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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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
- 1983 – John Carney, American photographer
- 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 (C-ute and Buono!)
- 2000 – Suzanna von Nathusius, Polish actress
[edit] 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 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)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
