April 12

Template:Linked-title is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). There are 263 days remaining.

Events

• 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire
• 1606 - The Union Jack is adopted as the national flag of Great Britain.
• 1633 - The formal inquest of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition begins.
• 1776 - North Carolina's Provincial Congress authorized its delegates to the Second Continental Congress to vote for independence by issuing the Halifax Resolves.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Fort Pillow massacre -- Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest kill most of the African American soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
• 1877 - The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
• 1917 - Canadian forces successfully take Vimy Ridge, giving allied forces a stronger foothold against the Axis powers.
• 1935 - First flight of the Bristol Blenheim.
• 1937 - Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England.
• 1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies while in office; vice-president Harry S. Truman is inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States.
• 1954 - Bill Haley & His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City. Initially unsuccessful, the recording would help launch the rock and roll revolution a year later.
• 1955 - The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
• 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space.
• 1968 - Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah.
• 1980 - Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending over 130 years of democratic presidential succession in that country.
• 1980 - Terry Fox begins his "Marathon of Hope" by dipping his artificial leg into the Atlantic at St. John's, Newfoundland.
• 1981 - The first launch of a Space Shuttle: Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission.

• 1994 - Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
• 1996 - Yahoo! has its initial public offering, selling 2.6 million shares at $13 each.
• 1998 - An earthquake in Slovenia, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale near the town of Bovec.
• 1999 - American President Bill Clinton was cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in the Paula Jones sexual harassment civil lawsuit. [1]
• 2002 - Pedro Carmona becomes interim President of Venezuela during the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002, a military coup against Hugo Chávez.

Births

• 599 BC - Mahavira, founder of Jainism (d. 527 BC)
• 812 - Muhammad at-Taqi, Arabian 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 - Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
• 1713 - Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (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)
• 1777 - Henry Clay, American statesman (d. 1852)
• 1794 - Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (d. 1847)
• 1799 - Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1855)
• 1823 - Alexandr Ostrovsky, Russian dramatist (d. 1886)
• 1839 - Nikolai Przhevalsky, Russian explorer (d. 1888)
• 1848 - José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican poet (d. 1880)
• 1852 - Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician (d. 1939)
• 1856 - William Martin Conway, English art critic and mountaineer (d. 1937)
• 1868 - Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese naval commander (d. 1918)
• 1869 - Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
• 1883 - Dally Messenger, Australian rugby league player (d. 1959)
• 1884 - Otto Meyerhof, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1951)
• 1887 - Harold Lockwood, American silent film actor (d. 1918)
• 1888 - Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (d. 1964)
• 1892 - Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1940)
• 1893 - Robert Harron, American actor (d. 1920)
• 1898 - Lily Pons, American soprano (d. 1976)
• 1901 - Lowell Stockman, American representative
• 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 Air Force pilot (d. 2006)
• 1912 - Walt Gorney, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1912 - Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Second Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
• 1914 - Armen Alchian, American economist
• 1916 - Beverly Cleary, American writer
• 1916 - Benjamin Libet, American scientist
• 1917 - Helen Forrest, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1922 - Tiny Tim, American musician (d. 1996)
• 1923 - Ann Miller, American actress and dancer (d. 2004)
• 1924 - Peter Safar, Austrian physician (d. 2003)
• 1928 - Hardy Krüger, German actor
• 1928 - Jean-François Paillard, French conductor
• 1932 - Dennis Banks, American activist
• 1932 - Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2005)
• 1933 - Montserrat Caballé, Catalan soprano
• 1935 - Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 - Alan Ayckbourn, English writer
• 1940 - Herbie Hancock, American pianist and composer
• 1941 - Bobby Moore, English footballer (d. 1993)
• 1944 - John Kay, German-born musician (Steppenwolf)
• 1945 - Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the WHO (d. 2006)
• 1946 - Ed O'Neill, American actor
• 1947 - Tom Clancy, American author
• 1947 - David Letterman, American talk show host
• 1947 - Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets
• 1948 - Jeremy Beadle, British television presenter
• 1948 - Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister of Germany
• 1948 - Sandra "Lois" Reeves, American singer (Martha & the Vandellas)
• 1949 - Scott Turow, American writer
• 1950 - David Cassidy, American singer and actor
• 1950 - Kari Palaste, Finnish architect
• 1952 - Ralph Wiley, American sports journalist (d. 2004)
• 1954 - Pat Travers, Canadian musician
• 1956 - Andy Garcia, Cuban-born actor
• 1956 - Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer
• 1957 - Vince Gill, American musician
• 1958 - Will Sergeant, English musician (Echo & the Bunnymen)
• 1960 - Ron MacLean, Canadian sportscaster
• 1961 - Lisa Gerrard, Australian singer
• 1962 - Art Alexakis, American musician (Everclear)
• 1962 - Takada Nobuhiko, Japanese wrestler
• 1964 - Amy Ray, American musician (Indigo Girls)
• 1970 - Nick Hexum, American musician (311)
• 1971 - Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1971 - Shannen Doherty, American actress
• 1972 - Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player
• 1973 - J. Scott Campbell, American comic book artist
• 1973 - Antonio Osuna, Mexican baseball player
• 1973 - Claudia Jordan, American model
• 1974 - Marley Shelton, American actress
• 1974 - Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 - Brad Miller, American basketball player
• 1977 - Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1977 - Sarah Jane Morris, American actress
• 1978 - Guy Berryman, British musician (Coldplay)
• 1978 - Riley Smith, American actor
• 1979 - Claire Danes, American actress
• 1979 - Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
• 1981 - Nicolás Burdisso, Argentine footballer
• 1982 - Deen, Bosnian singer
• 1982 - Chyler Leigh, American actress
• 1985 - Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 1985 - Jeisa Chiminazzo, Brazilian supermodel
• 1987 - Brendon Urie, American singer (Panic! at the Disco)

Deaths

• 65 - Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher, statesman and dramatist
• 238 - Gordian I, Roman Emperor (suicide)
• 238 - Gordian II, heir to the Roman Empire (killed in battle)
• 352 - St. Julius I, 35th Pope
• 434 - Archbishop Maximianus of Constantinople
• 1125 - Vladislaus I of Bohemia
• 1443 - Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1550 - Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (b. 1496)
• 1555 - Juana of Castile, wife of Philip I of Castile (b. 1479)
• 1687 - Ambrose Dixon, Virginia Colony pioneer
• 1704 - Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and writer (b. 1627)
• 1748 - William Kent, English architect
• 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)
• 1850 - Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary (b. 1788)
• 1878 - William Marcy Tweed, aka Boss Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
• 1902 - Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist (b. 1842)
• 1912 - Clara Barton, American nurse and Red Cross advocate (b. 1821)
• 1938 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (b. 1873)
• 1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
• 1962 - Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Indian politician and engineer (b. 1861)
• 1968 - Heinrich Nordhoff, German automobile engineer, first managing director of Volkswagen (b. 1899)
• 1971 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
• 1971 - Ed Lafitte, American baseball player (b. 1871)
• 1975 - Josephine Baker, American dancer (b. 1906)
• 1980 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (b. 1895)
• 1980 - William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia (b. 1913)
• 1981 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
• 1986 - Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (b. 1897)
• 1987 - Mike Von Erich, American wrestler
• 1988 - Alan Paton, South African novelist (b. 1903)
• 1989 - Gerald Flood, British actor (b. 1927)
• 1989 - Abbie Hoffman, American radical leader (b. 1936)
• 1989 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
• 1997 - George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
• 1999 - Boxcar Willie, American singer (b. 1931)
• 2003 - Cecil H. Green, American manufacturer (b. 1900)
• 2006 - Dr. Rajkumar, Kannada language film actor/singer (b. 1929)
• 2006 - Puggy Pearson, American professional poker player (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• The Roman holiday of Cerealia begins.
• Yuri's Night, an international celebration of the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin; in Russia (and formerly in USSR), the Cosmonautics Day.

Liturgical Feast Days

The Feast of St. Basil the Confessor in the Greek Orthodox Church.

In the Roman Catholic Church:

• Saint Damian
• Saint Erkembode
• Saint Julius I
• Saint Zeno of Verona

External links

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

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