December 12

Historic Events

2024

Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju became the undisputed World Chess Champion in a tournament held in Singapore, making him the 18th and the youngest champion in chess history. ›

2021

Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands. ›

2015

The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted. ›

2012

North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2. ›

2001

Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps. ›

2000

The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore. ›

1999

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Philippines's main island of Luzon, killing six people, injuring 40, and causing power outages that affected the capital Manila. ›

1988

The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom. ›

1985

Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division. ›

1979

The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami. ›

1979

Coup d'état of December Twelfth occurs in South Korea. ›

1969

The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded. ›

1963

Kenya declares independence from Great Britain. ›

1956

United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted. ›

1946

United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted. ›

1945

The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea. ›

1941

World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed. ›

1941

The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery. ›

1939

HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men. ›

1939

Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins. ›

1937

Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China. ›

1936

The beginning of Xi'an incident. As a result, Chiang Kai Shek is captured. ›

1935

The Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler. ›

1917

Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys. ›

1915

Yuan Shikai declares the establishment of the Empire of China and proclaims himself Emperor. ›

1901

Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland. ›

1870

Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman. ›

1866

Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers. ›

1862

American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River. ›

1787

Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution. ›

1388

Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice. ›

627

Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh. ›