January 12

Historic Events

2020

Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupts and kills 39 people. ›

2016

Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. ›

2015

Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata, Cameroon. ›

2012

Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu's economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers. ›

2010

An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince. ›

2007

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), one of the brightest comets ever observed is at its zenith visible during the day. ›

2006

A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. ›

2005

Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket. ›

2004

The world's largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage. ›

2001

Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. ›

1998

Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. ›

1997

Space Shuttle program: Atlantis launches from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-81 to the Russian space station Mir, carrying astronaut Jerry M. Linenger for a four-month stay on board the station, replacing astronaut John E. Blaha. ›

1991

Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. ›

1990

A seven-day pogrom breaks out against the Armenian civilian population of Baku, Azerbaijan, during which Armenians were beaten, tortured, murdered, and expelled from the city. ›

1986

Space Shuttle program: Congressman and future NASA Administrator Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61-C as a payload specialist. ›

1976

The United Nations Security Council votes 11–1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights). ›

1971

The Harrisburg Seven: Rev. Philip Berrigan and five other activists are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C. ›

1970

Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian Civil War. ›

1969

The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history. ›

1967

Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. ›

1966

Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended. ›

1964

Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic. ›

1962

Vietnam War: Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission and first American helicopter assault in the war, takes place. ›

1955

A Martin 2-0-2 and Douglas DC-3 collide over Boone County, Kentucky, killing 15 people. ›

1945

World War II: The Red Army begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive. ›

1942

World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board. ›

1933

Casas Viejas incident: 22 peasants killed by the Security and Assault Corps in Casas Viejas, Spain. ›

1932

Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate. ›

1918

The Minnie Pit Disaster coal mining accident occurs in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys die. ›

1916

Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann become the first German aviators to earn the Pour le Mérite, receive the German Empire's highest military award, for achieving eight aerial victories each over Allied aircraft. ›

1915

The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposed constitutional amendment to require states to give women the right to vote. ›

1911

The University of the Philippines College of Law is established. ›

1895

The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom. ›

1872

Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years. ›

1866

The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London. ›

1848

The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. ›

1808

John Rennie's scheme to defend St Mary's Church, Reculver, founded in 669, from coastal erosion is abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture. ›

1808

The organizational meeting leading to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh. ›

1792

Federalist Thomas Pinckney appointed first U.S. minister to Britain. ›

1616

The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco. ›

1528

Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523. ›

475

Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. ›