Wikipedia: December 12

December 12
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining.

Events

627 - Battle of Nineveh
1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman
1897 - The city of Belo Horizonte is founded.
1900 - US Steel formed
1901 - First radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean by Guglielmo Marconi
1913 - Mona Lisa recovered in Florence, two years after it was stolen
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).
1925 - Reza Pahlavi takes control of Iran as Shah
1941 - United States seizes French ship Normandie
1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom
1969 - Strage di Piazza Fontana in Italy
1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe
1985 - An Arrow Air DC-8 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division
1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt
2003 - Paul Martin, Jr is sworn-in as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada

Births

1574 - Anne of Denmark, consort of James I of England (d. 1619)
1745 - John Jay, United States Supreme Court justice (d. 1829)
1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist (d. 1879)
1806 - Stand Watie, Confederate general, Cherokee leader (d. 1871)
1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete
1892 - Liesl Karlstadt, actress along with Karl Valentin (d. 1960)
1892 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovene pioneer of astronautics and cosmonautics, and rocket engineer (d. 1929)
1893 - Edward G. Robinson, actor (d. 1973)
1905 - Mànes Sperber, writer (d. 1984)
1914 - Patrick O'Brian, British author (d. 2000)
1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
1918 - Joe Williams, singer (d. 1999)
1919 - Hermann Neuberger, sports official (d. 1992)
1923 - Bob Barker, game show host, television personality
1924 - Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City
1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
1927 - Honor Blackman, actress
1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist (d. 1994)
1932 - Bob Pettit, basketball star
1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico
1938 - Connie Francis, American singer
1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer
1943 - Dickie Betts, musician (The Allman Brothers)
1943 - Grover Washington Jr, musician (d. 1999)
1952 - Cathy Rigby, gymnast, actress
1957 - Sheila E, musician
1969 - Andrey Spasibozhko, web engineer (Chelyabinsk, Russia)
1981 - Yuvraj Singh, cricketer, India

Deaths

884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks
1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
1929 - Charles Goodnight, cattle baron (b. 1836)
1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, Sr, American actor (b. 1883)
1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress (b. 1902)
1971 - David Sarnoff, radio and television pioneer (b. 1891)
1994 - Stuart Roosa, Apollo Astronaut (b. 1933)
1996 - Vance Packard, American author on media manipulation (b. 1914)
1999 - Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
2001 - Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
2003 - Geidar Aliev, former President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

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
United Nations - Digital Solidarity Day

See Also:

December 11 - December 13 - November 12 - January 12 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December