – Ed O'Neill, American actor
1946 – George Robertson, British politician
1947 – Alex Briley, American singer (Village People)
1947 – Tom Clancy, American author
1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman, philanthropist, and football team owner
1947 – Antonin Kratochvil, Czech-American photographer
1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
1947 – David Letterman, American television host and comedian
1947 – Wayne Northrop, American actor
1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian football coach
1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television presenter (d. 2008)
1948 – Joschka Fischer, German politician, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany
1948 – Lois Reeves, American singer (Martha and the Vandellas)
1949 – Scott Turow, American writer
1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman
1950 – David Cassidy, American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist (The Partridge Family)
1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
1954 – Jon Krakauer, American author
1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer and musician
1956 – Andy García, Cuban actor
1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer
1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer
1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and musician (Pure Prairie League and The Notorious Cherry Bombs)
1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen and Electrafixion)
1958 – Howard Stableford, English actor and host
1960 – Ron MacLean, Canadian sportscaster
1961 – Lisa Gerrard, Australian singer, musician, and composer (Dead Can Dance)
1961 – Charles Mann, American football player
1961 – Magda Szubanski, Australian actress
1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer, composer, and guitarist (Everclear, Colorfinger, and The Easy Hoes)
1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial arts fighter and wrestler
1963 – Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, Mexican journalist
1964 – Amy Ray, American singer-songwriter (Indigo Girls)
1965 – Kim Bodnia, Danish actor
1965 – Tom O'Brien, American actor and producer
1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian football manager
1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer (Saint Etienne)
1967 – Mellow Man Ace, American rapper (Cypress Hill)
1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian hockey player
1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer
1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer
1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater
1971 – Nick Hexum, American singer and musician (311)
1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, producer, director, and author
1972 – Sebnem Ferah, Turkish singer and musician
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 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 actress
1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer
1977 – Glenn Rogers, Scottish cricketer
1977 – Jordana Spiro, American actor
1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish musician and businessman (Coldplay and Apparatjik)
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-songwriter (Westlife)
1980 – Erik Mongrain, Canadian composer and guitarist
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
1985 – James Alexandrou, English actor
1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player
1985 – Jeísa Chiminazzo, Brazilian model
1985 – Ted Ginn, Jr., American football player
1985 – Anna-Katharina Samsel, German actress
1985 – Olga Seryabkina, Russian singer-songwriter (Serebro)
1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer (Morning Musume and Hangry & Angry)
1986 – Lorena, Spanish singer
1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer
1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player
1986 – Athena Lundberg, American model
1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player
1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer-songwriter and musician (Panic at the Disco)
1988 – Stephen Brogan, English footballer
1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer
1989 – Dominic Roco, Filipino actor
1989 – Felix Roco, Filipino actor
1990 – Francesca Halsall, British swimmer
1991 – Magnus Paajarvi, Swedish hockey player
1992 – Giorgio Cantarini, Italian actor
1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian hockey player
1993 – Dorial Green-Beckham, American football player
1994 – Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress
1994 – Saoirse Ronan, Irish actress
1994 – Airi Suzuki, Japanese actress and singer (Cute and Buono!)
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
352 – Pope Julius I
434 – Archbishop Maximianus of Constantinople
1125 – Vladislaus I of Bohemia (b. 1065)
1443 – Henry Chichele, English archbishop,
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 politician, Governor of Virginia (b. 1609)
1684 – Nicolò Amati, Italian luthier and member of the Amati family (b. 1596)
1687 – Ambrose Dixon, American Quaker pioneer (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 composer (b. 1719)
1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
1814 – Charles Burney, English historian (b. 1726)
1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer (b. 1730)
1850 – Adoniram Judson, American missionary (b. 1788)
1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England (b. 1801)
1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer (b. 1795)
1878 – William M. Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1820)
1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist (b. 1842)
1912 – Clara Barton, American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian, founder of the American Red Cross(b. 1821)
1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician (b. 1835)
1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873)
1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian speech therapist and actor (b. 1880)
1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car 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)
1973 – Arthur Freed, American lyricist and producer (b. 1894)
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 – Colette Deréal, French actress and singer (b. 1927)
1988 – Alan Paton, South African writer (b. 1903)
1989 – Gerald Flood, British actor (b. 1927)
1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist (b. 1936)
1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
1997 – George Wald, Americn scientist (b. 1906)
1998 – Robert Ford, Canadian poet and diplomat (b. 1815)
1999 – Marion Pruett, American spree killer (b. 1949)
1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer and songwriter (b. 1931)
2001 – Harvey Ball, American artist and designer (b. 1921)
2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and academic (b. 1908)
2003 – Sydney Lassick, American actor (b. 1922)
2005 – Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter, translator, and media personality (b. 1941)
2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American clergyman (b. 1924)
2006 – Puggy Pearson, American poker player (b. 1929)
2006 – Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (b. 1929)
2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian news anchor (b. 1936)
2008 – Cecilia Colledge, British ice skater (b. 1920)
2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish politician (b. 1923)
2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949)
2009 – Marilyn Chambers, American porn actress (b. 1952)
2010 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian union leader (b. 1916)
2010 – Palito, Filipino comedian (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:
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

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