November 12

### Up to 1900

- 764 – Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days.
- 1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe marries Romanus Argyrus according to the wishes of dying Constantine VIII
- 1439 – Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.
- 1555 – The English Parliament decides that Roman Catholicism will be the state religion of England.
- 1602 – Sebastian Viscaino lands at, and names, San Diego, California.
- 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is executed on the guillotine.
- 1892 – William Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, taking part in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
- 1893 – The Treaty of the Durand is signed between present–day Pakistan and Afghanistan; the Durand Line has become the international border between the two countries.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1905 – Newly independent Norway holds a referendum on its system of government. Most voters decide to have a monarch as their Head of State, over having a president.
- 1908 – An explosion at a mine shaft in Hamm, present–day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, kills 348 people.
- 1912 – The bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf.
- 1918 – Austria becomes a republic.
- 1920 – Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo.
- 1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin with complete control of the Soviet Union.
- 1928 – The ship SS _Vestris_ sinks around 200 miles (320 kilometers) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, killing over 110 people.
- 1933 – Hugh Gray takes the first–known photograph alleged to show the Loch Ness Monster.
- 1936 – The San Francisco Bay Bridge is opened.
- 1942 – World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days.
- 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches one of the most successful bombing attacks of war and sinks the German battleship _Tirpitz_ off the coast of Norway.
- 1945 – Sudirman is elected as the first commander–in–chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces.
- 1948 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II.
- 1956 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the UN.
- 1958 – A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first successful climb of the "Nose" on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California.
- 1968 – Equatorial Guinea joins the UN.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre – Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.
- 1970 – The Oregon Highway Division attempt to destroy a rotting bleached sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now–infamous "exploding whale" incident.
- 1973 – It is announced that Gerald Ford is to succeed Spiro Agnew as Vice President of the United States.
- 1975 – The Comoros join the UN.
- 1980 – The Voyager 1 space probe takes images of Saturn's rings.
- 1981 – The Space Shuttle Columbia launches on its second flight.
- 1982 – In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid Brezhnev.
- 1982 – Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa is released.
- 1985 – Xavier Suarez becomes Miami's first Cuban–American Mayor.
- 1990 – Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch. He had already succeeded his father Hirohito, who died on January 7, 1989.
- 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
- 1991 – Dili Massacre: Indonesian forces opened fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.
- 1994 – Chandrika Kumaratunga becomes President of Sri Lanka.
- 1995 – Mozambique joins the Commonwealth of Nations. As a former Portuguese colony, it is the first Commonwealth member not to have had any historical links with the present–day United Kingdom.
- 1995 – Azerbaijan holds its first parliamentary elections.
- 1996 – A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin II–76 cargo plane collide in mid–air near New Delhi, India, killing 349 people in the deadliest mid–air collision to date.
- 1997 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

### From 2001

- 2001 – Taliban forces abandon Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Northern Alliance troops.
- 2001 – A plane crash in the New York Borough of Queens kills all (260) of those on board, and 5 people on the ground. American Airlines Flight 587 had come down shortly after take–off and was bound for the Dominican Republic.
- 2003 – Iraq War: In Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, including the war's first Italian casualties, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on the Italian police base.
- 2003 – Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record, 501 kilometers per hour (311 miles per hour), for commercial railways systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles.
- 2004 – Official Guided by Voices Day in Los Angeles, California.
- 2004 – Resignation of Colin Powell as United States Secretary of Defense.
- 2010 – The 16th Asian Games begin in Guangzhou, China.
- 2011 – In the wake of an economic crisis, Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy. Mario Monti is selected to replace him shortly after.
- 2013 – One World Trade Center is announced as being the tallest building in the United States.
- 2014 – The Philae lander from the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe lands on the surface of the Comet _67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko_. It is the first man–made object to land on a comet.
- 2015 – At least 40 people are killed in suicide bomb attacks in Beirut, Lebanon.
- 2017 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes the Iran–Iraq border area, killing at least 450 people and injuring hundreds.

### Up to 1900

- 1493 – Bartolomeo Bandelli, Italian sculptor (d. 1560)
- 1528 – Qi Jiquang, Chinese general (d. 1588)
- 1547 – Claude of Valois, French princess (d. 1575)
- 1615 – Richard Baxter, English clergyman (d. 1691)
- 1651 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican nun and poet (d. 1695)
- 1679 – Firmin Bauzit, French scholar (d. 1767)
- 1729 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (d. 1811)
- 1746 – Jacques Charles, French physicist (d. 1823)
- 1755 – Gerhard von Scharnhorst, Prussian general (d. 1813)
- 1774 – Charles Bell, Scottish physiologist and anatomist (d. 1842)
- 1790 – Letitia Christian Tyler, American First Lady, wife of John Tyler (d. 1842)
- 1815 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American women's rights activist (d. 1902)
- 1817 – Baha'u'llah, religious leader of the Baha'i faith (d. 1892)
- 1830 – Brynjulf Bergslien, Norwegian sculptor (d. 1898)
- 1833 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer (d. 1887)
- 1840 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (d. 1917)
- 1841 – Preston Lea, Governor of Delaware (d. 1916)
- 1842 – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Raleigh, English physicist (d. 1919)
- 1850 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player (d. 1908)
- 1865 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary and politician (d. 1925)
- 1872 – William Fay, Irish actor and theatre musician (d. 1947)
- 1881 – Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (d. 1948)
- 1882 – Infanta María Teresa of Spain (d. 1912)
- 1883 – James W. Mott, American politician (d. 1945)
- 1886 – Ben Travers, British playwright (d. 1980)
- 1890 – Lily Kronberger, Hungarian figure skater (d. 1974)
- 1891 – Seth Barnes Nicholson, American astronomer (d. 1963)
- 1892 – Tudor Davies, Welsh operatic tenor (d. 1958)
- 1895 – Amandus Adamson, Estonian sculptor (d. 1929)
- 1898 – Leon Stukelj, Slovenian gymnast (d. 1999)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1901 – James Luther Adams, American theologian (d. 1994)
- 1903 – Jack Oakie, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1908 – Harry Blackmun, United States Supreme Court justice (d. 1999)
- 1911 – Buck Clayton, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1991)
- 1911 – Chad Varah, British founder of the Samaritans telephone helpline (d. 2007)
- 1915 – Roland Barthes, French writer and philosopher (d. 1980)
- 1917 – Jo Stafford, American singer (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Richard Quine, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Kim Hunter, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Loriot, German comedian, humorist, producer and writer (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Sam Jones, American jazz musician (d. 1981)
- 1928 – Bob Holness, South African–born television presenter and actor (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Michael Ende, German writer (d. 1995)
- 1929 – Grace Kelly, American actress and Princess of Monaco (d. 1982)
- 1930 – Bob Crewe, American songwriter, dancer, singer and record producer (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Norman Y. Mineta, American politician
- 1933 – Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq (d. 2017)
- 1934 – Vavá, Brazilian footballer (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Leonid Stein, Soviet–Ukrainian chess player (d. 1973)
- 1934 – Charles Manson, American cult leader (d. 2017)
- 1935 – Lyudmila Gurchenko, Russian actress and singer (d. 2011)
- 1936 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician (d. 2004)
- 1936 – Mills Lane, American boxer, referee, lawyer and judge
- 1937 – Richard H. Truly, American astronaut
- 1938 – Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania
- 1938 – Mort Shuman, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
- 1939 – Lucia Popp, Slovakian soprano (d. 1993)
- 1939 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American singer
- 1940 – Jürgen Todenhöfer, German judge and politician
- 1941 – Cristina Peri Rossi, Uruguayan writer
- 1943 – Errol Brown, English singer (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Bjorn Waldegard, Swedish rally driver (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Wallace Shawn, American actor and playwright
- 1944 – Booker T. Jones, American rock musician
- 1944 – Al Michaels, American sportscaster
- 1945 – Dale Schlueter, American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Neil Young, Canadian singer
- 1946 – Krister Henriksson, Swedish actor
- 1948 – Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran
- 1949 – Jack Reed, American politician

### 1951 – 1975

- 1952 – Ernie Fletcher, 60th Governor of Kentucky
- 1952 – Stuart Cosgrove, Scottish broadcaster and journalist
- 1955 – Louan Gideon, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1955 – Les McKeown, Scottish singer
- 1957 – Tim Samaras, American storm chaser (d. 2013)
- 1957 – Cécilia Attias, former First Lady of France
- 1958 – Megan Mullally, American actress
- 1959 – Toshihiko Sahashi, Japanese composer
- 1960 – Maurane, Belgian singer (d. 2018)
- 1961 – Nadia Comaneci, Romanian gymnast
- 1961 – Enzo Francescoli, Uruguayan footballer
- 1962 – Naomi Wolf, American author and feminist
- 1962 – Mariella Frostrup, Norwegian–British journalist
- 1962 – Mark Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and manager
- 1963 – Susumu Terajimi, Japanese actor
- 1964 – Danny Ellefson, American musician
- 1964 – Thomas Berthold, German footballer
- 1964 – Vic Chesnutt, American musician (d. 2009)
- 1964 – Michael Kremer, American economist
- 1965 – Eddie Mair, Scottish journalist
- 1968 – Aya Hisakawa, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1968 – Kathleen Hanna, American musician and activist
- 1968 – Sammy Sosa, Dominican baseball player
- 1970 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater
- 1971 – Chen Guangcheng, Chinese human rights activist
- 1973 – Radha Mitchell, American actress
- 1974 – Alessandro Birindelli, Italian footballer
- 1975 – Katherine Grainger, Scottish rower
- 1975 – Dario Simic, Croatian footballer

### From 1976

- 1976 – Miroslaw Szymkowiak, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Benni McCarthy, South African footballer
- 1978 – Eric Addo, Ghanaian footballer
- 1978 – Ashley Williams, American actress
- 1980 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
- 1980 – Charlie Hodgson, English rugby player
- 1981 – D. J. Campbell, English footballer
- 1982 – Maxim Tchoudov, Russian biathlete
- 1982 – Anne Hathaway, American actress
- 1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer
- 1984 – Omarion, American singer
- 1985 – Adlène Guedioura, French–Algerian footballer
- 1987 – Bryan Little, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Russell Westbrook, American basketball player
- 1988 – Paul Samaras, American storm chaser (d. 2013)
- 1989 – Hiroshi Kiyotake, Japanese footballer
- 1990 – Taulupe Faletau, Welsh rugby union player
- 1990 – Florent Manaudou, French swimmer
- 1990 – James McCarthy, Irish footballer
- 1992 – Adam Larsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Giulietta, Australian singer
- 1992 – Trey Burke, American basketball player
- 2001 – Raffey Cassidy, English actress

### Up to 1900

- 607 – Pope Boniface III
- 1035 – Canute the Great, Danish king of England, Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden (b. 995)
- 1094 – King Duncan II of Scotland (b. 1060)
- 1139 – King Magnus IV of Norway (b. 1115)
- 1202 – King Canute VI of Denmark (b. 1163)
- 1434 – King Louis III of Naples (b. 1403)
- 1595 – John Hawkins, English shipbuilder, merchant, and slavetrader (b. 1532)
- 1671 – Thomas Fairfax, English Civil War general (b. 1612)
- 1720 – Peter Tordenskiold, Danish–Norwegian naval officer (b. 1690)
- 1742 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1757 – Colley Cibber, English poet (b. 1671)
- 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, French politician, first Mayor of Paris (executed on the Guillotine) (b. 1736)
- 1813 – J. Hector St John de Crèvecoeur, French–American writer (b. 1735)
- 1836 – Juan Ramon Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (b. 1773)
- 1857 – Manuel Oribe, Uruguayan politician (b. 1792)
- 1865 – Elizabeth Gaskell, English writer (b. 1810)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1902 – William Henry Barlow, British railway engineer (b. 1812)
- 1903 – Camille Pissarro, French painter (b. 1830)
- 1912 – José Canalejas, Spanish politician and writer (b. 1854)
- 1916 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer (b. 1855)
- 1933 – John Cady, American golfer (b. 1866)
- 1933 – F. Holland Day, American photographer (b. 1864)
- 1939 – Norman Bethune, Canadian doctor and humanitarian (b. 1890)
- 1942 – Laura Hope Crews, American actress (b. 1879)
- 1944 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (b. 1876)
- 1945 – James W. Mott, American politician (b. 1883)
- 1946 – Albert Bond Lambert, American golfer (b. 1875)
- 1946 – Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian academic and politician (b. 1861)
- 1948 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (b. 1867)
- 1950 – Lesley Ashburner, American athlete (b. 1883)
- 1958 – James Michael Curley, American politician, Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1874)
- 1969 – Iskander Mirza, President of Pakistan (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Liu Shaoqi, Chinese revolutionary and politician (b. 1898)
- 1974 – Thorbergur Thordarson, Icelandic writer (b. 1889)
- 1976 – Walter Piston, American composer (b. 1894)
- 1990 – Eve Arden, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1994 – Wilma Rudolph, American runner (b. 1940)
- 1997 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Leah Rabin, widow of Yitzhak Rabin (b. 1928)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (b. 1976)
- 2007 – Ira Levin, American writer (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Henryk Gorecki, Polish composer (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Sergio Oliva, Cuban–born American bodybuilder (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Aleksandr Serebrov, Soviet–Russian cosmonaut (b. 1944)
- 2013 – John Tavener, English composer (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Warren Clarke, English actor (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Marge Roukema, American politician (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Rebekah Gibbs, English actress (b. 1973)
- 2015 – Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer (b. 1983)
- 2015 – Aaron Shikler, American artist (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Jihadi John, Kuwaiti–British terrorist (b. 1988)
- 2016 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican–American actress (b. 1910)
- 2017 – Bernard Panafieu, French cardinal (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Jack Ralite, French politician (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Edith Savage-Jennings, American activist (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Liz Smith, American gossip columnist (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Santiago Vernazza, Argentine footballer (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Ananth Kumar, Indian politician (b. 1959)
- 2018 – Stan Lee, American comic book writer, publisher and actor (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Igor Luchenok, Belarussian composer (b. 1938)
- 2018 – David Pearson, American racing driver (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Stuart H. Walker, American yachtsman (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Edwin Bramall, British army officer (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Herb Dickenson, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Bob Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Víctor Manuel Pérez Rojas, Venezuelan Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1940)
- 2019 – Mitsuhisa Taguchi, Japanese footballer (b. 1955)
- 2020 – Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physician (b. 1926)

## Observances

- Birth of Baha'u'llah (Baha'i faith)
- Birth of Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- World Pneumonia Day
- Constitution Day (Azerbaijan)