September 12

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 1185 &ndash; Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos is brutally put to death in Constantinople.
* 1309 &ndash; First Siege of Gibraltar during the Spanish Reconquista.
* 1556 &ndash; Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor gives up the throne for his brother, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1609 &ndash; Henry Hudson explores the Hudson River.
* 1683 &ndash; Battle of Kahlenberg: Forces of John III Sobieski of Poland surprise Ottoman Empire forces under Kara Mustafa, defeating them decisively.
* 1689 &ndash; Tsar Peter I of Russia assumes absolute power.
* 1814 &ndash; War of 1812: Battle of North Point – An American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore, Maryland.
* 1847 &ndash; Mexican-American War: The Battle of Chapultepec begins.
* 1848 &ndash; Switzerland becomes a federal state.
* 1857 &ndash; The ship SS *America* sinks about 160 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, with 426 people drowning. It was carrying gold from the California Gold Rush
* 1861 &ndash; American Civil War: Battle of Cheat Pike in Virginia.
* 1885 &ndash; Arbroath F.C. 36-0 Bon Accord: This scoreline in Scotland is the highest-recorded in professional football.
* 1890 &ndash; Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) is founded.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1905 &ndash; Japanese battleship *Mikasa* sinks after a munitions explosion. Out of the 935 men on board, 256 are killed and 343 injured.
* 1905 &ndash; Copenhagen town hall is inaugurated in Denmark.
* 1906 &ndash; Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, south Wales.
* 1910 &ndash; First performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony Number 8, in Munich.
* 1918 &ndash; British passenger ship *Galway Castle* is torpedoed by a German U-boat off Land's End, Cornwall, England, killing 143 people.
* 1920 &ndash; The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp begins.
* 1928 &ndash; A hurricane in Guadeloupe kills 1,200 people.
* 1933 &ndash; Leó Szilárd has the idea of a nuclear chain reaction.
* 1940 &ndash; World-famous cave paintings are discovered in the Lascaux in southern France.
* 1940 &ndash; An explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenil, New Jersey kills 51 and injures over 200.
* 1942 &ndash; World War II: RMS *Laconia*, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers, and Italian POWs, is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa, with a heavy loss of life.
* 1942 &ndash; World War II: First Day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign. US Marines protecting Henderson Field in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, are attacked by Imperial Japanese forces.
* 1943 &ndash; World War II: Benito Mussolini is rescued from house arrest on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzi, led by German commandos under Otto Skorzeny.
* 1944 &ndash; World War II: American troops enter Germany near Trier.
* 1948 &ndash; Invasion of the State of Hyderabad by the Indian army on the day after the death of Pakistan's leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
* 1949 &ndash; Theodor Heuss becomes the 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
* 1953 &ndash; John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island.
* 1958 &ndash; Jack Kilby demonstrates the first integrated circuit.
* 1959 &ndash; Showing of the first episode of *Bonanza*, first regularly scheduled television programme presented in colour.
* 1959 &ndash; The Soviet Union launches the Lunik II rocket.
* 1959 &ndash; Heinrich Lübke becomes the 2nd President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
* 1961 &ndash; The African and Malagasy Union is founded.
* 1964 &ndash; The Canyonlands National Park in Utah is created.
* 1966 &ndash; Gemini 11, of NASA's Gemini program, is launched. 
* 1970 &ndash; Palestinian terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Jordan. Passengers are held at secret locations in the capital city, Amman.
* 1974 &ndash; Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I is deposed in a military coup.
* 1977 &ndash; Anti–Apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody.
* 1979 &ndash; Indonesia is struck by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake.
* 1980 &ndash; A military coup occurs in Turkey.
* 1988 &ndash; Hurricane Gilbert hits Jamaica.
* 1990 &ndash; The Faroe Islands national football team scores a surprise 1–0 win over the Austria national football team. The Faroese players are celebrated as heroes after their return home from the match.
* 1990 &ndash; East Germany's national football team plays its last-ever match, winning 2–0 against the Belgium national football team.
* 1992 &ndash; NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on the STS-47 mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison (first African American woman in space), Mamoru Mohri (first Japanese citizen on a US spaceship), and Mark Lee and Jan Davis (first married couple in space).
* 1992 &ndash; Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman is arrested in Peru, by special forces.
* 1994 &ndash; Frank Eugene Corder crashes a single–engine *Cessna 150* light aircraft into the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, killing himself.
* 1999 &ndash; Indonesia announces it will allow international peacekeepers into East Timor.

### From 2001 
* 2003 &ndash; The UN lifts sanctions against Libya.
* 2003 &ndash; US Forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers in Fallujah.
* 2005 &ndash; Hong Kong Disneyland opens.
* 2007 &ndash; Former President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is convicted of plunder.
* 2008 &ndash; The Chatsworth train collision occurs in Los Angeles, California, between a Metrolink commerce train and a Union Pacific Freight train, killing 25 people.
* 2011 &ndash; About 100 people are killed by an oil pipeline explosion in Nairobi, Kenya.
* 2011 &ndash; Russian ice hockey player Alexander Galimov dies, as the 44th, and final, victim of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash, which occurred on September 7. The whole team was killed.
* 2015 &ndash; Jeremy Corbyn is elected leader of the British Labour Party.
* 2015 &ndash; An explosion in Petlawad in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh kills at least 105 people.
* 2018 &ndash; The European Parliament votes by a two-thirds majority to trigger possible sanctions (punishments) against the government of Hungary, over issues of democracy, human rights, judicial freedom and journalistic freedom.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 1492 &ndash; Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (d. 1519)
* 1494 &ndash; King Francis I of France (d. 1547)
* 1575 &ndash; Henry Hudson, English explorer (d. 1611)
* 1605 &ndash; William Dugdale, English antiquarian (d. 1686)
* 1649 &ndash; Giuseppe Maria Tomasi, Italian cardinal (d. 1713)
* 1652 &ndash; Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental (d. 1697)
* 1688 &ndash; Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (d. 1731)
* 1690 &ndash; Peter Dens, Belgian Catholic theologian (d. 1775)
* 1725 &ndash; Guillaume Le Gentil, French astronomer (d. 1792)
* 1736 &ndash; Hsinbyushin, King of Burma (d. 1776)
* 1740 &ndash; Johann Heinrich Jung, German writer (d. 1817)
* 1759 &ndash; Maximilian von Montgelas, Bavarian politician (d. 1838)
* 1768 &ndash; Benjamin Carr, American composer, singer, teacher and publisher (d. 1831)
* 1800 &ndash; Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, French chess player (d. 1872)
* 1812 &ndash; Richard Hoe, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1886)
* 1818 &ndash; Richard Gatling, American weapons inventor (d. 1903)
* 1818 &ndash; Theodor Kullak, German pianist and composer (d. 1915)
* 1829 &ndash; Anselm Feuerbach, German painter (d. 1880)
* 1830 &ndash; William Sprague, 72nd Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1915)
* 1837 &ndash; Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1892)
* 1838 &ndash; Arthur Auwers, German astronomer (d. 1915)
* 1852 &ndash; H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1928)
* 1855 &ndash; William Sharp, Scottish writer (d. 1905)
* 1855 &ndash; Simon-Napoleon Parent, 12th Premier of Quebec (d. 1920)
* 1857 &ndash; Manuel Espinosa Batista, Panamanian politician and businessman (d. 1919)
* 1857 &ndash; George Hendrik Breitner, Dutch painter (d. 1923)
* 1865 &ndash; Sophus Claussen, Danish writer (d. 1931)
* 1866 &ndash; Freeman Freeman-Thompson, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, 13th Governor General of Canada (d. 1941)
* 1875 &ndash; Matsunosuke Onoe, Japanese actor (d. 1926)
* 1880 &ndash; H. L. Mencken, American journalist and writer (d. 1956)
* 1885 &ndash; Heinrich Hoffmann, German photographer (d. 1957)
* 1887 &ndash; Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, Azerbaijani writer and statesman (d. 1943)
* 1888 &ndash; Maurice Chevalier, French singer and actor (d. 1972)
* 1889 &ndash; Ugo Pasquale Mifsud, 3rd Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1942)
* 1891 &ndash; Don Pedro Albizu Campos, advocate for Puerto Rican independence (d. 1965)
* 1891 &ndash; Fred Kelly, American athlete (d. 1974)
* 1891 &ndash; Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (d. 1968)
* 1892 &ndash; Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (d. 1984)
* 1894 &ndash; Friedrich Ebert, Jr., German politician (d. 1979)
* 1894 &ndash; Billy Gilbert, American actor and composer (d. 1971)
* 1897 &ndash; Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1956)
* 1898 &ndash; Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (d. 1963)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1901 &ndash; Ben Blue, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 1975)
* 1901 &ndash; Shmuel Horowitz, Russian-Israeli agronomist (d. 1999)
* 1902 &ndash; Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, President of Brazil (d. 1976)
* 1904 &ndash; Gavriil Popov, Russian composer (d. 1972)
* 1904 &ndash; Istvan Horthy, Hungarian admiral (d. 1942)
* 1907 &ndash; Roger Bonvin, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1982)
* 1912 &ndash; Frances Lennon, English artist (d. 2015)
* 1913 &ndash; Jesse Owens, American athlete, four-time Olympic champion (d. 1980)
* 1913 &ndash; Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrialist (d. 2013)
* 1914 &ndash; Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)
* 1915 &ndash; Frank McGee, American journalist (d. 1974)
* 1916 &ndash; Tony Bettenhausen, American race car driver (d. 1961)
* 1921 &ndash; Stanislaw Lem, Polish writer (d. 2006)
* 1922 &ndash; Antonio Cafiero, Argentine politician (d. 2014)
* 1924 &ndash; Amilcar Cabral, Cape Verdean–Guinea-Bissauan politician (d. 1973)
* 1925 &ndash; Stan Lopata, American baseball player (d. 2013)
* 1925 &ndash; Dickie Moore, American actor (d. 2015)
* 1927 &ndash; Mathé Altéry, French soprano and actress
* 1928 &ndash; Ernie Vandeweghe, American basketball player (d. 2014)
* 1930 &ndash; Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (d. 2005)
* 1930 &ndash; Akira Suzuki, Japanese chemist
* 1931 &ndash; Sir Ian Holm, English actor
* 1931 &ndash; George Jones, American singer (d. 2013)
* 1931 &ndash; Adrian Rogers, American religious leader (d. 2005)
* 1932 &ndash; Atli Dam, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2005)
* 1933 &ndash; Tatiana Doronina, Russian actress
* 1934 &ndash; Jaegwon Kim, Korean-American philosopher
* 1934 &ndash; Glenn Davis, American athlete (d. 2009)
* 1937 &ndash; George Chuvalo, Canadian boxer
* 1938 &ndash; Claude Ruel, French-Canadian ice hockey coach (d. 2015)
* 1939 &ndash; Nobuyuki Oishi, Japanese footballer
* 1939 &ndash; Henry Waxman, United States Congressman
* 1940 &ndash; Joachim Frank, German-American biophysicist, joint 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner
* 1940 &ndash; Mickey Lolich, American baseball player
* 1940 &ndash; Linda Gray, American actress
* 1943 &ndash; Maria Muldaur, American singer
* 1943 &ndash; Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan-born writer
* 1944 &ndash; Leonard Peltier, Native American activist
* 1944 &ndash; Yoshio Kikugawa, Japanese footballer
* 1944 &ndash; Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
* 1944 &ndash; Vladimir Spivakov, Russian violinist and conductor
* 1944 &ndash; Colin Young, American singer
* 1949 &ndash; Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater
* 1949 &ndash; Charles Burlingame, American pilot (d. 2001)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Joe Pantoliano, American actor
* 1951 &ndash; Bertie Ahern, Irish politician and former Taoiseach
* 1951 &ndash; Ali-Ollie Woodson, American singer and musician (d. 2010)
* 1952 &ndash; Neil Peart, Canadian musician and writer (Rush) (d. 2020)
* 1952 &ndash; Gerry Beckley, American musician
* 1953 &ndash; Fiona Mactaggart, Scottish politician
* 1954 &ndash; Peter Scolari, American actor
* 1956 &ndash; Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer (d. 2003)
* 1956 &ndash; Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
* 1956 &ndash; Sam Brownback, American politician, 46th Governor of Kansas
* 1956 &ndash; Brian Robertson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1957 &ndash; Hans Zimmer, German composer
* 1957 &ndash; Rachel Ward, English actress
* 1958 &ndash; Wilfredo Benitez, American boxer
* 1959 &ndash; Sigmar Gabriel, German politician
* 1959 &ndash; Scott Brown, United States Senator
* 1959 &ndash; Hisashi Kaneko, Japanese footballer
* 1960 &ndash; Stefanos Korkolis, Greek songwriter and pianist
* 1961 &ndash; Mylène Farmer, French singer-songwriter
* 1962 &ndash; Amy Yasbeck, American actress
* 1964 &ndash; Dieter Hecking, German footballer
* 1966 &ndash; Ben Folds, American musician
* 1966 &ndash; Vezio Sacratini, Italian ice hockey player
* 1967 &ndash; Mirko Slomka, German footballer and manager
* 1967 &ndash; Pat Listach, American baseball player
* 1968 &ndash; Paul F. Tompkins, American comedian, actor and screenwriter
* 1969 &ndash; Mika Myllyla, Finnish cross-country skier (d. 2011)
* 1969 &ndash; Angel Cabrera, Argentine golfer
* 1969 &ndash; Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer
* 1971 &ndash; Chandra Sturrup, Bahamanian athlete
* 1973 &ndash; Darren Campbell, British athlete
* 1973 &ndash; Martin Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1973 &ndash; Paul Walker, American actor (d. 2013)
* 1974 &ndash; Caroline Aigle, French pilot (d. 2007)
* 1974 &ndash; Nuno Valente, Portuguese footballer

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Maciej Zurawski, Polish footballer
* 1976 &ndash; 2 Chainz, American rapper
* 1976 &ndash; Lauren Stamile, American actress
* 1977 &ndash; Nathan Bracken, Australian cricketer
* 1977 &ndash; James McCartney, British musician
* 1978 &ndash; Ruben Studdard, American singer
* 1980 &ndash; Sean Burroughs, American baseball player
* 1980 &ndash; Josef Vasicek, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2011)
* 1980 &ndash; Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
* 1981 &ndash; Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
* 1983 &ndash; Sergio Parisse, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
* 1984 &ndash; September, Swedish singer
* 1985 &ndash; Hiroki Mizumoto, Japanese footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Yuto Nagatomo, Japanese footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Joanne Jackson, British swimmer
* 1986 &ndash; Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
* 1987 &ndash; Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstani tennis player
* 1988 &ndash; Amanda Jenssen, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1989 &ndash; Freddie Freeman, American baseball player
* 1992 &ndash; Sviatlana Pirazhenka, Belarussian tennis player
* 1993 &ndash; Kelsea Ballerini, American singer
* 1994 &ndash; Elina Svitolina, Ukrainian tennis player
* 1994 &ndash; Mhairi Black, Scottish politician
* 1996 &ndash; Colin Ford, American actor

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 640 &ndash; Sak K'uk', Maya Queen of Palenque
* 1185 &ndash; Andronikos I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1118)
* 1213 &ndash; Peter II of Aragon (b. 1174)
* 1348 &ndash; Joan the Lame, Queen of France (b. 1293)
* 1362 &ndash; Pope Innocent VI (b. 1295)
* 1369 &ndash; Blanche of Lancaster (b. 1345)
* 1500 &ndash; Albert III, Duke of Saxony (b. 1443)
* 1612 &ndash; Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (b. 1552)
* 1660 &ndash; Jacob Cats, Dutch poet, jurist and politician (b. 1577)
* 1683 &ndash; King Afonso VI of Portugal (b. 1643)
* 1691 &ndash; John George III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1647)
* 1764 &ndash; Jean-Philippe Rameau, French composer (b. 1683)
* 1829 &ndash; Juan Ignacio Molina, Chilean naturalist (b. 1740)
* 1870 &ndash; Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American writer (b. 1836)
* 1874 &ndash; François Guizot, 22nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1787)
* 1885 &ndash; Ranbir Singh, 2nd Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir (b. 1830)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1903 &ndash; Duncan Gillies, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Victoria (b. 1834)
* 1907 &ndash; Ilia Chavchavadze, Georgian poet, journalist and lawyer (b. 1837)
* 1918 &ndash; George Reid, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1845)
* 1919 &ndash; Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (b. 1871)
* 1929 &ndash; Rainis, Latvian poet, playwright and politician (b. 1865)
* 1938 &ndash; Prince Arthur of Connaught (b. 1883)
* 1945 &ndash; Hajime Sugiyama, Japanese general (b. 1880)
* 1956 &ndash; Hans Carossa, German writer (b. 1878)
* 1956 &ndash; Sandor Festetics, Hungarian politician (b. 1882)
* 1960 &ndash; Dino Borgioli, Italian tenor (b. 1891)
* 1977 &ndash; Steve Biko, South African anti–Apartheid activist (b. 1946)
* 1977 &ndash; Robert Lowell, American poet (b. 1917)
* 1981 &ndash; Eugenio Montale, Italian poet (b. 1896)
* 1982 &ndash; Federico Moreno Torroba, Spanish composer (b. 1891)
* 1986 &ndash; Jacques Henri Lartigue, French photographer (b. 1894)
* 1992 &ndash; Anthony Perkins, American actor (b. 1932)
* 1993 &ndash; Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (b. 1917)
* 1994 &ndash; Boris Yegorov, Russian physician and cosmonaut (b. 1937)
* 1995 &ndash; Jeremy Brett, English actor (b. 1933)
* 1995 &ndash; Yasutomo Nagai, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1965)
* 1996 &ndash; Ernesto Geisel, President of Brazil (b. 1907)
* 2000 &ndash; Gary Olsen, English actor (b. 1957)

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; Victor Wong, Chinese-American actor (b. 1927)
* 2003 &ndash; Johnny Cash, American country music singer (b. 1932)
* 2004 &ndash; Max Abramowitz, American architect (b. 1908)
* 2008 &ndash; David Foster Wallace, American writer (b. 1962)
* 2009 &ndash; Norman Borlaug, American agronomist (b. 1914)
* 2009 &ndash; Jack Kramer, American tennis player (b. 1921)
* 2009 &ndash; Willy Ronis, French photographer (b. 1910)
* 2010 &ndash; Claude Chabrol, French movie director (b. 1930)
* 2011 &ndash; Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1985)
* 2012 &ndash; Sid Watkins, British neurosurgeon (b. 1928)
* 2012 &ndash; Derek Jameson, British tabloid journalist and broadcaster (b. 1929)
* 2013 &ndash; Erich Loest, German writer (b. 1926)
* 2013 &ndash; Otto Sander, German actor (b. 1941)
* 2013 &ndash; Ray Dolby, American engineer and inventor (b. 1933)
* 2014 &ndash; Atef Ebeid, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1932)
* 2014 &ndash; Ian Paisley, Northern Irish religious and political leader (b. 1926)
* 2014 &ndash; John Bardon, English actor (b. 1939)
* 2014 &ndash; Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (b. 1939)
* 2014 &ndash; Antony Kidman, Australian psychologist, biochemist and writer (b. 1938)
* 2015 &ndash; Adrian Frutiger, Swiss typeface designer (b. 1928)
* 2016 &ndash; Gunilla Bernadotte, Swedish duchess (b. 1923)
* 2016 &ndash; Ellen Burka, Canadian-Dutch figure skater (b. 1921)
* 2016 &ndash; Stanley Steinbaum, American activist (b. 1920)
* 2017 &ndash; Heiner Geissler, German politician (b. 1930)
* 2017 &ndash; Alex Hawkins, American football player (b. 1937)
* 2017 &ndash; Siegfried Köhler, German conductor (b. 1923)
* 2017 &ndash; Allan MacEachen, Canadian politician (b. 1921)
* 2017 &ndash; Edith Windsor, American LGBT rights activist and technological manager at IBM (b. 1929)
* 2018 &ndash; Henry Kalis, American politician (b. 1937)
* 2018 &ndash; Hans Kloss, German artist and graphic designer (b. 1938)
* 2018 &ndash; Walter Mischel, Austrian-American psychologist (b. 1930)
* 2018 &ndash; Billy O'Dell, American baseball player (b. 1933)
* 2018 &ndash; Shen Chun-shan, Taiwanese physicist and academic (b. 1932)
* 2018 &ndash; Rachid Taha, Algerian singer, songwriter and activist (b. 1958)

## Observances 
* Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholicism)
* National Day of Cape Verde
* Ethiopian New Year
* Day of Conception (Russia)
* Defenders Day (Maryland)

## References