DECEMBER 12

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

★ 1098 - First Crusade: 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.

★ 1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico City.

★ 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in ''HMS Victory'', defeats a French fleet.

★ 1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.

★ 1862 - USS Cairo sank on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

★ 1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.

★ 1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is inaugurated.

★ 1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.

★ 1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.

★ 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 announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.

★ 1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.

★ 1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.

★ 1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.

★ 1937 - Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat ''Panay'' on the Yangtze River in China.

★ 1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.

★ 1940 - Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.

★ 1941 - World War II: 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: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.

★ 1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.

★ 1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.

★ 1946 - A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.

★ 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.

★ 1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.

★ 1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.

★ 1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

★ 1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.

★ 1969 - ''Strategia della tensione'': Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.

★ 1979 - Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General 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 - Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq conferred ''Nishan-e-Imtiaz'' on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.

★ 1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 1991 - Russian Federation gains independance from the USSR.

★ 2000 - The United States Supreme Court released its decision in ''Bush v. Gore''

★ 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.

Births

★ 1298 - Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)

★ 1418 - Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463)

★ 1574 - Anne of Denmark, wife of James I of England (d. 1619)

★ 1610 - Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)

★ 1659 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)

★ 1712 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)

★ 1724 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)

★ 1745 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)

★ 1779 - Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)

★ 1783 - Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)

★ 1786 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)

★ 1799 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)

★ 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)

★ 1806 - Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)

★ 1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)

★ 1845 - Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)

★ 1849 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)

★ 1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)

★ 1864 - Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)

★ 1866 - Alfred Werner, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)

★ 1870 - Walter Benona Sharp, American oil baron (d. 1912)

★ 1875 - Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)

★ 1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein, Olympic gold medalist (d. 1928)

★ 1887 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)

★ 1892 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Austro-Hungarian-born rocket engineer (d. 1929)

★ 1893 - Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)

★ 1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)

★ 1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)

★ 1903 - Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)

★ 1904 - Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor and socialite (d. 1981)

★ 1905 - Mànes Sperber, Austro-Hungarian-born writer (d. 1984)

★ 1907 - Roy Douglas, British composer and orchestrator

★ 1909 - Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)

★ 1914 - Patrick O'Brian (Richard Patrick Russ), British author (d. 2000)

★ 1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)

★ 1918 - Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)

★ 1919 - Olivia Barclay, British astrologer (d. 2001)

★ 1919 - Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)

★ 1920 - Fred Kida, American comics artist

★ 1923 - Bob Barker, American television game show host

★ 1923 - Ken Kavanagh, Australian racing driver

★ 1924 - Ed Koch, Mayor of New York City

★ 1925 - Vladimir Shainsky, Soviet and Russian composer

★ 1927 - Honor Blackman, British actress

★ 1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)

★ 1928 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer

★ 1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist (d. 1994)

★ 1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician

★ 1930 - Bill Beutel, American Journalist (d. 2006)

★ 1931 - Lionel Blair, British actor and choreographer

★ 1932 - Bob Pettit, American basketball player

★ 1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico

★ 1938 - Connie Francis, American singer

★ 1940 - Sharad Pawar, Indian politician

★ 1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer

★ 1943 - Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers)

★ 1943 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)

★ 1944 - Kenneth Cranham, Scottish born actor

★ 1944 - Jean Doré, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal

★ 1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian 2 time Formula 1 World Champion

★ 1946 - Paula Wagner, American film executive

★ 1948 - Tom Wilkinson, English actor

★ 1949 - Rajnikanth, Indian actor

★ 1949 - Bill Nighy, English actor

★ 1950 - Billy Smith, National Hockey League goaltender

★ 1952 - Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, Canadian politician

★ 1952 - Cathy Rigby, American gymnast

★ 1953 - Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss)

★ 1954 - Liz Claman, American television anchor

★ 1955 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek business woman

★ 1956 - Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist

★ 1957 - Sheila E., American musician

★ 1957 - Robert Lepage, Quebec playwright

★ 1962 - Tracy Austin, American tennis player

★ 1962 - Mike Golic, former NFL football player

★ 1964 - Sabu, American professional wrestler

★ 1966 - Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist

★ 1967 - John Randle, American football player

★ 1967 - Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Japanese composer

★ 1967 - Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer

★ 1968 - Rory Kennedy, American documentarian

★ 1968 - Laurie Williams, Indian cricket player

★ 1970 - Mädchen Amick, American actress

★ 1970 - Jennifer Connelly, American actress

★ 1970 - Regina Hall, American actress

★ 1972 - Nicky Eaden, English footballer

★ 1972 - Wilson Kipketer, Danish former middle distance runner

★ 1972 - Kevin Parent, Quebec singer and songwriter

★ 1972 - Brandon Teena, American hate crime victim

★ 1972 - Yeoryios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter

★ 1972 - Hank Williams III, grandson of Hank Williams

★ 1973 - William Hutton, American engineer

★ 1973 - Walter Otta, Argentine footballer

★ 1974 - Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer

★ 1975 - Mayim Bialik, American actress

★ 1975 - Craig Moore, Australian footballer

★ 1976 - Dan Hawkins, British guitarist (The Darkness)

★ 1977 - Orlando Hudson, American baseball player

★ 1977 - Bridget Hall, American supermodel

★ 1977 - Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player

★ 1977 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet ''Playboy'' models

★ 1978 - Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress

★ 1978 - Evren Genis, Turkish composer

★ 1979 - Garrett Atkins, American baseball player

★ 1979 - Nate Clements, American football player

★ 1979 - Sharin Foo, Danish singer and bassist

★ 1981 - Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier

★ 1981 - Ronnie Brown, American football player

★ 1981 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricket player

★ 1981 - Stephen Warnock, British footballer

★ 1981 - Pedro Ríos, Spanish footballer

★ 1982 - Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player

★ 1983 - Katrina Elam, American singer

★ 1984 - Daniel Agger, Danish footballer

★ 1986 - Perparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer

★ 1986 - Thomas Wansey, English television actor

★ 1987 - Kate Todd, Canadian actress

★ 1989 - Harry Eden, British actor

★ 1991 - Daniel Magder, Canadian actor

Deaths

★ 884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks

★ 1212 - Geoffrey, Archbishop of York

★ 1569 - Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)

★ 1574 - Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)

★ 1586 - Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)

★ 1685 - John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)

★ 1751 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)

★ 1754 - Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)

★ 1766 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)

★ 1789 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)

★ 1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)

★ 1843 - King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)

★ 1858 - Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)

★ 1889 - Robert Browning, British poet (b. 1812)

★ 1889 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)

★ 1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)

★ 1913 - Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)

★ 1923 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)

★ 1926 - Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)

★ 1929 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)

★ 1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)

★ 1941 - Cesar Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)

★ 1952 - Bedřich Hrozný, Austro-Hungarian-born Czechoslovak orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)

★ 1963 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)

★ 1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)

★ 1970 - Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)

★ 1971 - David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)

★ 1976 - Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)

★ 1977 - Lady Spencer Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)

★ 1980 - Jean Lesage, politician, premier of Quebec (b. 1912)

★ 1985 - Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)

★ 1985 - Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)

★ 1992 - Suzanne Lilar, Belgian esssayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)

★ 1993 - József Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)

★ 1994 - Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)

★ 1996 - Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)

★ 1997 - Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)

★ 1998 - Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)

★ 1999 - Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)

★ 2000 - George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)

★ 2001 - Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)

★ 2002 - Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)

★ 2002 - Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)

★ 2002 - Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)

★ 2003 - Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan

★ 2003 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)

★ 2005 - Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)

★ 2005 - Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)

★ 2006 - Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)

★ 2006 - Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)

★ 2006 - Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)

★ 2006 - Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

★ R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe

★ Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Masá'il (Questions) - First day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í Calendar

★ Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe Day

★ Kenya - ''Jamhuri Day'': Independence Day (from Britain, 1963)

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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