January 12
January 12 is the
12th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar. There are 353 days remaining (354 in
leap years).
*
1528 -
Gustav I of Sweden crowned king of
Sweden.
*
1592 -
Titus Andronicus first staged at the
Rose Theatre.
*
1773 - The first public
Colonial American
museum opens in
Charleston, South Carolina.
*
1777 -
Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now
Santa Clara, California.
*
1838 - In order to avoid prosecution under laws banning
polygamy,
Joseph Smith, Jr. and his followers leave
Ohio for
Missouri.
*
1848 - The
Palermo rising in Sicily rises against the
Bourbon kingdom of the
Two Sicilies*
1866 -
Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in
London.
*
1872 -
Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of
Ethiopia in
Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
*
1875 -
Kwang-su becomes emperor of
China.
*
1898 -
Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as
Prime Minister of Japan.
*
1908 - A long-distance
radio message is sent from the
Eiffel Tower for the first time.
*
1915 - The
Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of
U.S. Congress.
* 1915 -
United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the
right to vote.
*
1926 -
Freeman Gosden and
Charles Correll premiere their
radio program
Sam 'n' Henry, a precursor to
Amos 'n' Andy; possibly the first
situation comedy.
*
1932 -
Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the
United States Senate.
*
1940 -
World War II:
Russia bombs cities in
Finland.
*
1942 -
President Franklin Roosevelt creates the
National War Labor Board.
*
1945 -
World War II: The
Soviets begin a large offensive in
Eastern Europe against the
Nazis.
*
1964 - Rebels in
Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the
Zanzibar Revolution and proclaimed a republic.
*
1966 -
Lyndon B. Johnson states that the
United States should stay in
South Vietnam until
Communist aggression there is ended.
* 1966 -
Batman the TV series debuts on
ABC.
*
1967 - Dr.
James Bedford becomes the first person to be
cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
*
1970 -
Biafra capitulates, ending the
Nigerian civil war.
*
1971 -
All in the Family debuts on
CBS.
* 1971 -
Harrisburg Six: The Reverend
Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap
Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in
Washington, DC.
*
1976 -
UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the
Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a
Security Council debate (without voting rights).
*
1986 -
Space Shuttle program:
STS-61-C mission -
Space Shuttle Columbia takes-off with the first
Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr.
Franklin R. Chang-Diaz. It was the last successful mission before
STS-51-L.
*
1991 -
Persian Gulf War: An act of the
U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive
Iraq out of
Kuwait.
*
1992 - A new constitution, providing for freedom to form political parties, is approved by referendum in
Mali.
*
1995 -
Malcolm X's daughter,
Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill
Louis Farrakhan.
*
1998 - Nineteen
European nations agree to forbid
human cloning.
*
2005 -
Deep Impact (space mission) launches from
Cape Canaveral by a
Delta 2 rocket.
*
2006 - The foreign ministers of the
United Kingdom,
France, and
Germany declare that negotiations with
Iran over its
nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the
United Nations Security Council.
(ABC)* 2006 -
A stampede during the
Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the
Hajj in
Mina,
Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362
Muslim pilgrims.
(BBC)* 2006 -
Turkey releases
Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after serving 25 years for shooting
Pope John Paul II.
(BBC)* 2006 - The
French warship
Clemenceau reaches
Egypt and is barred access to the
Suez Canal.
Greenpeace activists board the ship.
(BBC)*
1483 -
Henry III of Nassau-Breda, German nobleman (d. 1538)
*
1562 -
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d.
1630)
*
1576 -
Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer (d.
1660)
*
1591 -
Giuseppe Ribera, Spanish painter (d.
1652)
*
1597 -
François Duquesnoy, French sculptor (d.
1643)
*
1628 -
Charles Perrault, French folklorist (d.
1703)
*
1715 -
Jacques Duphly, French composer (d.
1789)
*
1716 -
Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general (d.
1795)
*
1723 -
Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (d.
1797)
*
1729 -
Edmund Burke, Irish statesman (d.
1797)
*
1737 -
John Hancock, American statesman (d.
1793)
*
1746 -
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue (d.
1827)
*
1751 - King
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d.
1825)
*
1786 -
Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d.
1855)
*
1797 -
Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician (d.
1873)
*
1849 -
Jean Béraud, French painter (d.
1935)
*
1856 -
John Singer Sargent, American artist (d.
1925)
*
1863 -
Swami Vivekananda, Indian philosopher (d.
1902)
*
1873 -
Spiridon Louis, Greek runner (d.
1940)
*
1876 -
Jack London, American author (d.
1916)
* 1876 -
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d.
1948)
*
1877 -
Frank J. Corr, American politican (d.
1934)
*
1878 -
Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer (d.
1952)
*
1879 -
Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d.
1968)
*
1882 -
Milton Sills, American actor (d.
1930)
*
1884 -
Texas Guinan, American actress (d.
1933)
*
1892 -
Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer (d.
1976)
*
1893 -
Hermann Göring, Nazi official (d.
1946)
* 1893 -
Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi official (d.
1946)
*
1896 -
Rex Ingram, Irish director (d.
1950)
*
1899 -
Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist,
Nobel laureate (d.
1965)
*
1902 - King
Saud of Saudi Arabia (d.
1969)
*
1905 -
Tex Ritter, American actor (d.
1974)
* 1905 -
James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (d.
1997)
*
1906 -
Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (d.
1942)
*
1907 -
Patsy Kelly, American actress (d.
1981)
* 1907 -
Sergei Korolev, Russian rocket scientist (d.
1966)
*
1908 -
Jean Delannoy, French film director
* 1908 -
Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d.
1988)
*
1910 -
Luise Rainer, German actress
*
1915 -
Paul Jarrico, American writer (d.
1997)
*
1916 -
Pieter Willem Botha,
President of South Africa* 1916 -
Jay McShann, American musician
*
1917 -
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritualist
*
1920 -
James L. Farmer, Jr., American activist (d.
1999)
*
1923 -
Ira Hayes, American soldier (d.
1955)
*
1925 -
Scottie MacGregor, American actress
*
1926 -
Ray Price, American singer
*
1928 -
Ruth Brown, American singer
* 1928 -
Lloyd Ruby, American race car driver
*
1930 -
Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (d.
1974)
* 1930 -
Glenn Yarborough, American singer
*
1932 -
Des O'Connor, British television presenter
*
1935 -
Kreskin, mentalist
*
1937 -
Shirley Eaton, British actress
*
1944 -
Hans Henning Atrott, German philosopher
* 1944 -
Joe Frazier, American boxer
* 1944 -
Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovakian chess player
*
1946 -
George Duke, American musician
*
1946 -
Lady Cosgrove, Scottish judiciary figure
*
1948 -
Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (d.
2001)
* 1948 -
Kenny Allen, English footballer
*
1949 -
Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist
*
1949 -
Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born film director
*
1950 -
Sheila Jackson Lee, American politician
* 1950 -
Bob McEwen, American politician
* 1950 -
Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (d.
1992)
*
1951 -
Kirstie Alley, American actress
* 1951 -
Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality
*
1952 -
Walter Mosley, American author
*
1954 -
Howard Stern, American radio host
*
1955 -
Rockne O'Bannon, writer
*
1957 -
John Lasseter, American director
*
1959 -
Blixa Bargeld, German singer (
Einstürzende Neubauten)
* 1959 -
Per Gessle, Swedish songwriter
*
1960 -
Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
* 1960 -
Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player
*
1964 -
Jeff Bezos, American entrepreneur
*
1966 -
Rob Zombie, American musician
* 1966 -
Olivier Martinez, French actor
*
1967 -
Vendela Kirsebom, Swedish supermodel
*
1968 -
Heather Mills McCartney, British activist
*
1969 -
Robert Prosinečki, Croatian footballer
*
1970 -
Zack de la Rocha, American musician (
Rage Against the Machine)
* 1970 -
Raekwon, American rapper
*
1972 -
Priyanka Gandhi, Daughter of former Indian Prime Minister,
Rajiv Gandhi*
1972 -
Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
*
1974 -
Melanie Chisholm, British singer
* 1974 -
Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skiier
*
1977 -
Dominic Etli, American Soccer Player
*
1978 -
Kris Roe, American musician (
The Ataris)
* 1978 -
Luis Ayala, Baseball pitcher
*
1979 -
Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
* 1979 -
Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
*
1980 -
Amerie, American singer and songwriter
*
1980 -
Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
*
1982 -
Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
* 1982 -
Justin Daniel Drummond, American humorist
*
1984 -
Scott Olsen, American baseball player
*
1988 -
Chris Casement, Irish footballer
*
1990 -
Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player
*
1321 -
Maria of Brabant, wife of
Philip III of France (b.
1256)
*
1519 -
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b.
1459)
*
1583 -
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b.
1508)
*
1665 -
Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b.
1601)
*
1674 -
Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (b.
1605)
*
1705 -
Luca Giordano, Italian artist (b.
1634)
*
1732 -
John Horsley, British archaeologist
*
1735 -
John Eccles, English composer (b.
1668)
*
1759 -
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, (b.
1709)
*
1777 -
Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle)
*
1781 -
Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (b.
1691)
*
1817 -
Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit (b.
1740)
*
1909 -
Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b.
1864)
*
1940 -
Edward Smith (VC), Youngest
First World War VC recipient, b.1899
*
1943 -
Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer (b.
1902)
*
1944 -
Lance C. Wade, American pilot (b.
1915)
*
1956 -
Norman Kerry, American actor (b.
1894)
*
1960 -
Nevil Shute, English writer (b.
1899)
*
1962 -
Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian writer and feminist (b.
1869)
*
1965 -
Lorraine Hansberry, American writer (b.
1936)
*
1976 -
Agatha Christie, English writer (b.
1890)
*
1983 -
Nikolai Podgorny,
President of the USSR (b.
1903)
*
1991 -
Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (b.
1904)
*
1997 -
Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b.
1901)
*
1999 -
Betty Lou Gerson, American voice actress (b.
1914)
*
2000 -
Marc Davis, American animator (b.
1913)
* 2000 -
Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b.
1969)
*
2001 -
Affirmed, American racehorse (b.
1975)
* 2001 -
William Hewlett, American engineer and businessman (b.
1913)
*
2002 -
Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b.
1911)
* 2002 -
Cyrus Vance, 57th
U.S. Secretary of State (b.
1917)
*
2003 -
Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese director (b.
1930)
* 2003 -
Leopoldo Galtieri, dictator of Argentina (b.
1926)
* 2003 -
Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, and musician (
Bee Gees) (b.
1949)
* 2003 -
Brandon Vedas, Internet drug abuser. (b.
1981)
*
2005 -
Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b.
1932)
* 2005 -
Edmund S. Valtman, Estonian-born cartoonist (b.
1914)
*
Tanzania -
Zanzibar Revolution Day
* In
2001: A Space Odyssey, the fictional computer HAL becomes operational on January 12. In the movie by
Stanley Kubrick, HAL was "born" in
1992, while in the book by
Arthur C. Clarke the same event occurs in
1997.
* In the television series The
X-Files, the third season episode
Syzygy, has two girls, Terri & Magi, both born on January 12,
1979. Strange astrological properties with 3+ celestial bodies in alignment gives them great power which they use to kill off several of their high school classmates on their birthday in
1996.
* In
USA's
Monk, the 4th season episode of
MR. MONK AND MRS. MONK (#T-2351) indicates that Monk spilt something on January 12,
1999 during an earthquake. He stated "Earthquakes count, I don't make the rules."
*
BBC: On This Day*
NY Times: On this dayJanuary 11 -
January 13 -
December 12 -
February 12 "
listing of all days
